Okay, I'm going to give my critique! I still am glassy-eyed from staying up *literally* all night to finish this book! When you cannot pry a book from your fingers, that means it's good, right? I certainly think so. - To be fair: This is a down-the-line sci-fi/fantasy, IMO. As someone who has extremely little patience for and limited understanding of fiction technology, I could have done with less "science" but that's a person-to-person thing. My little brothers read this series and recommended it to me, and they both loved it for these aspects. I give the author props for just being so darn creative! Creativity, to me, should generally outweigh and outshine the more technical aspects of writing, like your "literary elements" and your actual writing style. This is most certainly a "third person omniscient" story in that you as the reader follow literally EVERY character. Most 3rd persons don't do this: they pick one or two characters to follow and you learn about other events through their subsequent discoveries. Sometimes I felt a bit overwhelmed by the back-and-forth coverage, but as the story progressed, it became very necessary to see the plot unfold from different directions. So bravo to that, Brennan! It just took me a few hundred pages to get used to! - Characters: I tend to like "good" good guys and "bad" bad guys, so when I read other reviews that criticize Brennan for not being "complex enough," I dont give those much weight. Evil is very one-dimensional. The baddest villains are the ones that really have no complexity: they're just bad to be bad. And thank god, not every protagonist is Holden Caulfield. I found the main protagonist - Henry Atherton - very enjoyable and relatable, if not a little dorky. He reminds me of a modern Taran from (IMO the greatest childrens fantasy EVER) The Chronicles of Prydain in that he's sweet but maybe a tad dorky (girls, we all know boys like this!). I can certainly deal with the "lovable loser" character type. **I feel like I do need to address this aspect of the story, as everybody does** - Umm okay I found the series in the YA section, and to me that's a very appropriate place. This is a very action-packed series, and yeah there's conflict: and not wishy-washy glossed over conflict, either. These are bad guys who do bad things. I wouldn't use the word "pervasive," but there certainly are violent aspects of the story. To me, I didnt find the violence out of place or even unnaturally heightened...it had a purpose: to be contrasted with good. To make the reader think: "Wow, these dudes need to be stopped". I wouldnt recommend this series for anyone under middle-school (with the exception of the above-average-intelligence 5th grader). CON: - Really, there's only one definite negative I have to gripe about: This is FANTASY--I don't want to read about melodramatic, "Eastender-like" family drama! It is necessary to a point to set up the emotional characterization of Henry: we need to see a bit of his background in order to understand and relate to his situation. What we dont need is over-the-top melodrama, which IMO is what we are given. It seems as though it's not good enough for Brennan to present a relatively normal family problem: he has to write a rather specific and uncommon family situation that to me was just put in to be a "shock factor." There's no development, no substance, because that's not the point. So why bother? Anyway, that's my beef.Overall? Excellent. I will proceed to the next book in the series promptly! This is not exactly a well-known series in the US, though a few of my English friends have read the books and quite enjoyed them. If you are reading this review, give the FAERIE WARS CHRONICLES a try!
Henry's world is turned upside down when he finds out that his mother is having an affair- especially when he finds out that its with another woman that works with his father. Henry escapes by visiting his friends and working for his batty old neighbor, Mr. Fogarty. Henry discovers a faerie in Mr. Fogarty's garden, captures it in a jam jar, and discovers from him that there's a whole other world parellel to theirs, with plenty of intrugie of its own.My best friend gave me this book when she was moving, and its been on my shelf for quite a while. I finally decided to read it and get rid of it, because frankly, this is not a book I want to keep! I was put off a bit by the beginning of the book, because it was kind gross. This is a YA book, I think for pre-teens, or at least I had that impression. There's goat gutting for demon summoning, throwing kittens in vats of glue because kittens are the secret ingredient of the glue, and of course the whole lesbian thing with Henry's mom. At least the book got better afterwards, but I still wouldn't rate it as one of the better books I've read. tI found the beginning to also be a little jumpy, and it didn't seem to flow well. Sometimes it felt like we focused on one part of the story too long, and others not enough. As the story went on, it gained its flow- probably because by then you were introduced to everyone and at least a little invested in the story at that point. The characters seemed pretty black and white- literally. Light faeries were good natured, dark faeries associated with demons and evilness. I think maybe Mr. Fogarty and MAYBE Henry's parents may have been the only grey characters in the book. tI think the only thing that was a twist in the book was that Mr. Fogarty was an ex bank robber. I just assumed that Mr. Fogarty was handy because he was the type! Haha! Then it made even more sense as to why Mr. Fogarty was so parnoid about everything. I wasn't at all surprised that Tithonius was the traitor. I figured that out as soon as the character was introduced. Not really because the author revealed anything, but because I had a hunch. tEverything pretty much was wrapped up with a neat little bow in the end- yet there is apparently a sequel to this book. It leaves an opening for a romance, I guess, between Pyrgus' sister Blue and Henry. (Pyrgus is the 'faerie' Henry captures in a jar) I don't really understand why Blue would like Henry, because when he crosses over to their world, he winds up seeing Blue naked and staring at her until someone notices. To me, its weird that she didn't really seem to care or mind, and actually seems like she might like Henry, as in for a boyfriend, or suitor, or whatever they're called in her realm. Frankly, I'm not really sure I'd care about that story line- so needless to say I won't bother with the next book.
