Book Review

Bambi, by Felix Salten
I gotta say.... This book was a total downer. If you enjoy reading books that make you cry, this is for you.

It's not just that Bambi's mother dies. Death seems to be a running theme throughout the book all the way to a random passage a third of the way through of two autumn leaves discussing the ravages of aging before they fall to their deaths from the tree. Obviously this is an anti-hunting book. That doesn't really surprise or bother me. The movie was the same. I love animals and understand the sad nature of the food chain; hunters actually have more respect for it than anyone. I'm just not into feeling guilty for existing. So, again, if you're into crying and assuming guilt trips on behalf of humanity, you'll really like this book. But it doesn't just beat up on mankind. There are also portraits painted of other natural predators in the wild as witness to the cruel lives that animals lead, continuing with the sorrowful tone. Personally, I think it even goes too far in its assessment of dogs and other livestock that serves mankind.
I think the author believed in God because His supremacy is asserted towards the end, but I don't know if he really knew God to have such a depressing outlook on that which is the cycle of life.

That's not to say that I didn't like the book. The prose is absolutely beautiful from beginning to end. The passage of the leaves is very powerful and stands out in my mind. The whole book is like that. And it's also a zoological study of deer. Even though they are anthropomorphic and talk, there's no letter writing or sword waving. Their behavior from being weaned from their mothers to rutting and mating is covered in a manner that adults recognize and that wouldn't confuse children. Although I don't think I'd read it to a kid. It seems too heavy even for children of the 1920s when it was published. I actually do recommend it for its classic value and beautiful writing. 

Book Review

Kazin's Quest, Carey Scheppner

First of The Dragonmage Trilogy, it's an enjoyable fantasy yarn. And I sincerely mean that. I just don't think this trilogy is for me.

It centers around a newly trained mage who by chance is turned into a Dragonmage, that is, he gains the ability to change into a dragon and back at will. He gathers a group of companions together to fulfill a prophecy and defeat a great necromancer. The Dragonmage aspect of it is actually a cool story by itself apart from all the rest and I don't think quite enough time is devoted to it. Instead it gets busy filling the world with a few too many different types of creatures for me to process. I'm all for a little variation from the standard fantasy formula of humans, elves, dwarves, wizards, and generic monstrosities like orcs. But including with these mermaids, zombies, centaurs, minotaurs, two races of upright reptilians - mages and archer warriors, pegasi, and a unicorn just seems to stretch the world a little thin and gives it a lack of depth.

I see it as being written for Dungeons and Dragons or video game players. The story plays out like like an average gamer campaign and the characters "level up" by finding special weapons and being suddenly positioned to acquire new skills. It ends up being a series of battle sequences into which most of the passionate writing is poured with the story being a relatively thin thread that ties them together with slightly juvenile humor. 

But I meant it when I said it had enjoyable aspects... Things that could have been fleshed out more thoroughly in their own separate stories. The concept of the Dragonmage was one but I also really liked the minotaur political structure and intrigue. The dwarves also had a uniqueness to them that felt lacking since they were also fairly typical. I'm actually not sure how to feel about a silly lovesick elf as opposed to the standard arrogant and dissociated kind in the prominent elf role, but these are certainly things worth exploring.

I absolutely recommend it for fans of this particular subset of fantasy genre. It's good, it's just not my favorite.