The Call begins with an interest idea. Modern Ireland is now separated from the rest of the world, as the ancient Sidhe are working to take back their land from the descendants of the people who stole it from them. They enact this by "calling" all children, randomly, from around the ages of 11 to 17, to their own Grey Land. Most children do not survive the calling, though it happens for a little over three minutes in this world, while a day passes in the Grey Land. The touch of the Sidhe twists the children, physically and mentally. The few who survive are strangely altered, as are the bodies of those who have died. The novel follows young Nessa, a girl who had childhood polio and who thus has crippled legs. She and her friends are gathered at a school which attempts to teach them ways to survive their inevitable calling. This works pretty well for setting up the first half of the book, but gradually the plot unravels, as only a few of the characters become more than cardboard ciphers, and the motivations of any of them (as well as the Sidhe) shift without cause or reason on a dime. And the writing is fairly pedestrian. By the time one gets to the end one is relieved for the book to be over. There is a sequel, but I simply don't care to know about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment