Book Review

The Desolation of Devil's Acre, Ransom Riggs 

A fitting end to an entertaining sextet of books. The first trilogy ended so well that the second trilogy wasn't even needed, but it ended up enhancing the original idea and then bringing it full circle to where it started. It demonstrated as it unpacked the world that had been built in the first series that there only a limited way in which the characters could realistically exist within. But it's not a let down or a commentary on any lack of talent on the part of the author. It was an exploration of the material, stretching of it slightly, but not breaking it. Not casting aside what works in attempt to improve it. It was a successful exercise in depth and enrichment. I only would have liked to have seen a little follow up at the end. After the reset the two main characters could definitely have lived, at least partially, as normals and there were others that could have too. I think an epilogue of how some of their lives proceeded would have given a better sense of closure since it's clear that no more, or very little more, can be done with this concept. 

It had some flaws. It had a couple of holes left unplugged; teasers that was went nowhere. In particular, the insinuation that those seeking revenge on Jacob's grandfather may have had valid reasons for doing so. But it's a thread that was lost in the creation of tensions between the American and European peculiars. Also, the movement of dissenters in the Acre against the ymbryns didn't cause as many problems as it was positioned to. But that's probably for the best. It could have gotten too complicated. 

On the whole it was a neat little series of books. I don't know if I have a favorite since they all run together so closely. I guess my favorite part will always be the photographs. They give the story an extra dimension and were what I'd always looked forward to when buying the next book. This last book has an abundance of them in it. Probably as many as the first book of the first trilogy, so I was pleased at that since the other books had been slightly lacking. It's not for everyone but I recommend it to anyone who enjoys creative writing because it still feels like a long experiment of creative writing to me. And I enjoyed it.

Book Review

The Conference of the Birds, Ransom Riggs

Such a great little series. I'm always surprised every time I get one that I end up liking it. Riggs really made a creative and unique world in a genre that has seen it all. He's a talented story teller and knows how to keep the reader's attention and the pages turning. All of the books lead into directly into the sequels with no break in the action, even when transitioning from the first to the second trilogy. I'm glad the movie that was made a few years back opted not to follow the book series. It would be hard to keep up the pace that makes them such an interesting read. Also, the old photos within are such a big part of the descriptions and its hard to translate that into film.
There wasn't much to say about the plot of A Map of Days since the transitioning from England to America and a broader examination of how the paculiar world is governed ate up the bulk of the text. But towards the end it began the overarching story in earnest with the mention of a prophecy (and who doesn't love a good prophecy in fantasy?) along with introducing one of the characters that the prophecy is centered around. Jacob wants to follow in his grandfather's footsteps of being a protector of persecuted paculiars and gets to start doing it even sooner than he thinks. Certainly sooner than he's ready to, even with his experience of guiding Miss Peregrine's peculiars around WWII London under his belt. Many mistakes are made along with some progress. Being the middle of the series it has to end on a downer. But even as they're walking into what is obviously a trap at the end, it's not the type of trap I initially expected. Riggs is very masterful at cliffhangers.
It also gives me a greater appreciation for the first person pov. Third person limited is still my favorite, but when the teenage protagonist makes the inevitable bone head mistakes, this story does a better job than most of conveying his reasoning and is more honest about his naivity. After all, these five books all take place over the course of a few months without any time for him to digest all that's happened or to let the lessons learned settle in and become more guarded. Rushing from ond dire circumstance to the next. Even during the lag in action at the beginning of the last book, he was still getting new information about his grandfather's life in America to process. Not getting all of it at once, naturally, it keeps him moving from one stressful thing to think about to another so that the pacing never slowed down even while time was devoted to setting up the new background for this trilogy.
There's still an element of predictability that all the books have. And there's still some sneering at America in this one, but it's very low key and only visible to the trained mind. But it's just a good fun story which I still recommend and I had to buy the final book without waiting until next Christmas.