Novel #1 March (somewhat unexpected)

MOON REPORT: waxing crescent. 7% full (ish. I just glanced.)


I spent today in rare luxury: I read a book cover to cover! Barring the interruptions by the hyper-barking dogs, I flumped all over the house with a book in my hand and forgot about the world. The book: The Elementals by Morgan Llewellyn. First published in 1993, it is now out of print--although you can find several used copies from Amazon.

I don't remember ever having read this book until today--but somehow I must have done because as I read along I seemed to know where the stories were headed. Not like "predictable" plot kinds of knowing, but like I had dreamed them. So, unless I am somehow gleaning novels from the ether without having read them, I think I must have read this book a long time ago.

I have seen some reviews for this book say it was fabulous and others say skip the last two stories. I'll just say it is an easy afternoon read. Although I agree the first two stories (water, fire) were stronger than the last two (earth, air), I think the driving ideas behind them are worth the read.

I'd call these stories character driven. Though sometimes I feel jerked around by the POV--it should be third person limited but the POV shifts to other characters in a sporadic and unnecessary manner making the omnicient POV impossible. Someone may comment and tell me I've got the terms backwards or wrong or whatever so I'll make it simple: it should read like Harry Potter (being in the protagonist POV at all times). The internal dialog from several characters in each story jars a reader out of the harmony of the narrative. I wish each story would have stuck to the protagonist POV without trying to encompass the whole.

Each story could have been (and most likely should have been) explored in a full novel rather than as a quarter piece. It would also have allowed a full exploration of the element in a smooth and polished way rather than making a reader feel bludgeoned by the implications. The first story especially should have been given free reign to see where it could have taken the writer (and us as readers).

All in all: good lazy afternoon. Read on!