Official Review: The UnderFolk by Tony Moulton

[RussetDivinity]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The UnderFolk" by Tony Moulton.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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James and Tyler have a perfectly normal life: they are happily married in a nice neighborhood with a terrier, Coco. However, everything changes when, one morning, James walks into his kitchen to find two people clearing up what looks suspiciously like blood. Naturally, he panics, but by the time he calls the police, the people and the blood have vanished without a trace. This isn’t the only time when mysterious beings appear before James, and he soon finds that his life has become stranger than he ever could have imagined. The UnderFolk allows us to follow James as his life goes from mundane to terrifying, and the novel provides more than enough chilling material and a strong enough story for me to give it 3 out of 4 stars.

In a novel that could easily have been solely based on its plot with flat characters, it was wonderful to see secondary characters who had powerful characterization. Most refreshing was likely Michael Porter, a surly police officer who manages to be both antagonistic and perfectly competent, giving a welcome break from policemen who are both loathsome and useless. My favorite of the secondary characters, though, would have to be Ena, James’s neighbor. She is at once the typical wealthy eccentric lady and a delightfully atypical old woman who knows far more about the world than she lets on to most people. My one complaint about the characters would be that Tyler doesn’t get nearly as much characterization as I would like, given he’s the protagonist’s husband.

While I said this novel isn’t one of those that relies on plot more than characters, it is heavily plot-driven. This is not, however, a bad thing, at least in this case. With the gradual rise of terror that comes as James’s life drifts further and further from what he’s known, the plot draws the characters deeper and deeper into a world that could be magic, madness, or both. The final third of the book reveals why it was driven more by the plot than by character choices, and without giving anything away, I will simply say that the author makes a strong choice that I almost completely agree with.

That almost is one of the reasons I only gave the novel three stars, but since that was partly a matter of taste and would give away spoilers if I were to discuss it, I’ll go into the other reason: grammar. While I try not to be a stickler about grammar, there were enough missing commas to annoy me, even though the story kept pulling me along. There were also a few times where the writing felt a bit wooden and stiff, but again, the story was powerful enough for me to enjoy it, despite that.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the sort of fantasy that gradually intrudes on everyday life. It’s well worth reading, and one of the most powerful books I’ve found on this site.

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[bookowlie]

Interesting review. I don't read that many books in the fantasy genre, but I do enjoy books where the characters are finely drawn. I am adding it to my "maybe" list.