Something Red

by Douglas Nicholas

[nannah]

For a book that's not too long, this took me forever to read.

This book has an incredibly boring (yet lovely) writing style that is bogged down with unnecessary description and details. Near the beginning, our troupe of characters sit down to a meal provided by monks, and the story absolutely stops to describe every person, what they eat, how they eat, what they're wearing, what they look like, etc., regardless of if those characters were even going to be seen again later in the book or not. It also sometimes would suddenly have lines and paragraphs that would stick out incredibly clumsily, ripping me from the story to notice I'm just looking at words.

There were also characters with written dialogue that was nearly impossible to read (and read, and read again):

". . . theer's t' scudding as takes off all t' rest o' t'hair and t' color as thy lime has left, then it's intae yon tubs, they well-made tub being a thing of wondrous clever fashioning, Master Hunferth's oor copper, a fine auld man, tha wilna find anither cooper t'like in t'North Country, auld Hunferth makks a tub looks like it's grown fra t' one tree . . ."

But Douglas Nicholas sure does have a knack for characterization. I immediately got a feeling for each character and each character's personal strengths and quirks and developed a fondness for each one in the main quartet (especially Jack, which was extremely unexpected, since the rough, tough silent guys aren't usually my faves).

I wish the characterization was enough to keep me interested, though. The plot went nowhere, especially in part one. Nothing really happened. Oh, there were tons of words, describing the ox, the weather, the trees, and on and on, but only very very briefly were there words about the plot (Molly, her daughter, Nemain, her husband, Jack, and their apprentice, Hob, are a performing troupe journey over the mountains who come across a "beast"). Still then, the book only hints at a plot. Something Red seems mostly like a troupe of people on a series of pit stops with lots of eating--and a hint of lowkey werewolf attacks. But it's no big deal.

The book followed a very boring pattern: the troupe goes from place to place, each one having another attack from the mysterious beast. Nothing is very personal for any of the characters, and nothing has a very great cost, so I'm not very invested. It seems like a very enthusiastic, poetic first draft that wasn't really thought out afterward--mainly "what is the plot and does it drive every scene?" Douglas Nicholas seems to bet that readers will be enthralled by the setting only, but it doesn't carry me.