Review by Booklist Review
Imagine there are two worlds, the natural world and that of the supernatural. Further, imagine they are separated by a gossamer veil. Lastly, imagine two boys, Ewan and Colby, from the natural world who find themselves in the supernatural, and you have the premise of this epic fantasy. Shortly after the two boys meet, however, they are returned to the natural world where they grow up, Ewan to become a musician and Colby to become a bookstore clerk and something more: a wizard! In due course, the supernatural and natural worlds will mesh with, well, catastrophic results. Cargill's first novel is replete with a bewildering variety of fairies and a sometimes bewildering amount of philosophizing that occasionally retards the action of an otherwise dynamic story. However, Ewan and Colby are both likable characters who invite the reader's empathy, and the setting of the supernatural world is richly imagined. All in all, an auspicious debut, the closing pages of which seem to promise, duh, a sequel.--Cart, Michael Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this beautifully written debut, Ain't It Cool News Web site contributor Cargill chronicles the friendship and adventures of Ewan, stolen as a baby by the fairy-goblin crossbreeds called Bendith Y Mamau, and Colby, an eight-year-old who encounters a djinn, with an unhurried storyteller style that provides total immersion. The two boys travel from the faerie lands known as the Limestone Kingdom, a realm filled with creatures of myth-Coyote, changelings, the Wild Hunt, and more-to Austin, Tex., where they must learn to navigate the often treacherous path to adulthood. Legends and faerie lore are given a dark urban twist with a raw, honest, sometimes violent edge. The universe is richly detailed, and issues of destiny and sacrifice give the story depth. Readers with delicate sensibilities should leave this one for those who enjoy a roller-coaster ride into the depths of strangeness and despair. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Foundry Literary + Media. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
A child stolen away by the fairies is one of the oldest stories in fantasy, but in this debut, it is only the beginning of the tale. Ewan was taken as a baby to the Limestone Kingdom, where he was raised as a half-wild fairy creature and never told of the destiny that awaited him. Colby is another human child who encounters a djinn and makes a wish to see all the magical things that are normally veiled from human eyes. The fates of the two children are intertwined as they try to save Ewan from the forces of the Limestone Kingdom and the Wild Hunt. VERDICT Cargill shows us hard-drinking angels, jealous changelings, and trickster spirits in a brilliant modern fairy tale that is dark, bloody, and populated with creatures trapped by their own natures. (LJ 11/15/12) (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Contemporary fairies-among-us yarn; screenwriter and film critic Cargill's debut. Baby Ewan Thatcher, abducted by fairies and taken to live in the Limestone Kingdom, a magic realm outside Austin, Texas, has little idea who he really is and no idea at all why the fairies grabbed him. Young Colby Stephens, meanwhile, meets Yashar the djinni and obtains the usual three wishes, the most important of which is that Yashar make him a wizard. Yashar doesn't tell Colby that he's under a curse such that all the wishes he grants come to bad ends. The changeling left in place of Ewan, a repulsive and viciously vindictive creature named Knocks, causes Ewan's parents to kill themselves. Later, in fairyland, Knocks hatches unpleasant schemes to injure or kill Ewan, particularly after Ewan unwittingly steals Mallaidh, the fairy girl Knocks erroneously believes to be his. On the day Ewan is assured he will become a fairy, Colby and Yashar are on hand, and when they understand the fairies' true intent, they intervene. Ewan is cast out of the Limestone Kingdom and ekes out a living in Austin as a second-rate musician, with only vague memories of his time among the fairies. But this is just the beginning of a relationship that continues over the years--it's not possible to enlarge further without giving the game away--involving Austin, all manner of strange fairy creatures, hard-drinking fallen angels, Ewan's parents, Coyote the trickster god and hell itself. Exceptional worldbuilding, sure-handed plotting and well-rounded characters, even the nasty ones, abound, and the whole impressive enterprise moves smartly along through a fairy culture with a structure and motivations sharply different from that of humans. A mesmerizing and highly original debut.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
