A review by emilyrandolph_epstein
The Unremembered by Peter Orullian

1.0

I really wanted to like this book, I really tried my very best to like it, but ultimately I found it impossible. There were several elements that contributed to my ultimate dislike of this book: first and foremost (and most distracting) was the wording. Now, I'm all for the use of long words; I appreciate the use of intelligent and interesting vocabulary, however, in the case of this book, the words got in the way of what the author wanted to say. The main characters were from a rural region, had grown up among farms and fields and forests and yet they had a very refined and urbane way of speaking. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but when you have to read a book with a thesaurus on hand it becomes distracting, irritating, inconvenient, and it takes away from the enjoyment of the book. I could have handled the stereotypical fantasy plot and characters if they had been written in an engaging and realistic manner, however, Orullian was so caught up in finding the right word that all meaning and connection to the story was completely lost. It's rare that I dislike a book enough to express that dislike and it the case of The Unremembered I have found myself becoming obsessive in that dislike. I think that obsession comes primarily from the fact that it was quite clearly fixable, that it could have been amazing and engaging, if only someone had thought to teach Orullian a lesson in conciseness.