Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Review: Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country



Having rescued his twin brother, Dael, from cruel captors, Zan-Gah expects a happy ending.  However, the girl he loves is in love with Dael.  Dael himself is much changed from the playful, laughing boy he used to be: where Zan has grown strong and wise, Dael has grown into an unpredictable, coldly distant, harsh killer.

Zan now wants to bring his tribe to a place he calls the Beautiful Country, a land of luxury and plenty.  There, he is sure that they can prosper and that Dael will find healing.  But the journey is a long and harsh one, and as much as Zan longs for peace, Dael longs for violence and bloodshed...

Entertainment: ★★★

Overall this book was a little simplistic for my tastes, but I enjoyed it as a quick afternoon homework break.

Plot: ★★

Things are a little too implausible in this story.  The miraculous timing of uncontrollable natural events, for example.  And I didn't like the ending much at all, although I won't spoil it by saying why.

Characters: ★★

I thought Dael was pretty interesting, with his somewhat warped personality.  Besides him, well, the book was really short so there just wasn't a lot of characterization.

Writing: ★★

I did prefer the writing in this book to the writing in the previous book, because it's less educational and more entertaining.  However, some scenes just fell flat.  Overall I was a little underwhelmed.

End Result: two stars.  I was not impressed.

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