Backed by an extensive promo campaign, Feist leaps from epic
fantasy (the Riftwar trilogy) to the dark fantastic with a robust
and engrossing tale of Irish folk critters on the loose in rural
N.Y. Feist offers a classic horror setup as the model Hastings
family (top-author Dad; homemaker step-Mom; teen daughter Gabbie;
eight-year-old twins Sean and Patrick) settle from California into
the isolated Kessler farm. Idyll soon churns into nightmare as a
host of creatures from Celtic legend menaces the children. The
twins are stalked by "The Bad Thing" - a pint-sized goblinesque
being that "shudders in dark anticipation" of causing pain - while
Gabble, who's romancing local boy Jack Cole, finds her carnality
inflamed by muscular mythic blacksmith Wayland Smith and then
violated in a near-rape by the legendary Puck himself. Meanwhile,
occult scholar Mark Blackman befriends the family while tracing
links between old man Kessler and a breakout of occult mania in
1903 Germany. Oddness multiplies - leprechauns, fairies, and other
twinklies appear; the Hastings find a horde of gold on their
property - and culminates in the kidnapping of Patrick. it seems,
Blackman finally lets on, that this all is, as in 1903, a periodic
appearance of the "Good People"; but the Hastings' finding the gold
has broken an ancient pact between humanity and fairies - monitored
by an order of Magi, of whom Kesser was one - and made possible a
coup d'etat in the fairy kingdom - with Patrick a captive of the
evil Fool and a pawn in the power struggle. Blackman and Dad rush
to save Patrick, but they're beaten to the punch by Sean, who with
guidance from an old Irishman sets off on an quest into the fairy
lands to save his twin. Too diffuse to grip fully (only Sean's
final quest, with its unifying hero and goal, soars) and too weak
in its villains really to scare; still, Feist milks his characters
and material with energy and flair, creating a believable and
memorable fantasy backdrop to doings that always entertain even if
they rarely astonish. (Kirkus Reviews)
A contemporary fantasy novel about the Hastings family who move
from California to upstate New York into a ramshackle, old house in
a deep wood and become involved in ancient, Celtic magic and occult
horror when they are lured into the world of some luminous elfin
beings.;Raymond E.Feist is also the author of "The Riftwar Saga",
"Magician", "Silverthorn" and "A Darkness at Sethanon".
General
Imprint: |
Voyager
|
Country of origin: |
United Kingdom |
Release date: |
September 1989 |
Authors: |
Raymond E. Feist
|
Dimensions: |
178 x 111 x 30mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Mass Market
|
Pages: |
489 |
Edition: |
Reissue |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-586-07139-7 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-586-07139-3 |
Barcode: |
9780586071397 |
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