heritage's review
2.0
This novel is part Fantasy, part Post-apocalyptic. In a way, it's structured a little like The Hobbit. A young, inexperienced, non-warrior is forced to go on a lengthy journey accompanied by strangers. He doesn't set out on the journey of his own free will, but gets caught up in events and pulled along by others along the way. The ending involves a final task that completes his transformation from youth to adult. The main differences between the two are The Hobbit is much lighter fare with more magic and adventure, whereas the ending of The Tor is much more meaningful for society today. However, both novels, with perhaps the exception of a few choice phrases in The Tor (bluddy, fooking, etc.), fall in the Young Adult genre.
The strengths of The Tor are its excellent narrative and the lessons we learn from the conclusion. Liza Granville is certainly talented with words and capably flows the sentences together in a manner that many bestselling authors can't, and the ending will be of interest to those concerned with social and environmental issues.
Unfortunately, the ending is a long time coming, and the impact is lessoned by all that comes before it. The characters lack any sort of depth or credibility. Monumental, life-altering events have little emotional effect on them, and very little time is spent analyzing these characters or their thoughts. As well, many of the events along the journey simply serve to lengthen the story rather than add any information to the plot or develop the characters.
So, while the narrative and ending are enjoyable, the structure and plot lack punch. It took me a long time to read it because I didn't really care about the boy or what he was doing. When I did pick it up, I read it with a sense of detachment. While I wasn't a huge fan of The Hobbit either, it at least had a playful, magical appeal this one does not.
(I received this e-book for free from the publisher as part of a promotion.)
The strengths of The Tor are its excellent narrative and the lessons we learn from the conclusion. Liza Granville is certainly talented with words and capably flows the sentences together in a manner that many bestselling authors can't, and the ending will be of interest to those concerned with social and environmental issues.
Unfortunately, the ending is a long time coming, and the impact is lessoned by all that comes before it. The characters lack any sort of depth or credibility. Monumental, life-altering events have little emotional effect on them, and very little time is spent analyzing these characters or their thoughts. As well, many of the events along the journey simply serve to lengthen the story rather than add any information to the plot or develop the characters.
So, while the narrative and ending are enjoyable, the structure and plot lack punch. It took me a long time to read it because I didn't really care about the boy or what he was doing. When I did pick it up, I read it with a sense of detachment. While I wasn't a huge fan of The Hobbit either, it at least had a playful, magical appeal this one does not.
(I received this e-book for free from the publisher as part of a promotion.)
wilczynska's review
2.0
This post-apocalyptic journey tale follows Jude through difficult trials as he seeks to fulfill a quest--mostly unknown to him until the point at which he must perform the tasks--to save the earth from destruction. He can only fulfill his quest with the help of another teen, as well as two figures representing the Earth and the Heavens.
Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the journey-type of novel, but there were several things in this book that rubbed me the wrong way. First was the blatant Christian symbolism straight from Revelations: good people come in packs of 7 or 3, bad people always come in packs of 6. The archetypes representing Mother Earth and the Heavens were a little too over the top, especially Heavens who was blind in one eye and could see all things past, present and future. On a more technical note, I wasn't terribly impressed with the writing. I felt like the story was rushed to get all of the plot points in. There were several moments in which the MC drifts into visions and I had no idea what was going, needing to go back and reread passages more than once.
On the other hand, the story has a great message about not monopolizing the earth, that the land is for everyone and no one can own it. Treat is with respect and dignity the way it should be.
Maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the journey-type of novel, but there were several things in this book that rubbed me the wrong way. First was the blatant Christian symbolism straight from Revelations: good people come in packs of 7 or 3, bad people always come in packs of 6. The archetypes representing Mother Earth and the Heavens were a little too over the top, especially Heavens who was blind in one eye and could see all things past, present and future. On a more technical note, I wasn't terribly impressed with the writing. I felt like the story was rushed to get all of the plot points in. There were several moments in which the MC drifts into visions and I had no idea what was going, needing to go back and reread passages more than once.
On the other hand, the story has a great message about not monopolizing the earth, that the land is for everyone and no one can own it. Treat is with respect and dignity the way it should be.
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