N.D. Wilson

Jan 14 2012

Fairy tales and Fantasies are as old as the world

N.D. Wilson in the introduction to Twilight Land by Howard Pyle:

Fairy tales and fantasies are as old as the world. This is an easy thing to forget.  It is easy to see only the stories we tell today – fresh and shiny – and then assume that they came from nowhere, that they have no ancestors, and no narrative parents whatsoever.  But today’s fantasies are built on a rich imaginative heritage, a global heritage.  As long as there has been language, there have been stories.  And as far back as we can trace, those stories have been about dragons and magic and sacrifices, fools and wise men and wizards, fate and luck and love.  What we call realism in storytelling is a relatively new concept.  It is the sapling in the wood surrounded by towering moss-covered giants as old as history, giants grown up out of myths and legends.  Fantasy.

By Kevin Holtsberry • Views • 1 • Tags: , , , ,

Jan 3 2012

My Favorite Reads of 2011

I wasn’t able to post thoughts on the books I read in 2011 by the end of the year so I am doing it this week.  I noted the general statistics yesterday and today want to tackle my favorite reads.  Like last year, I am going to break in out into categories.

Young Adult Fiction

A large chunk of my reading this year was YA (30 of 79 books were roughly in this category) so I had a lot of books to chose from in 2011. So here are ten of my favorites in no particular order:

  1. Cover of "The Wednesday Wars"

    Cover of The Wednesday Wars

    I am going to cheat a little and put two books by Gary D. Schmidt on the list, Okay or Now and The Wednesday Wars.  ”Great stories, great characters, imaginative settings and clear writing make these two books great reads. I highly recommend them.”

  2. I am also going to put N.D. Wilson here because I can’t choose just one of his wonderful books I read this year: The Dragon’s Tooth (start of the new Ashtown Burials series) and the entire 100 Cupboards series)  ”… if you like large, complex and imaginative fantasy series this one is a must read.”
  3. Icefall by Matthew J. Kirby “Kirby weaves a great tale. There is historical detail, psychological insight, mystery, intrigue and more.”
  4. Skellig by David Almond “It is a simple and yet powerful story of friendship, family, compassion and faith.”
  5. The Search for Wondla by Tony DiTerlizzi “The world DiTerlizzi has created is captivating and mysterious enough that you want to keep reading; not just to see the next illustration but to dig a little deeper into the mystery.”

Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Aug 24 2011

The Dragon’s Tooth: Ashtown Burials #1 by N.D. Wilson

There is always a certain amount of excitement mixed with nervousness when a favorite author starts a new series. What if I don’t like it, or worse, what if it isn’t any good?

It is with just such excitement and a tinge of nervousness that I approached The Dragon’s Tooth N.D. Wilson’s first book in a new series called Ashtown Burials.  The publisher was kind enough to send me a copy, so I dived in and read it in a couple of days. The excitement stayed and the nervousness went away.  It was a fast paced, imaginative and action packed adventure.

Here is the publisher’s introduction:

For two years, Cyrus and Antigone Smith have run a sagging roadside motel with their older brother, Daniel. Nothing ever seems to happen. Then a strange old man with bone tattoos arrives, demanding a specific room.

Less than 24 hours later, the old man is dead. The motel has burned, and Daniel is missing. And Cyrus and Antigone are kneeling in a crowded hall, swearing an oath to an order of explorers who have long served as caretakers of the world’s secrets, keepers of powerful relics from lost civilizations, and jailers to unkillable criminals who have terrorized the world for millennia.

Wilson’s 100 Cupboards series started slowly and involved world building and a more literary style – at least in my opinion. The pace felt slower and the descriptions and detail more complex and layered.  Dragon’s Tooth, in contrast, starts off with a bang – shotgun blasts bring the first chapter to a close – and the break neck pace basically continues for the rest of the book.

That is not to say there isn’t complexity and vivid descriptions, but Wilson fills in a complex fantasy backstory as the plot rockets forward rather than setting the scene and then launching the adventure. As the action happens readers begin to get a glimpse into what has brought Cyrus and Antigone to this point and how their family history has led them to this seemingly impossible scenario. Chapters give you a chance to catch your breath but you want to immediately plunge back in and find out what will happen next. Of course, you race to the end only to be faced with the unanswered questions and the inevitable wait for the next book in the series.

Keep Reading

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Mar 16 2011

The Chestnut King (Book 3 of the 100 Cupboards) by N.D. Wilson

Cover of "The Chestnut King: Book 3 of th...

Cover via Amazon

If you have been scoring at home, we are working our way through the 100 Cupboards Series by N.D. Wilson.  The aptly titled 100 Cupboards started the series and Dandelion Fire was the middle book. Which brings us to The Chestnut King – the final book in the trilogy.

For each book I have offered the advice to dive and in and enjoy the series. The books do not start fast but they repay effort.  I also suggest that readers try to clear expectations and assumptions about the books prior to reading. This is hard, yes, but I think you will enjoy them more if you can manage to just let the books come to you rather than trying to impose expectations and preconceived notions of how books of this sort should work.

For those unfamiliar with the series here is the publishers tease:

When Herny York found 99 cupboards hidden behind his bedroom wall, he never dreamed they were doors to entirely new worlds! Unfortunately, Henry’s discovery freed an ancient, undying witch, whose hunger for power would destroy every world connected to the cupboards–and every person whom Henry loves. Henry must seek out the legendary Chestnut King for help. Everything has a price, however, and the Chestnut King’s desire may be as dangerous as the witch herself.

N. D. Wilson concludes a remarkable, worlds-spanning journey that began with one boy and one hundred avenues to adventure.

What I love about these books is the depth and complexity. There are worlds within worlds and texts within texts.  It is a coming of age novel; a good versus evil fantasy epic; it is a hero quest; etc.  It is full of beautiful and witty prose and has allusions and nods to literature throughout.

The characters have been developed across the books and I found myself intrigued and concerned about almost all of them – even the most frustrating of them. Action happens across worlds and battles are engaged even as the larger war is unclear. Events flow toward a final confrontation but there are twists and turns along the way. There are traditional narrative arcs and some things that just seem thrown in for fun.

The world building is exciting and the cast of characters outside Henry’s family are creative and imaginative and yet firmly within the fantasy and literary mythology if you will. It is a mix of reinvention and homage to the classics.

That is not to say the books are not a challenge at times. The review for Children’s Literature reflects this sentiment best:

This story is just weird. Perhaps the preceding books in the “100 Cupboards” series can ease the mystery and confusion of this work. This is not a standalone work. Henry, a teenager from Kansas is playing baseball in the first chapter, then wavering between reality and augmented realities in subsequent chapters. Though most reviews of this work and series are stellar, without the basis of the trilogy this entry is confusing, bewildering, and disturbing. Heads have fingers in the back of them that can be manipulated like puppets, peoples can shape-shift and change identity, fairies dismiss one another. If that sounds like an attractive escape this is your book. It takes more than dandelion magic to finish this!

I can agree that if you just picked this third book up cold and started reading it would throw you.  It is not that kind of book.  And at times even with the previous books it can be bewildering and disturbing – but in a good way!

But with caveats noted, Kirkus  captures my experience with this book and this series:

This refreshingly American fantasy trilogy plants one of its feet squarely in Kansas and the other in magical realms. Henry York has rediscovered his true home, his true parents and the power of his dandelion-fire magic. Unfortunately he’s also discovered that the blood of the witch Nimiane has infected his face, and if he doesn’t find a way to destroy her he’ll soon be dead (or worse). Leaping through different worlds and perils, Henry’s family is split apart once again and he is forced to answer the unanswerable: How do you kill something that cannot die? Wilson ratchets up the tension, which is fortunate since readers will need it to get through the first 100-page slog. Undeniably the most visceral of the 100 Cupboards series, this title takes some time to find its feet yet ends with an entirely satisfying finish. A word of warning: Do not hand this book to anyone who hasn’t read the previous books. The story moves at a fast clip and doesn’t bother to catch newbies up.

All of the advice contained within the above is worth taking: build up momentum to get past through the first 100 pages and you will be richly rewarded and be sure to read the series in order – they are not stand alone books.

