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Revision as of 12:29, 20 September 2020
, 12:29, 20 September 2020no edit summary
These are very much to the fore – we start by confirming the ordinariness of Joey, and his family and his childlike crush on a classmate. And from the first line on there is a great, forthright sense of the authors knowing just what kind of narrative voice their audience wants to hear – snappy, bubbly, succinct and teasing us with what's to come. But again, too much of what comes is flawed – it's as if Gaiman is just too used now to writing for adults or teens, and feels able to put too much speculative physics into the world he's created. I think he goes too far, and I think as a result the age of Joey the Narrator here is too awkwardly pitched – at times he's the age of the target audience, at other times – especially when the first gang of friends on the school trial is replaced by a very different one – he's definitely in his teens.
Still, there is a story-teller's craft on the pages of this volume, which might be carried toward the first sequel, which I shall turn to imminently. There's a wit, there's imagination in the problems the universes and more that are new to Joey cause him, and there is a snappy drive to the plot. But it does seem too off-kilter too often, and a little too much of a jumble. I think it works more as a curiosity and a passing entertainment for teens, and not on a par with the best genre fiction for the under-twelves. Still, I must thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have a review of [[The Silver Dream by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves]].
Combat for the young in a very intriguing world turned on its head can be had with [[Young Knights of the Round Table by Julia Golding]].
