Short and sweet – this book was so good. I loved the story as it wasn’t playing for high stakes, but it gives us a month of a man’s life as he comes off some pretty bad experiences and finds happiness in his work and the people around him.
I often criticize books for telling rather than showing – this book does the opposite so well. Things are discovered organically and it feels like experiencing these moments rather than reading about them in a long slog of text.
This book also is the recollection of the main character long after this month in the country had passed – and as he recalls he gives hints of how these events have affected him over the years. Most of all this month is a treasure to him, and in sharing it with us it becomes something important for the reader, too.
I also liked that all the characters have a spark to them without being overly eccentric. Even the “villain” is firmly rooted in humanity and could have just as easily found himself the center of the story in a positive way.
With plenty of negativity in the world books like this are a sort of balm – apply as often as necessary.
Next I am headed back to the dungeon – I’m reading The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman.
