This is the second book I’ve read by this author. I really liked his novella The World More Full of Weeping, which I blogged about earlier. I wanted to see how his full-length novels were. It helped that it was a fantasy genre (I’m quite partial to it, as you may have noticed). Anyways, here is my review:
For nearly a decade, Christopher Knox has been trying to write the second novel to his first bestseller – and he’s failing at it. It’s led to his family falling apart and him living in the garage, unable to connect with his son, David, except for when they read a bedtime story together. For David’s birthday, Chris gives him a one-of-a-kind book called To the Four Directions by a forgotten author called Lazarus Took. Although David is reluctant to read it, he soon loves it and can’t seem to put the book down. At first, Chris is overjoyed by his son’s obsession. But when David has a seizure as he is reading the book, Chris begins to suspect that this may be no ordinary book. In fact, it may be the reason why David is now comatose. David finds himself trapped in the book, following the hero’s quest to find the mysterious Sunstone. While David battles the demons inside the book, Chris must fight the demons on the outside to find the origin of this book and a way to get his son back.
This was a great novel. It was suspenseful and scary and I couldn’t put it down. It was quite a heavy hardcover but I lugged it around all the same, sneaking quick reads in between my classes. The story never got boring, even when it described the way in which books get published. Every little detail mattered and every character mattered. Similar to the novella, this novel is about the relationship between a father and a son. Wiersema depicts Christopher as a very sensitive man, something I don’t really see many authors do. It makes a nice change to meet a man who doesn’t always get into crazy heroics and who freely cries because of how much he loves his family. The son seemed stronger than his father as a character, which was quite interesting to see. Overall, this was a great read and I cannot wait to read more by this author!
Happy reading ~
