Chosen

This post is a slight departure from the usual. A random Twitter contact asked whether any book bloggers would like a book to review and, as I have seen various other contacts say lots of very positive thing about this book, I was intrigued and volunteered.

I'm not intending to move in this direction, particularly - certainly not before I've finished this top 100 - but I am reading Gone with the Wind at the moment, and needed the satisfaction of completing a book more quickly! During one week, I was working my way through GWTW, this book, and a Marian Keyes I picked up in a charity shop. Thankfully they are all very different so I think I've managed to maintain a pretty clear idea of what happens in each one!

So, this book is called Chosen, and is by Jerry Ibbotson. If you would like to know more about him or the book, his website is http://www.jerryibbotson.co.uk.

Jerry has self-published this novel, and it is gradually achieving some exposure - according to his website it is now stocked by all branches of Waterstones, which seems like a great achievement with a self-published work. He describes it as a combination of fantasy and coming-of-age, which (as you will know from earlier posts) is not entirely my usual genre. However, the novelty of reviewing a book by a local author, which he kindly hand-delivered to the door (beats Amazon any day!) had me interested and involved before I even read the first page.

The basis of the tale is that Alex, a man with two small children who is feeling generally disillusioned and, I think, disappointed with life, finds his way into an alternate world via a corridor in his office basement. He finds himself drawn repeatedly back to this world, eventually setting off on a quest with his annoying colleague to explore and reach a city which is "far, far away". Armed only with a sleeping bag and his cagoule, and not without a sense of guilt at leaving his wife & children, he heads off into the unknown. The adventure then develops into something of a quest, as he learns more about his own identity, the world he is in and the people he meets on his travels.

It's difficult to say too much more about the story without giving it away; I'm conscious of not dropping any spoilers, as one of the really strong points of this book is the element of surprise and unexpectedness. There is a strong sense of Narnia/CS Lewis at the start - inevitable, I think, given that it begins with passage through into another world - and I guess potential similarities could be seen in that they both address themes of salvation and religious identity. However, given this crossover, they really could not be more different and my initial concern that the work would be derivative of CS Lewis was not realised!

Jerry creates some very strong concepts in this book. His depiction of the Lezard, a many-headed monster, is particularly vivid, and I also thought that the descriptions of the scenes where the village defended itself against "the undead" using only their lights were well-realised. The characters do not greatly develop, but I seem to remember making a similar criticism regarding Lord of the Rings, and I think the same principle applies here - the central concept is the quest, and what the characters represent, rather than their actual characteristics as such.

It kept me interested all the way through to the end; it is well-plotted and structured; and I may read it again to see whether I have missed anything in terms of references, underlying messaging etc. So, on that front, I would definitely recommend it as a fairly quick, fun read - particularly if you live in York, as helping to promote and encourage local talent seems like a good thing to do! You may also note the mention of the Mitre pub, which perhaps has its parallel in York.......

One criticism, though - I think this may be something to do with the fact that the novel is self-published. Ideally, when reading, the writing should be so smooth as to allow you to almost forget that you are reading, and to be drawn into whatever fictional world you are inhabiting - I don't know if that makes any sense? From time to time, I found that my enjoyment of the story, and involvement in Alex's world and adventures, was jolted by a clumsy sentence or description, kind of kicking me out of my belief in the tale because I had to think about what the author was trying to portray. I don't think that this is bad writing as such, but it struck me that those are the kind of passages that an editor might pick apart with an author - i.e. can the language be tightened up, does this metaphor actually work, what exactly are you trying to say there? This sent me musing about how great the difference is between published and unpublished authors, and whether it is a good editor that can make the difference between a bestseller and something which achieves lesser acclaim...obviously not wanting to take anything away from the author, and the creative process, but I do think that Chosen could have benefitted from someone with a red pen and some constructive criticism.

Even bearing that in mind, though, definitely worth a read. Well constructed story, which has the ability to grip you even if you have very little interest, generally, in the fantasy genre!

And I've just discovered that it is also available on Amazon...go nuts!