leeper@mtgzz.UUCP (m.r.leeper) (05/03/85)
DAMIANO by R. A. MacAvoy
Bantam, 1983, $2.75.
A book review by Mark R. Leeper
Many people claim to live their religion, but few so literally as
Damiano Delstrego. Damiano seems to be in constant contact with all sorts
of wonders of Italian folklore. Living in the Alps in the north of Italy in
the Middle Ages, Damiano takes music lessons from the Archangel Raphael.
Damiano is the son of a witch and something of a witch himself, but not
enough of an adept to protect his village from General Pardo's invading
armies. So Damiano goes off on a quest to find some magical way to protect
his village from war. Along on the travels will come Macchiata, Damiano's
faithful dog who happens to talk. What happens on this quest will leave
Damiano changed forever.
MacAvoy's writing style is as accomplished as that of anyone writing
these fantasy these days. Her prose is clear, simple, and uncluttered.
This is not a book to speed through but to savor. Like Stephen King's, for
example, the plot does not advance at a rapid pace. There is time to
develop characters and make them three-dimensional. I find, however, that
King's long build-ups do not so well flesh out the characters as do
MacAvoy's descriptions. King concentrates more on what his characters do
while MacAvoy does a better job of telling her reader who her characters
are. King writes like a snapshot, MacAvoy like an oil painting with every
detail perfect. This book may not knock your socks off, but page-by-page it
is well worth the reading.
Mark R. Leeper
...ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper