So, I was playing some poker the other day (not really), and the first card on the table ended up being the race card. Any time that card shows up, you have to wonder who it's being played against. In this instance, I think it might have been Bram Stoker.
I've read plenty of books with racist characters in them before. I really expect that sort of thing in older books. Racism and sexism was kinda the norm back in the day, sadly. Anyway, I don't think I had ever read a book where the 3rd person narrator seemed a bit racist. Did the character from Africa really have to be a "devil of a man?" (that's not a real quote, btw) The narrator also use the n-word quite a few times. I know it was the 19th century, and that was probably common language back then, and I'm probably just reading too much into it, but it was a bit jarring. Of course, the main character's 200 some-odd racist bones didn't bother me so much.
But enough about the dreaded race card, what about the rest of the book?
It was a little interesting. A guy moves from Australia to be near is elderly and childless uncle. He becomes friends with one of his uncle's friends who studies the various myths and legends of England. There's a monster (a white wormy thing) that was supposed to have lived in that area. And with that, you got a bit of the set up.
The way it plays out doesn't actually make a lot of sense to me. There's entire chapters that seemed to have pretty much no point at all with regards to the greater story. After having finished the book, I have got to say that they had pretty much no point at all with regards to the greater story. There's just a whole lot there that doesn't really go anywhere. For instance, there's a chapter or so talking about how the area became swarming with birds that just wouldn't go away. No reason is given as to why they're there. They do become a very big problem for the comunity, which leads to the local duke, prince, or whatever (I'll pretend that duke is correct) to create a kite shaped like a hawk to scare them all away. If I remember correctly, the book dedicates several more chapters to the duke's obsession with his kite. Admittedly, the kite is slightly significant to the story, as it relates to the all-too-convenient ending. I was really wondering how the story was going to resolve itself in the few pages that were remaining and then BANG, it just kinda ended in a nice pretty package.
It's okay, but not great. I can't recommend it.
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