A fun and sweet book, this is more of a young-adult novel than an adult novel, although it is marketed towards adults. The protagonist, Fern, is a sixteen-year-old girl with a strong personality in a small world comprising her brother, father, and their mysterious inherited Yorkshire manor. The book more or less follows her as her world is expanded beyond her imagining, while the character traits we see at the beginning of the story deepen and mature. She meets many fantastic creatures along the way, and these creatures help the plot along without distracting from Fern's story. When a creature enters the story, it doesn't distract us from Fern, but brings in its own--often hidden--motivations to help the story along. The creatures are also unique to the world Siegel has created. The rules of their situations don't owe anything to earlier fantasy novels or to Hollywood tropes. When we see a werewolf, for example, we don't know if the moon or silver bullets will have any effect on it. A major problem with the book is Fern's motivation. She is often placed in situations where she must make a choice, but we don't see exactly why she chooses the way she does. She chooses according to "fate" or "destiny," but I didn't find this satisfying. Sure, she's making a choice to save the world as we know it, and that would seem to be a no-brainer, but by the time she comes to these decisions, she already has certain knowledge of a world beyond death. Why would Fern not have a little doubt about the certainty of her decisions? She knows that the end of the world won't be the end of everything.I don't disagree with her choices, but the unwavering certainty with which she faces her choices is annoying. It would be good to see some doubt creep in, and with the stakes so high, there is a potential for some gut-wrenching soul-searching. But it doesn't happen. Fate.Another difficulty I had (possible SPOILER here) was that the book ended with a deus ex machina. We are somewhat promised that we will not see the machina again--or at least that Fern won't. Still, it was a let-down of an ending.Worth a look, it's better than most books in the fantasy genre, but it doesn't seem to want to push the boundaries of the genre much, except with the creature tropes.
Even though I know there are more books in the series, this book was fairly self contained, and it came to an ending, although quick (which is why I think there are some things that happen with this character in the next; maybe not). The story was fairly interesting. It ties modern day with things that happened in Atlantis (which, is all I can figure as to why this was called "Prospero's Children" maybe because of Atlantis being an island, and such, dunno).As I mentioned, I liked the storyline, and I think the author has a knack for it. But for me, the story got a little bogged down in the writing. The author tried to use a lot of descriptive phrases, and at times they almost SEEMED like it was beautiful writing, but it was too clunky, it didn't flow correctly. Big words don't necessarily mean interesting descriptions. When characters were interacting, I felt that it was written more simply, but as soon as something had to be described (and, yes, I agree, she had to be interesting in describing fantastical things), it interrupted the flow. At least in my opinion.Because of that, I doubt I will read the rest of this series.I will say that there is time travel involved. For some reason, halfway through this book, I got a definite Wrinkle in Tim vibe. So, there ya go, for what it's worth.
What do You think about Prospero's Children (2001)?
When Fern and her brother, Will, are taken to their late Uncle's Yorkshire home, they soon discover it has a few hidden secrets. Somewhere, a talisman, a key to a secret door, is hidden in the dark corners of its rooms. A lot of people want to find it, but who can Fern and Will trust? And what are they supposed to do with the key when they find it? For the door that it opens leads to a land destroyed many centuries ago, when a mad Queen dared to do the same.This is probably one of the best fantasy books I have read in a while - and I read a lot of them! Original and fast-paced, the whole myth of Atlantis, mermaids, witches and magic, is so intertwined that it seems so plausible and real. The novel is actually two adventures, but each blends with the other fantastically. The ending is sad, but you know it is coming and you realise it has to be even as you shed a few tears. The cyclic nature of the book is so cleverly done by the author that it just feels right. I have read things like this before that are just so clumsy and forced that you feel let down. I know there are a couple of sequels that I can't wait to track down.
—Dark-Draco
So I just picked this book up because of the title, haha. Those of you who know my dad will know why. Anyway, lo and behold it's a great fantasy novel! It avoids the usual cliches that fantasy can succumb to and I would recommend it to my adult non-fantasy reading friends as well. I really enjoyed it, my only complaint would be that the end felt a little rushed and **(spoiler) the romantic aspect of it was kind of like in episode 2 of star wars where all of the sudden they just hook up and you'r
—Christine
This book was very beautifully written. Jan Siegel really builds some wonderful imagery and has a style that is just artistic in nature. The story itself starts a little slow, but once it get's rolling it is easy to get wrapped up in the fairy tale. I give most of the book 4 stars, because it was a fun piece of fantasy to read. My only trouble with this book was that I wasn't a huge fan of the MC, which is probably why it seemed to start slow. The plot and the writing make up for it though, the
—Paula Mckinney
