So chalk this one up to another good fantasy read. The villain is utterly creepy, psychotic and dangerous, but the rest of the characters are quite capable of causing hurt to each other in regular human ways (even if they are faery.) The Autumn Castle is less bleak and desperate than Veil of Gold, but there are still high stakes in play, and not just of lives, but of love and memory. I appreciate that Wilkins dispatches of this stage quickly and in a way that works with the characters and setting. I’ve read a fair amount of urban fantasy and fantasy novels, and though it makes sense that humans would react with disbelief to magical worlds, I get impatient if this adjustment period extends too long, or remains throughout most of the book. One thing I liked in both Veil of Gold and The Autumn Castle is how Kim Wilkins dealt with unprepared humans encountering fantasy worlds for the first time. Wilkins foreshadowed some events, but there was enough left ‘up in the air’ to keep me wondering what was going to happen next.Īlso, a certain level of predictability doesn’t seem out of place for a book which consciously evokes Grimm fairy tales. I knew what I hoped would happen in The Autumn Castle, but I didn’t know if it would, and if so, how that would be accomplished. Having read Veil of Gold, I knew that there were no guarantees about characters’ safety from Wilkins.
I guess it depends on one’s past reading experience. I remember a few reviews complaining about predictability, which surprised me. Of course, when I do that, it makes me want to respond to some of the criticisms other readers had. I did look at some Goodreads reviews before writing my own.
I loved how Christine and Eisengrimm quickly developed a companionable rapport. In The Autumn Castle, it was Christine as well as May’s faithful wolf advisor, Eisengrimm. Kim Wilkins apparently has a knack for creating characters that burrow into my affection. It is not a retelling of any particular Grimm fairy tale, but characters’ backstories contain familiar elements: a bargain too eagerly made and soon regretted, quests to undo curses, talking magical animals. Similar to how Veil of Gold pulled from Russian folktales, The Autumn Castle delves into German folklore, with overtones of Grimm fairy tales. After enjoying Kim Wilkins’ novel Veil of Gold last year, I decided to seek out her backlist.
0 kommentar(er)