What do You think about Faerie Wars (2004)?
I think I would have liked this much better if I were under the age of 15, appreciated British humor, and was more interested in action & adventure instead of just science fiction/urban fantasy. It's a pretty good story, with a bit of silly humor and a bit of potty humor (boils on the bottom). The villains were laughable in their ridiculousness and the younger characters really took charge and made the important and adult decisions. Some scenes may be unsuitable for particularly sensitive children, or children who scare easily, though it's all written in good fun and tongue-in-cheek. Not the best, but certainly entertaining. Also, I really liked that the characters were very respectful of women. *SPOILER ALERT for PARENTS wondering if this book is OK for their child* Topics for parental discussion: *The main character's mom is having an affair with a woman. If homosexuality is a tricky subject, this might not be good for your child.*Animal cruelty. It is supposed to be funny that kittens are the secret ingredient in a business run by the "bad guys", but more sensitive children/some parents may not appreciate joking about such as an appropriate gateway for humor.*Animal cruelty/perversity 2. In order to conjure up a demon, there is a scene where a "bad guy" character makes an animal sacrifice. This scene, in this reader's opinion, goes a bit over board on description, but really is run-of-the-mill and again, said with tongue-in-cheek (the reader later finds out this is entirely optional).*Torture. Toward the end, a demon is delighting in a silly way on how he intends to kill one of the characters. He explains himself in detail. I believe the detail is supposed to be funny because it's excessive, but again, more sensitive readers may not find this appropriate as a humor device.*General Violence. This is obvious, given the title.
—Katherine
Fairy Wars, by Herbie Brennan, is a fictional book that consists of a mix of science fiction and fantasy. It also includes themes of courage and wisdom. Overall it was a fast read, that is considering that you can’t put it down. Basically it’s about a teenage boy named Henry Atherton who lives in England. His parents are divorced, seeing that his mother is now homosexual, and he has one sister. He works for an old man, Mr. Fogarty, who is paranoid and always thinks that the CIA is after him. Then one day Henry catches a fairy in Mr. Fogarty’s backyard. It turns out that the fairy was sent through a portal from his world to the human world to flee from danger back home. That Faerie is Prince Pyrgus Malvae the eldest child of the royal family. Meanwhile back in the Faerie Realm a civil war is brewing between the Faeries of the Light and the Faeries of the Night. However the Prince of Darkness, Beleth, is using the Faerie War a distraction so that he may invade the Realm and take it for himself. When Pyrgus and Henry go to the Faerie Realm they try to stop Beleth. This book was pretty interesting with some bits of humor. It also uses the fantastical magic to explain why some natural phenomenons happens. This book explores issues such as homosexuality, and how people are treated differently because they are homosexuals. Also it raises the question when is it okay to do things, such as stealing, to help others in need. All in all, Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan is great read if you are interested in fantasy with a bit of science fiction.
—Minh Vu
There are some books that you stop reading because you lose interest, and then there are the ones that you stop reading because it just crosses a line. I can handle a creepy book, and I can handle a book with horror. I can handle a book with murders and violence- just leave the animals out of it. I cannot handle it when a book has kittens boiled to death in glue in the opening part of the book. It wasn't a crazy person who threw a kitten in; it wasn't even an accidental thing. It was a crazy, creepy, homicidal maniac plot element of "This makes the glue stickier, so we'll boil kittens every day." To the book's defense, I will say that the main character did rescue some kittens, but just the disturbing element itself was too much for me. I couldn't finish the book, and I'm still greatly disturbed after having dropped the book over a year ago. It's very possible that I'm overreacting; I tend to when a book/movie kills/abuses any dog/cat/helpless animal in general. It was probably a very good book, and I'm sure a lot of people loved it, but, if you're an animal lover, you might not want to read this one.
—Jess
