The Veil of Gold, by Kim Wilkins
In The Veil of Gold, Kim Wilkins tells the story of Daniel St. Clare and Rosa Kovalenka and a golden bear. Rosa, a Russian who grew up in Canada and is now living in St. Petersburg, is supervising the reconstruction of an old bath house when one of the workmen discover a golden bear hidden inside one of the walls. Unable to determine much about it, she calls on Daniel, a researcher and her former lover. This sets up an incredible journey, where Daniel stumbles into the world of Skazki, the land of stories, and Rosa has to come to grips with her own past to save him. The tale takes the two of them deep into Russian folktales.
It was a decent book. Daniel quite quickly stumbled into Skazki, and the adventures there are terrifying and interesting. However, it took Rosa much longer to pass through the veil by an act of will, and thus there was a long period where she had a "side quest" as she gained the skills and power necessary for the crossing, which slowed the pace of her story down. In the meantime, there are occasional stories by Papa Grigory, a resident of Skazki who has had many names (including once, "the mad monk") in which he tells the story of the golden bear that has caused so much trouble. It is an excellent primer for learning Russian folklore, and parts told by Grigory are very well done.
But it does seem to drag at times. Also, the characters of Daniel and Rosa are a bit too flawed for my tastes. Daniel is an utter milktoast; he almost has no personality of his own, and seemingly has no will power. Despite having a huge amount of knowledge, he has no decision-making abilities, and constantly needs to be rescued. I don't really like that in a female character, and it goes the same for a male one. As for Rosa, she is more confident and in general a more capable person, but I get tired of characters who keep on making decisions for others and then getting annoyed when the other doesn't appreciate the effort. Also, the ending seemed a bit forced.
Still, the prose is well written. It was not a waste of time reading this, but not a book I suspect I'll ever want to read again.
It was a decent book. Daniel quite quickly stumbled into Skazki, and the adventures there are terrifying and interesting. However, it took Rosa much longer to pass through the veil by an act of will, and thus there was a long period where she had a "side quest" as she gained the skills and power necessary for the crossing, which slowed the pace of her story down. In the meantime, there are occasional stories by Papa Grigory, a resident of Skazki who has had many names (including once, "the mad monk") in which he tells the story of the golden bear that has caused so much trouble. It is an excellent primer for learning Russian folklore, and parts told by Grigory are very well done.
But it does seem to drag at times. Also, the characters of Daniel and Rosa are a bit too flawed for my tastes. Daniel is an utter milktoast; he almost has no personality of his own, and seemingly has no will power. Despite having a huge amount of knowledge, he has no decision-making abilities, and constantly needs to be rescued. I don't really like that in a female character, and it goes the same for a male one. As for Rosa, she is more confident and in general a more capable person, but I get tired of characters who keep on making decisions for others and then getting annoyed when the other doesn't appreciate the effort. Also, the ending seemed a bit forced.
Still, the prose is well written. It was not a waste of time reading this, but not a book I suspect I'll ever want to read again.