Book #44: Rotherweird by Andrew Caldecott
Number of pages: 510
This book - the first in a trilogy - got my attention recently, and I found myself excited to read it.
In the book, "Rotherweird" is a town that has been cut off from the rest of society since the 1500s, after Queen Elizabeth II sentenced a group of people - believed to be the spawn of Satan - to be exiled there. So, as I understood it, the society was still based on Medieval rules. For me, the town, and its characters felt like a combination of Gormenghast and Discworld.
At the start of the book, a new teacher has been appointed - there is a whole mystery surrounding the disappearance of one of his predecessors, and the reason is possibly connected to the fact that the teaching of Rotherweird's history (or any history from before 1800) is banned. At the same time, the mysterious Sir Veronal Slickstone has taken over the manor, and is keen to learn about Rotherweird's history, despite this being banned.
I noticed that this book gradually turned into a sci-fi/fantasy adventure, mostly revolving around a place called Lost Acre, and the fact that it appeared to be the home to manimal-type creatures, and tiles that seemed to act as portals (I suspsected the black tile that the book mentioned a lot might have been a 2001: A Space Odyssey allusion).
I had mixed feelings about this book; at times, I wasn't sure if it was meant to be humorous or serious, as at times it was hilariously funny, and at other times it felt dark and sinister. For much of the time, I found the book enjoyable, but when the pace slowed down, it felt like a bit of a slog to get through, particularly the final chapter, which seemed to contain far too much exposition, so that it ended up feeling somewhat long-winded. My only other issue with this book was the constant flashbacks to the 1500s, when for some reason the narrative style changed to the present tense, which is a style that usually annoys me when I see it in a novel.
The next book in the trilogy is Wyntertide; I haven't decided if I will read it yet.
Next book: Never Give Up (K.P. Yohannan)