But if you like large, complex and imaginative fantasy series this one is a must read.  And as I noted previously, I think it is exciting that this series has enough depth and details to reward re-reading.  It is great to have a series you can return to and share with family and friends – young and old.

Related articles

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 0 • Tags: , , ,

Mar 11 2011

Dandelion Fire (Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards) by N.D. Wilson

Cover of "Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 1...

Cover via Amazon

As any avid reader will tell you, one of the great things about discovering a series late is the ability to jump from one book immediately to the next book in the series.  If you are reading them when they are first released you instead have to impatiently wait for the next book to be published.

So it was with great joy that I jumped from N.D. Wilson‘s 100 Cupboards (the first book in the series of the same name) to Dandelion Fire.  The second book picks up where the first one left off.  Here is the publishers blurb:

Henry York never dreamed his time in Kansas would open a door to adventure—much less a hundred doors. But a visit to his aunt and uncle’s farm took an amazing turn when cupboard doors, hidden behind Henry’s bedroom wall, revealed themselves to be portals to other worlds. Now, with his time at the farm drawing to a close, Henry makes a bold decision—he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he’s from and who his parents are. Following that trail will take him from one world to another, and ultimately into direct conflict with the evil of Endor.

The thing to note about this second book is that it grows in seriousness if you will – there is a maturity and thus more violence and suffering – and also a complex plot narrated from a variety of viewpoints.

This all combines to make it disappointing for some who enjoyed the shorter more quirky first book. While the first book took some time to get to the magical aspect, the plot was relatively straightforward. In this second book, the plot threads grow and can be hard to follow at times.

My opinion is that series rewards readers who both are up to the challenge and who can just “let go and enjoy the ride.”

Read in a Single Setting captures this well in her review and sums up my feelings almost exactly:

Dandelion Fire marks ND Wilson’s second foray into the complex, fantastical world first introduced to us through his excellent middle years novel 100 Cupboards (see our review). Like its predecessor, it’s full of rich, voluptuous language, and takes an almost languid approach to narrative, giving it the same sense of the organic, the natural, in terms of plotting. Indeed, I’m pleased to be able to note that this middle book of the trilogy stands well on its own two legs, rather than acting as a bridge between an introductory first novel and the inevitable denouement that is the third–although I would recommend reading its predecessor before attempting this book. While Dandelion Fire is considerably longer than the aforementioned 100 Cupboards, it does not feel bloated: rather, Wilson rather admirably uses the additional space not only to subject his poor characters to rather a lot of intrigue and violence, but also to make salient certain contrasts and themes–although to its credit rarely in a didactic manner.

[...]

It’s probably clear from the above that Dandelion Fire does not quite have the quirky kookiness that characterizes Cupboards, but it’s not without its moments of levity. Wilson’s at once rich and laconic prose is a pleasure to read, and it’s full of winking allusions and asides that add both depth and breadth to the novel without resulting in turgidity. In terms of the narrative, there are moments of familiarity that readers of classic children’s fantasy works may find somewhat derivative, and it’s true that occasionally the plot does become a little lost in itself, particularly when Wilson is working to weave together multiple simultaneous viewpoints, but it’s just so difficult not to fall for the worlds that Wilson has created: I’m entirely enamoured of that little attic room bristling with its cupboards.

As we say in church, Amen!

This series is something that I just enjoy being a part of - immersing myself into the world and characters the author is building and enjoying the adventure. Their are flaws and discordant moments – rarely is everything just as you would have it – but their is something fundamentally enjoyable about the creation so  that you don’t begrudge the faults.

Eva Mitnick, for school library journal, has a similar take:

The plot is complicated, and readers not familiar with the first book will be hopelessly confused. The shifting locations and the many characters and factions are bewildering, but most of the characters have such deliciously flawed and fascinating personalities that fans of that book will go with the flow, waiting to see what the next bend of plot might bring. A quiet and quirky humor warms up the proceedings as well, leavening even the most intense scenes. The ending is satisfying enough to serve as a series closer, but luckily for fans of this challenging but rewarding trilogy, there is still one more installment to come.

So my advice? Challenging, yes but rewarding too.  Dive in and enjoy it.

Related articles

By Kevin Holtsberry • Reviews • 1 • Tags: , , , ,

1 2