Official Review: Sequoia Chronicles by Jim Moll
Posted: 24 Feb 2021, 05:40
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sequoia Chronicles" by Jim Moll.]
Mark Keating is a young journalist who had an abusive childhood. This book is centered on Mark's journal, one he wrote while hiding from those he had made an enemy of while he was at Running Deer Campground. After his college education, he got a job as a radio reporter with KBSC, a broadcasting station in Sequoia City, where he also provided stories for other stations. As a result of his anxiety, it was difficult for him to make friends or trust anyone. In Sequoia, though, he was able to meet lots of people and make friends. The closest to him were Emma, a girl he fell in love with, and Ed, a journalist for the Sequoia City Bulletin.
Meanwhile, Mark started writing a story about an Indian boy named Zia who was planning President Carter's assassination. He was also threatened several times when he started investigating some illegal activities in Sequoia City. The same could be said about his friend, Ed, who also tried to investigate a different illegal activity. What are these activities about? Who is trying to ensure that these activities aren't unraveled and why?
Sequoia Chronicles was a mix of education and fiction for me. Jim Moll showed how accomplished a reporter he was with his powers of description in this book. His descriptions left nothing to the imagination, and I mean that in a good way. Even though there were a few instances where he may have given a little too much information, his descriptive writing made the book more realistic and relatable. It was the biggest positive in this book for me. Mark's story was also written from a first-person perspective, which I think is the best way to approach a character-driven story.
In a way, Sequoia Chronicles was a collection of stories. Moll told the stories of different people and events and often dedicated whole chapters to them. Each of these chapters was also named after the people they were talking about. This was confusing at times as they seemed like detours from the main plot about Mark Keating. An example of this deviation was when he told a long tale about flying, which just amounted to him telling us why the presidential airplane was named Air Force One. But I liked that the author finally linked these stories to show the connections between them and Mark's journey.
Jim incorporated several detailed pieces of research into this book. These showed in his accounts of California's history, the history of the gold rush in California, the survey analyses of the Sequoia Lake, and more. I felt that these details could have been left out or toned down as they were more distracting than entertaining. As much as I appreciated Moll's aim to educate, I felt this level of detailing surrounding secondary elements took the focus off the main plot. I had to fight the urge to skim these parts whenever I encountered them. This was my biggest issue with this book as it caused the story to drag and not pique my interest until I had read about a quarter of the book.
I found only a couple of errors while reading. This proved that the book was professionally edited. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Due to the unnecessary amount of time given to elements that contributed nothing to the main plot, I can't give it a higher rating. Additionally, the book's educational slant, where it concerns some real historical events, means that it may bore a casual reader. However, it may keep the more complex reader interested. Consequently, I recommend this book to historical fiction readers who have an open-minded approach to non-conventional ways of writing fiction.
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Sequoia Chronicles
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Mark Keating is a young journalist who had an abusive childhood. This book is centered on Mark's journal, one he wrote while hiding from those he had made an enemy of while he was at Running Deer Campground. After his college education, he got a job as a radio reporter with KBSC, a broadcasting station in Sequoia City, where he also provided stories for other stations. As a result of his anxiety, it was difficult for him to make friends or trust anyone. In Sequoia, though, he was able to meet lots of people and make friends. The closest to him were Emma, a girl he fell in love with, and Ed, a journalist for the Sequoia City Bulletin.
Meanwhile, Mark started writing a story about an Indian boy named Zia who was planning President Carter's assassination. He was also threatened several times when he started investigating some illegal activities in Sequoia City. The same could be said about his friend, Ed, who also tried to investigate a different illegal activity. What are these activities about? Who is trying to ensure that these activities aren't unraveled and why?
Sequoia Chronicles was a mix of education and fiction for me. Jim Moll showed how accomplished a reporter he was with his powers of description in this book. His descriptions left nothing to the imagination, and I mean that in a good way. Even though there were a few instances where he may have given a little too much information, his descriptive writing made the book more realistic and relatable. It was the biggest positive in this book for me. Mark's story was also written from a first-person perspective, which I think is the best way to approach a character-driven story.
In a way, Sequoia Chronicles was a collection of stories. Moll told the stories of different people and events and often dedicated whole chapters to them. Each of these chapters was also named after the people they were talking about. This was confusing at times as they seemed like detours from the main plot about Mark Keating. An example of this deviation was when he told a long tale about flying, which just amounted to him telling us why the presidential airplane was named Air Force One. But I liked that the author finally linked these stories to show the connections between them and Mark's journey.
Jim incorporated several detailed pieces of research into this book. These showed in his accounts of California's history, the history of the gold rush in California, the survey analyses of the Sequoia Lake, and more. I felt that these details could have been left out or toned down as they were more distracting than entertaining. As much as I appreciated Moll's aim to educate, I felt this level of detailing surrounding secondary elements took the focus off the main plot. I had to fight the urge to skim these parts whenever I encountered them. This was my biggest issue with this book as it caused the story to drag and not pique my interest until I had read about a quarter of the book.
I found only a couple of errors while reading. This proved that the book was professionally edited. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. Due to the unnecessary amount of time given to elements that contributed nothing to the main plot, I can't give it a higher rating. Additionally, the book's educational slant, where it concerns some real historical events, means that it may bore a casual reader. However, it may keep the more complex reader interested. Consequently, I recommend this book to historical fiction readers who have an open-minded approach to non-conventional ways of writing fiction.
******
Sequoia Chronicles
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon