Purtill.StudentNS@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA (08/04/85)
From: Mark Purtill <Purtill@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA>
<Fnord>
mini-***SPOILER*** for those who care about such things.
_The_Book_of_Kells_ is R. A. MacAvoy's newest book. Based on
her previous work, I bought it instantly upon seeing it (which is rare
for me) and I wasn't disapointed. The story involves a mysterious
carved cross which enables people to move between the tenth century AD
and the present. The main characters are a Canadian artist living in
(modern) Ireland, a professor of Irish history of about that time (also
in modern Ireland), and various people of tenth century Ireland,
most importantly two survivors of a Viking massacre, a poet and the
daughter of a stone carver. (The stone carver carved the cross
mentioned above.)
MacAvoy seems to know the Ireland of the tenth century, by
which I mean the background is convincing (I don't know whether it's
actually correct, but I don't really care either). I liked the fact
that one of the characters from the present, the artist, has trouble
with old Irish for the whole book. (A lot of books like this have a bit
where they say "Fortunately, Fred had always been adept at language, and
over the next two nights became fluent in Old High Swinese," which I've
always felt was really stupid.) Some people will not like that fact that
several not too important things are never explained, but I didn't mind.
So, all in all, I thought this was a pretty good book. It's
maybe not quite as good as _Rafael_, which was MacAvoy's previous book,
but it's as good as her other stuff. Certainly anyone who liked her
last book will like this one. (Incidentally, this is being marketed as
a "Novel," not SF or Fantasy, so you might have to look in a different
section of you local bookstore to find it. It comes complete with a
really ugly painting inside the front cover, which looks very
"mainstream." Don't let that put you off.)
Mark
^.-.^ Purtill at MIT-MULTICS.ARPA **Insert favorite disclaimer here**
((")) 2-032 MIT Cambrige MA 02139