Never thought I'd consider reading mole xenofiction since I don't really have a particular interest in the animals, but it did look engaging to me. So let's have a look, spoilers ahead.
Bracken and Rebecca are two moles from different walks of life, but the duo eventually meet and fall in love. Their love will kick-start an epic story. The moles of the Duncton system have started to forget their old ways and rites, especially under the tyrannical rule of Rebecca's father Mandrake, but Bracken and Rebecca might be able to bring positive changes. They each go their own ways, though their lives will forever be entangled, as Bracken with his friend Bosswell seeks to revive the old rites and bring back Duncton to its former glory.
This is just a very great book. It's about small animals, but the story is grand and spans wide. The world-building is intricate with lots of layers and depth, the characters rich and varied, the journeys the characters go on grand and epic, it's got it all. And all that about these small creatures I previously didn't really show interest in. I really like this book and I guess I like moles now more, too.
If I do have one tiny problem with the book, it's that (especially early on) there can be a little too much narrating/telling and not enough showing, particularly in character backstories. I think these scenes would've been more effective a small flashbacks or something to get the story across more effectively and allow us to understand each character more. Sometimes the narrator will just go on a side tangent about X concept or Y character's backstory and while it's all engaging to read, it does feel like the story is grinding to a brief halt to explain something to the reader and it doesn't feel very seamless. But again this is a minor issue and it's only really prevalent near the beginning.
But overall this is a fantastic read and I do plan on reading the other two books in this series. There's also a sequel series, The Book of Silence, which I may read as well, however with there being no translations of these books in my native language, or English ebooks of them released they'll be a bit harder for me to obtain, I'll likely have to find some secondhand copies which are either on the pricey side themselves, or pricey to ship to my country.
Rating: 5/5
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