Reviewed by: Pete Barber
Genre: Fantasy
Approximate word count: 80,000-85,000 words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or
Smashwords store
Author:
Brian Rush lives on the West Coast. He’s a
lifelong lover of fantasy. The Green Stone Tower is one of five fantasy novels he’s
published.
Description:
A tale of
two worlds, one supporting a human society, Slavers, positioned (at least in
this reader’s mind) in pseudo-Dickensian times, the other a land of magic and
faerie-folk. Once, both peoples co-existed. But the Dark God forced a societal
change. So, instead of living in harmony with nature and surviving from what
the magically enhanced land gave, the people enslaved crops and animals, forced
their will on the natural resources and outlawed magic.
In this new
regime, magical folk are persecuted as witches. To save their People, the
faerie gods build Green Stone Towers, obelisks in which those with magical
powers could open a door and pass into a new world where they could continue to
live a magical existence.
The story follows
Johnny Silverbell, half-faerie, half-slaver. When he loses everything in the
human world, the door to a green tower opens to him and he finds his true
destiny.
Appraisal:
The opening third of the book deals with the slavers and specifically
with Johnny who practices magic in secret to avoid being accused, tried, and
sentenced to death as a witch. I found the writing in this segment excellent. I
was immersed in the world, and the cadence of the prose seemed a perfect fit
with the rigid and narrow-minded slaver society. Johnny was a compelling
character, and the manner in which he is introduced to his faerie heritage kept
me interested and rooting for him.
Once the story moved to the faerie world I found my attention slipping on
occasions. Some of the dialogue, particularly between the gods, didn’t seem to
capture the essence of these all-powerful creatures, at least not as well as
the prose fitted the slaver world. But the faerie characters were interesting
enough to keep me engaged, and the world-building consistently clever and
believable.
The Green
Stone Tower is the first book in a planned series. Brian Rush’s
worlds, characters, and overall premise certainly has sufficient depth to carry
a series. Overall, this is a good read. Fantasy fans will not be disappointed
if they spring a couple of dollars for a copy, and I suspect they’ll be waiting
anxiously for the second installment.
Format/Typo Issues:
None noted.
Rating: **** Four stars
No comments:
Post a Comment