 |
|
Title: In the Forests of the Night (Den of Shadows)
ISBN: 0440228166
Author:
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Publicate Date: 2000-05-09
Publish: 2000-05-09
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Mass Market Paperback
 |
|
|
|
|
Amazon Lowest New Price: $2.57
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.99
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Customer Review: |
|
1: Amazing for a teenager writer, but has a lot of flaws
About a month ago I heard about this girl that at 24 is a ten times published author, who wrote this book when she was 13. Since then, I've read three of her books, and most likely by the end of the year I will have read them all.
With respect to this particular book, before I start taking it apart, let me say, I know that it is a million times easier to criticize than to create. I am reading her books on chronological order, thus, I haven't yet gotten to those she wrote after she finished high school, so, probably she has already improved her style, and matured as a writer. Even with this first book, it is more than evident she has talent and potential.
Now the story: A seventeen year old girl at the beginning of the eighteenth century gets transformed into a vampire against her will. In the process she gets scorned with another vampire. She gets into a fight with this guy in the eighteenth century, but she loses. Three hundred years later she is already being teased by this vampire, and she is still scorned. The rest, well, read it, I don't want to over spoil it.
Now, the flaws. First, although the phrasing is elegant, the transitions are quite often forced. Also, the characters are tediously unidimensional. The evil guy is evil, period. The main character is not evil, she is not exactly good, but there is no complexity, she is so so linear.
Also, the physical confrontations are tremendously tedious and over described. One of this physical fights takes two and a half chapters to developed, what, in this case, is about 10% of the book, basically to tell "We started fighting. At the beginning nobody was winning, but then, I was very clever and manage to get on top of the situation and I was wining, but then, I got careless and he was winning, but then he got over-confident and I won." Now, expand this to 20+ pages!
The final flaw is, in my opinion, that her wishes and vampires are overly powerful. Although I have never really found that interesting modern books of vampires, who doesn't love Dracula's book, and some others that have been around for a while. And indeed I am fond of most of the late 20th century films and series about vampires (not so much with newer ones). I know that vampires are supposed to be physically powerful, much more than a human, and also that they have hypnotic powers. But Amelia overdoes it here. Her characters are so powerful that "even the weakest of the vampires could effortlessly lift a ten wheeler", and the powerful ones, by her narrative, could probably beat Superman with their pinky and at the same time they could read every single mind in Manhattan. I imagine half of the narrative on this book would make no sense if the vampires were a bit less... unreal.
On the good side, I liked a lot how she managed to tell the story constantly alternating between the eighteenth and the twenty first centuries. That was neat.
Now, to be honest, I think that if she had not been a teenager when she published this book, this in particular would likely have not been published at all, and if it had, it wouldn't have been successful, and would have sold probably just a few thousand copies. But, probably, the agent and the publisher thought what I though: She has way too much talent, and given that she is only thirteen, most of this flaws are forgivable.
|
2: i am a huge fan
i have always been a fan of science fiction but when i started reading amelia atwater rhodes books i was stuck. Forests and Demon in my View are so gripping and very touching to me. they actully tell the stories of the characters and dont jump around from person to person getting you lost. I ABSOULTLY LOVED ALL HER BOOKS
|
3: This reads like a 16 year old wrote it...
...which is a compliment, I suppose, considering she was 13 when it was penned. It's actually quite impressive for such a young woman, but the sheer wall of angst, the repetitive use of such overdone terms as good, evil and innocence, not to mention 300 year old creatures who react like high school students when approached with conflict...well, suffice it to say that the high rating this novel has received overall leaves me baffled. The tone, conflict and resolution call out the author's adolescence. I suspect in time, as she gets more life experience, she will be quite good at the craft, but for now? Not so much.
If you are in high school yourself, this might be a good read. Otherwise, skip it. There's plenty of YA lit of high enough caliber to appeal to adult sensibilities. On the plus side, this is an extremely short book, so you won't waste too much of your life if you feel the need to actually complete it.
|
4: Hmmmm......
This is a unique book. It's unique in an obvious way in that it's only about 150 pages. It's also unique in that it delves into vampire world without getting sexually explicit (which I appreciated). Now, because it was so short, the book did lack some depth. With that said, I still found it to be quite captivating. A good read by a promising young author, this book is certainly worth your time.
|
5: A book that you just have to finish once you pick it up
A thrilling experence that you just want to read over and over again and you feel like you're right there watching the action in your own mind. I borowed it from my teacher for a week and I read it about six times.
-Adam Slavik
|
|
|
|
|
