Scan barcode
A review by cheryl6of8
Castle Perilous by John DeChancie
3.0
I have been struggling to concentrate lately and picked up this book because it looked light enough to be enjoyable without requiring a lot of heavy thought. It also worked for the May reading theme (royalty). And, most importantly, I was sort of challenged to read it by my friend Melydia (not her legal name) because it is the source of the screen name she has used for almost 25 years. I can report now that she is not as mad as her namesake.
This is not the easiest book to review, because it has so many 'aspects'. Castle Perilous is a place where people from all over (and I include Snowclaw -- a yeti-like fellow -- in the term people) can end up when they are out of options in life and ready to surrender everything. There are 144,000 portals to other places within the castle, referred to as aspects, and sometimes they appear out of nowhere, both inside the castle and in those other places. Stepping through the portal could land you in a golf course with wild and tame dinosaurs, 17th century Italy, or the middle of an ocean inhabited by scary things. Oh, and the castle is being attacked by an army guided by the sorceress Melydia who wants to capture the magical source of its existence and destroy it.
All of the main characters in this book are compelling, but my favorite is probably Linda, a woman from California who ends up being a real leader among her group. I would follow her anywhere because she can whip up a meal out of nothing. Snowclaw is just a chill dude you don't want to mess with. Osmirik grows on you. And Incarnadins is an enigma. All in all, this was an enjoyable read. I will keep my eyes open for other books by this author.
This is not the easiest book to review, because it has so many 'aspects'. Castle Perilous is a place where people from all over (and I include Snowclaw -- a yeti-like fellow -- in the term people) can end up when they are out of options in life and ready to surrender everything. There are 144,000 portals to other places within the castle, referred to as aspects, and sometimes they appear out of nowhere, both inside the castle and in those other places. Stepping through the portal could land you in a golf course with wild and tame dinosaurs, 17th century Italy, or the middle of an ocean inhabited by scary things. Oh, and the castle is being attacked by an army guided by the sorceress Melydia who wants to capture the magical source of its existence and destroy it.
All of the main characters in this book are compelling, but my favorite is probably Linda, a woman from California who ends up being a real leader among her group. I would follow her anywhere because she can whip up a meal out of nothing. Snowclaw is just a chill dude you don't want to mess with. Osmirik grows on you. And Incarnadins is an enigma. All in all, this was an enjoyable read. I will keep my eyes open for other books by this author.