The Child Thief: A Novel [Paperback]

 

 

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Reason for Reading: I was very interested in a retelling of Peter Pan from an author known previously for horror books.

Summary: This is a modern re-telling of the Peter Pan story. If you've read the original you'll know that Peter is rather an arrogant, self-centered boy and the author takes that Peter and creates a very dark urban fantasy. Amazingly, the basic plot line is very similar to the original. Peter comes to the real world to find runaway kids and steals them by tricking them into following him back to his world, Avalon. There he has created a group of children who fight against the evil Flesh-eaters who are out to destroy them and the island, headed by the fearful, Captain. Peter has his mother figure in the woman who is the lifeblood of Avalon, the one who keeps the magic alive and Avalon hidden, Modron, the Lady of the Lake.

Comments: This was a fantastic read! First off though, the book itself is beautiful. Brom also illustrates the book with full page b/w drawings which are very dark and haunting, several of them remind me of the artist Hans Holbein's woodcuts which feature Death. Plus in the middle of the book are full colour paintings of the major characters!

The book is both enchanting and disturbing at the same time. I love the folklore connections of Avalon and the Lady of the Lake. Avalon itself is inhabited by pixies and elves and all manner of creatures; while the mythos behind it all is fascinating. In the Author's Note at the end, Brom goes into detail where he found his inspiration, which in itself is interesting. Peter and his gang of runaways, The Lost Ones, The Devils (they call themselves) are disturbing. A handful of them become major characters who the reader becomes emotionally involved with (one way or the other). The writing and characterization is brilliant. One can never forget that these are children and so it becomes a dreaded but compelling read that can't be put down as they brutally kill and slay their enemies and swear like gangsters. Among themselves The Devils form a group that reminds one of The Lord of the Flies. And yet through it all, there is one runaway, Nick, whom we meet near the beginning, who never quite falls under the spells of the magic, Avalon, Peter, who knows that Avalon is not all there is to fight for. A truly, splendid, wonderfully crafted story. Very dark and haunting, not for those with weak stomachs (heads fly frequently), but both urban fantasy fans and fans of fairytale and classic book retellings will not want to miss out on this one. I will most certainly go back and read Brom's two previous horror books and be on the lookout for his next offering.

I've read hundreds of fantasy novels as youth; not so much anymore but I thought I'd give this a try as I really like Brom's art work and it was released in Hard Cover (I don't buy paperbacks anymore).
I was surprised how good this book is. Don't buy it for your little nephew because it has a wide variety of profanity and very dark imagery (some erotic stuff too)...but beyond that, Brom weaves a very nice adventure that mirrors the classic tale in a very moody and distorted manner.
The art work inside is great. Wish there was more but one can breeze through his art books to get more of a feel.
So yes, I recommend this book on equal parts of it's format, writing and art. Add it to your collection of Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms...it's well worth it........

An artist who insists we call them by a single name always puts me off. Madonna. Cher. Prince. Brom.

I'd encountered Brom's artwork in the past, though I wasn't ever aware of him specifically as an artist. Now that I've gona back and reviewed some of his galleries, I'm a little put off by his tendency to repeat the spread-arm pose that we see on the cover of "The Child Thief" in a number of his works. Weird.

Anyway - Brim isn't a bad visual artist but he's not a particularly good writer. In "The Child Thief", he attempts to retell the tale of Peter Pan though a dark glass and with some elements of faerie lore and Arthurian legend thrown in for good measure. References to Avalon, the Sidhe, and Sluagh abound and we get a cameo from the Lady of the Lake and Caliburn (aka Excalibur). And next to all of that are Brom's periodic delves into "darker" subject matter like child sexual abuse, torture, drugs, and the like.

Unfortunately, Brom just isn't a talented enough writer to pull it all together. His prose is dreary and flat and his pacing is muddled. His ideas never quite seem to fully germinate and while he wraps up all of his plot threads, by the end I was left barely caring. The only character that we are expected to identify with - Nick - often ends up feeling shoehorned in to any given scene and his problems often end up feeling tacked on after the fact.

Brom could also use a lesson or two in writing dialogue. And setting a decent scene. And keeping tack of his characters.

While his ideas are decent - I'd wager that Brom couldn't write his way out of a paper bag.

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