Faerie Tale, by Raymond E. Feist
Title: Faerie Tale
Author: Raymond E. Feist
Genre: Faerie
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 489
Copy Origin: Review copy provided by HarperCollinsNZ
Get Your Own Copy From: Amazon.com, The Book Depository
Successful screenwriter Phil Hastings decides to move his family from sunny California to a ramshackle farmhouse in New York State. The idea is to take some time out, relax and pick up the threads of his career as a novelist. Good plan, bad choice. The place they choose is surrounded by ancient woodland. The house they choose is the centre point of a centuries-old evil intent on making its presence felt to intruders.
I don’t read a lot of adult fiction, especially since in these past few years I’ve seen a boom in young adult fiction, but when Faerie Tale was mentioned to me I thought it sounded very interesting and that it might be a good stepping stone to get me reading more adult fiction. And for the most part that thought was correct, save for one aspect that reminded me of one of the reasons why I like young adult fiction.
Faerie Tale was a very adult story with a great deal of depth. It may have started off rather slow, but it built up all its layers with care and on a grand scale. I loved the in-character discussions about writing and mythology, and the ways the author blended in aspects of faerie tradition that I was aware of with a grander, even international, storyline. Once the story found its legs it proved to be very dark and complex, and the final leg of the journey, especially the part focussing on the twins and the changeling was one I simply could not put down, even when it was time to put the book down and go to sleep.
The one big problem I did have with Faerie Tale though was that at times it was over written/descriptive. I love description, but, to borrow a phrase, it should be long enough to cover everything, but still short enough to be interesting. Sometimes the many layers of description worked, but other times it didn’t… especially when it came to the sexual content. I don’t mind sexual content in my novels, but it’s definitely a situation where, when it comes to description, less is most definitely more. There were many moments where I was struck with a very strong feeling of second-hand embarrassment, and that was due to the over-description of those scenes. The message could have been very aptly passed on without the use of paragraphs, and even pages sometimes, to describe all the little details. It really made for some awkward reading, thenand it would take me a little while to get back into the flow of the writing and the story, only for it to happen once again later on. It was a really frustrating aspect to what was otherwise a really enjoyable novel.
Apart from that one issue that I admit was large to me, but perhaps would not to other readers, Faerie Tale was an enjoyable novel that let me explore the non-YA side of faerie fiction, as well as a much darker side to humans coming into conflict with these supernatural beings.
Four stars.
Mirrored from On The Nightstand.