Review - A Crown of Kingfishers

A Crown of Kingfishers
by Kenneth Duffy
Date: 2017
Publisher: East of the Web
Reading level: C
Book type: short story
Pages: 6
Format: e-book
Source: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/

It being the last Thursday of the month, the greatest witch in Ireland had gone to the hairdressers and would not return for another hour.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This story's synopsis makes it sound a lot more fun and whimsical than it really is. Instead of the Harry Potter-esque story I was anticipating, I got something akin to literary fantasy with very little magic.

Simon's granny is a witch. She also has a terrible problem with memory, which leads to her going off to the hairdresser when some nasty creature called the Gollus is going to show up in the garage and destroy all the worlds. Simon has always known that he's going to need to one day decide whether to become a muggle Lockhead or be like his granny in the world of magic. But the Gollus' appearance forces his hand, and he has to make his choice right there and then.

Why do I say it's like literary fiction? Because of the non-standard dialogue, for one thing. This is supposed to be a story for children, but the dialogue isn't punctuated as such. And each of the three characters who have dialogue have it formatted differently: the heron is in italics, the Gollus is in studly caps, and Simon is... well, Simon's dialogue isn't set off at all, except as a separate paragraph. Talk about confusing! The story also begins with a two long paragraphs of exposition, which further distances it from something kids (especially reluctant readers) are going to want to read.

This was probably one of the least magical stories about magic I've ever read. The cacophony in the house (and its origins) was interesting, but beyond that, there's really nothing that exciting or unusual. Simon's great magical moment consists of shouting a five-word sentence, and somehow everything is fixed. For someone who's supposed to be performing magic, he's pretty passive; he managed to defeat the villain and save the worlds without really doing anything at all.

I have a feeling this story was more exciting in the author's head than it ended up being on the page. The weird style choices and long paragraphs made this a bit of a chore to read, and I wasn't impressed with the resolution. (It would've helped to know why the Gollus was such a bad dude. Saying he's going to destroy the worlds is just... Well, I want to know more. Why? What's his motive? How can he be stopped? What happens if he actually does destroy all the worlds? Does he cease to exist, too? If so, why would he want to do it?)

Too many questions, not enough answers. Skip this one.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 1/5
Writing & Editing: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall Rating: 1.43 out of 5 ladybugs