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Every Hiddden Thing by Kenneth Oppel (view source)
Revision as of 15:46, 4 April 2018
, 15:46, 4 April 2018no edit summary
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|title=Every Hiddden Thing
|author=Kenneth Oppel
|website=http://www.kennethoppel.ca/pages/everyhiddenthing.shtml
|video=Mh3Tk3X8KgE
|amazonukaznuk=1910989576|aznus=1910989576|cover=<amazonuk>1910989576</amazonuk>
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Three things stir Samuel's teenaged heart. Duty to his father is one, and another is admiration for the man's career as a dinosaur hunter and aspiration to follow in his tracks. Dad has never been a professor as such, but gets called it anyway, having lucked into being quite a pioneer in the field of finding fossils. And the third thing? Rachel. Not conventionally beautiful, Samuel still finds enough in her to arouse things. But that's where the trouble lies, for Rachel's father and his are confirmed enemies and rivals. And as luck would have it, they're all four headed to the same remote, outlawish region in search of notable remains. How can they be loyal to the science, and to their families, ''and'' to their hearts?
There's only one thing more remarkable about an author that makes such a fantastic novel as [[The Nest by Kenneth Oppeland Jon Klassen|The Nest]] – and that's to write a novel that's anywhere near as good, and yet is totally different. And our author has done that here. In one book there's alien majesty in the everyday, modern world, and in the other a historically-set drama that combines the most unlikely things, of teenaged love and fossil hunts. Two more different books coming in quick succession from one author it would be hard to find.
That historical setting, first. Without expecting such a historical setting on the basis of reading ''The Nest'', it was a welcome surprise, but it comes at you with no information or exposition – you have to remember when the early discoveries in the world of dinosaurs were made to pinpoint these times. Also, at times, however, it didn't quite work – for example, Samuel overtly telling us of getting an erection early on in response to Rachel, didn't really gel – it has to be said that his voice is too modern. Slightly more effective and realistic is her voice, even if her side of things is in a modern-looking sans serif font that again didn't quite sit with the historical feel. Those slight incongruities made me wonder if this was a sort of steampunk world, where we weave between now and a sort of faux-Victorian life where dragons are only freshly being found, but no, we really are in the olden times for the duration.