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Fans of epic adventure fantasy will not want to miss this well-crafted tale of magic and madness, spells and stories, and humans and former humans ensorcelled into animals. Susman displays with considerable skill every imaginative writing chop of the masters before him, such as Tolkien, Jacques, Lewis, Grahame, and others. What begins as a simple tale of punishment for a young thief, Nivali al Tamsin (better known as Nivvy), lashed upon a spinning wheel, pelted with rotten vegetables and savory insults by the good townsfolk of Plow, moves forward on the premise of risk and rescue by assisting Bella, a down-on-her-luck lady in a raggedy but expensive gown. If Nivvy successfully completes Bella’s proffered task—to steal back a kingdom that she claims to have lost (or perhaps destroyed a millennium prior, according to ancient stories)—his name will surely shine again in the Thieves Guild. The stakes are high, but Nivvy’s current circumstances are about as low as one can go before scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel: “If Bella wasn’t delusional and he could really do her job, that would be fantastic luck, but once-in-a-lifetime jobs didn’t fall into the laps of disgraced thieves in the middle of nowhere.”
The slow but steady pace of the novel and the unexpected, clever worldbuilding make the long story roll by quickly, considering the epic length. As with many long fantasy tales, there’s that spot in the middle in which everything seems to drag, making readers wonder if pages could have been sacrificed. But the tale never really loses its cachet despite the slowdown. Fortunately, this steady pace leaves ample room for solid character building, so Nivvy, Bella, Nivvy’s (stolen) horse Rahila, his hawk friend Zein, Scarlet—an ancient friend of Bella’s who lives in a volcano, and many other quirky characters are vibrant and memorable. One of the novel’s most intriguing motifs is that magic is connected to story. Therefore, one needs to recite a story correctly to unlock the magical spell associated with it in this world where stories are as valued as currency. Nivvy and Bella must collect some artifacts along the way to support her mission. Nivvy knows that to unlock the artifact, one must know its story: “Beg pardon,” he said, “but it’s exactly how magic works. Magic artifact got a story, you know the story, you unlock its power.”
This fairy tale story will intrigue both young readers and the young at heart who appreciate the enduring magic of a story well told. As with all adventures, there are struggles and obstacles, and the treachery of dishonesty rears its ugly head at expected and unexpected times. Susman is skilled at turning the tale on its head quickly, and his protagonist, Nivvy, is equally skilled at finding his balance again, even when the chips are down. For example, when he is turned into a weasel, it certainly seems like Nivvy has a good reason to despair. Yet he still rolls with the punches, figuring life as a small furry creature could prove rewarding nonetheless. After all, there are plenty of other former humans around to consort with. A fun bonus is a group of short tales in the back of the book that are referred to but not fully explored in the main narrative.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review