A review by mackle13
The Crowfield Demon by Pat Walsh
3.0
I liked this story better than the first, so I'm glad I decided to continue after a sort of middling feeling about it.
The strength of this story was the characterizations of our heroes - William, the hob, Shadlock and Brother Snail. Most of the other brothers are either insufferable or useless or both, except for poor Peter. (The hob, in particular, is a favorite.) I felt the characterizations were kind of flat in the first book - so it's a definitely improvement there, but the secondary characters are still pretty interchangeable and largely forgettable, and I do think Dame Alys' portrayal actually became more cliche and cartoony.
The story also maintains the strong atmospheric tone, which was a strength of the first book.
It was a bit slow in places, and I got annoyed at the Prior and most of the brothers being so small minded, and I did think the end battle was, perhaps, a bit too easy - but it was still pretty cool, for all that.
I had thought this was a duology, but the story leaves much open for another story - the king is still a problem, after all, and the heroes are warned of a coming darkness.
I might have been annoyed before learning there was a third (and final) in the works. When deciding whether to continue after the first book, the fact that there was only one more pushed me into the yes camp.
But after reading this one, I'm actually glad there will be another.
The strength of this story was the characterizations of our heroes - William, the hob, Shadlock and Brother Snail. Most of the other brothers are either insufferable or useless or both, except for poor Peter. (The hob, in particular, is a favorite.) I felt the characterizations were kind of flat in the first book - so it's a definitely improvement there, but the secondary characters are still pretty interchangeable and largely forgettable, and I do think Dame Alys' portrayal actually became more cliche and cartoony.
The story also maintains the strong atmospheric tone, which was a strength of the first book.
It was a bit slow in places, and I got annoyed at the Prior and most of the brothers being so small minded, and I did think the end battle was, perhaps, a bit too easy - but it was still pretty cool, for all that.
I had thought this was a duology, but the story leaves much open for another story - the king is still a problem, after all, and the heroes are warned of a coming darkness.
I might have been annoyed before learning there was a third (and final) in the works. When deciding whether to continue after the first book, the fact that there was only one more pushed me into the yes camp.
But after reading this one, I'm actually glad there will be another.