Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle

I'm not really sure what I think about this book.

Kate and her younger sister Emily come to Hallow Hill after their father dies. But the two orphans can find no peace in the country of England, for Hallow Hill lies right in the middle of the goblin kingdom, and the goblin king is determined to have Kate as his bride. Duh duh duh.

This story kind of seems like two separate stories in one. You have Marak (the goblin king) trying to successfully kidnap Kate (who of course puts up quite a fight), and then you have the story about what happens after. So in way, it seems like nothing much happened, or that nothing very detailed happened, which isn't true at all. The book isn't boring. It's just weird to describe.

The writing was beautiful, but the narration...was not. Clare B. Dunkle used the omniscient third person to tell her story, and though at times I enjoyed the insights such a narrator allowed, I thought the story would have been much better had it been told in the limited third person from Kate's point of view or the first person from Kate's point of view. But I loved the characters. (Okay. I admit it, I have a slight crush on Marak, though my heart will always belong to Finn from Books of Bayern.) I loved the settings. I loved just about everything about this book other than the narrative.

Definitely it's a very worthwhile book to read, though I shall always prefer The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope, if only because Elizabeth Tudor is a minor character. ;)

The Hollow Kingdom is the first in The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy followed by Close Kin and In the Coils of the Snake which I do plan on reading.

10 comments:

bloody awful poetry said...

Oh yay! I'm not the only one who has crushes on fictional male specimens!

Jessica said...

I really liked this book - but I do agree with you that it did seem as if there were two different stories. In some ways it resembled Beauty and The Beast, but then something totally different...yes, it was definitely weird to describe :)

International Mastermind said...

When I was in second grade I had a mad cruch on Ron Weasley-the charachter. Ha ha.
I'm still not totally over it- I have a poster of Ron, Fred and Goerge hanging in my room. All of them have ears!!!

CosimaCat said...

Um... Would you mind terribly if I reviewed the Perilous Gard?

CosimaCat said...

(Note - Last comment was to the author of this post, and - Bloody Awful Poetry, seconded. I think most people who read (and more who watch movies, but they're more likely to be Sue'thors *shudder*) have crushes on fictional characters.)

Anonymous said...

This story is fantastic in my opinion. But why oh why did she not just end it right after the marriage? It's like taking a picture of a really happy family picnic and then taking picture of the rainstorm that ruined it. The third one does not have this problem as badly as the other two.

Anonymous said...

i like marak, when he pulled his hood off to show kate, if that were to have ben me i would have said "what of it?" and when he'd "force" me to marry him, i would ask him stuuf like "do you have your own currency? what about religion? phlosophy?" but id hate him cuting my hands.... :( but i highly doubt it, btw to discribe the book... if u like twilight u probably will like this book.

Anonymous said...

loved this book but nobody ever knows bout it crycry

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