Name - The Summer War
Written by - Naomi Novik
Narrated by - Ella Lynch
Published by - Del Rey / Penguin
Audiobook by - Random House Audio
Telling a story in the vain of classic fairy tales is more easily said than done. And Novik did a brilliant job of pulling off a layer of mesmerizing prose; the first two thirds of the book flowed so brilliantly with its richly imagined little setting and the trio of siblings with their individual voices. But the last third and the ending were just worked out a little awkwardly, leaving me wondering if the author could have maybe taken things in a different direction for a better closure.
Naomi Novik is a well-known writer in fantasy circles, always praised for her beautiful depiction of fairytale-inspired prose and setting. And her fluency in this regard is felt from the beginning. The tale of the centuries-long Summer Wars and our heroine Celia getting caught in it with her family started very engagingly. With emphasis on style rather than substance to tell the story, the author created a fully fleshed heroine and also her two brothers, both unique in their own way.
Celia in her hormone-induced emotional angst curses her oldest brother Argent for never finding love in his life. Then after Argent left, she grew close to her middle brother Roric, who is quite an interesting character in his own right. Then she tries to break the curse, but unfortunately gets caught in the animosity of the two kingdoms herself.
The story starts with beautiful and lyrical prose, introduces its characters and world brilliantly, but somehow loses momentum towards the end. It changes its direction quite unsuspectingly and gives a rather patched up ending not giving all the characters proper closer. Roric was the best character and surely deserved more time to shine, and Argent, on the other hand, gets a fast and all of a sudden romance shoved in his face and dealt with poorly.
A novella with so much promise that never fully delivered, this gets 3.5 out of 5 stars from me.
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