Thursday, December 13, 2012

The Obsidian Blade by Pete Hautman

Plot: Tucker's family began unraveling ever since he first saw the disk. His father, the Reverend Adrian Feye, lost his faith, and his mother lost her mind. When both Tucker's parents disappear one day, Tucker knows it has something to do with the disks. He discovers the secret of the disks and embarks on a whirlwind journey to save his parents.

Comments: I think The Obsidian Blade is meant for younger audiences, maybe pre-teens. If not, then it's a much too easy read. The language is very simple and the writing is not very exciting. Nothing felt believable, especially the characters' reactions to the situations. The main character, Tucker, was not easily likable because he didn't feel like a real person. It was the same for everyone else. The writing constantly told instead of showed, having to explain in small words what was happening. It was frankly not very interesting.

The concept of the story was intriguing. A great idea for a fantasy novel, with so many possibilities. But the story was confusing. Tucker never knew what was going on and neither did I - which is okay in some situations, with suspense, but nothing was ever resolved in this book. The whole thing was setting the stage for a sequel (or several), rather than standing alone as its own exciting story with a follow-up. And because of the simplistic style of writing, there was no suspense or shock - or really any other dramatic emotions - and so I'm not at all interested in reading more of this story. Perhaps a younger reader would enjoy this book more than I did. Or any other reader, I don't know.

Rating: I rate The Obsidian Blade a six out of ten. It was a good idea for a story but not written to be very gripping.

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