And another one bites the dust...
Simon and the Wardrobe of Destiny
This is a tricky book to review, because on the one hand I loved it. It was a great fun read that was entertaining throughout. But there were places where it just seemed to grate. It might just have been my sense of humour clashing with the writers, but there were parts of the book where it was (intentionally) funny, while others read as straight fantasy and the seriousness clashed. There were also a number of basic mistakes (spellings mostly) that escaped the proof reading, one of the pitfalls of self-publishing.
That being said the story itself is a good fun read, following the adventure of young loser Simon, a man for whom everything seem to work out negatively. A bad job, fired from said job, a girlfriend who is happy to dump him and so it goes.
Until he stumbles on a small bedsit, the strange old woman who lives there, and a cat that seems to be something a bit more than just a cat, as well as being as grumpy as sin; and, of course, the wardrobe.
Thrown through a portal Simon is thrown into a fantasy world, populated by orcs, dwarves, Forresters and a delicious take on elves innit. It’s a place where Simon is even more out of his depth than normal, but just by being the anachronism, the piece that does not fit, he triggers a series of events that spiral out of control, and perhaps will help him find himself, the hero within, and he might just win the heart of a girl as well.
It’s fun, full of potential, and apart from the humour - it should have gone all out funny or serious throughout - an excellent engaging read.
Also worth mentioning is the introduction in which the author describes how he wrote the book and the tools he used to do it, not to mention the offer he leaves open for other writers. Thought provoking and interesting it might be a sign of one of the futures of self-publishing.
