Book Review of Inside the Tall,
Thick Book of Tales
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About The Book
Title: Inside the Tall, Thick Book of
Tales
Author: A.C. Birdsong
Genre: Fantasy
On a small farm just
outside of a tiny town lives Jacob, the last in a long line of Caretakers of
Magic. His mission in life as the world’s only magician (in fact the only
person who knows magic is possible) is to preserve magical skill in preparation
for the day when magic is needed in the world. Other than what is required to
train an apprentice, Caretakers aren’t to be practitioners, a tenet Jacob
adheres to religiously.
Jacob has been teaching
an apprentice, Palmer, for eight years. As a student, Palmer is a dismal
failure, but this does not stop him from experimenting. Feeling that the pace
of his instruction is unnecessarily slow, Palmer takes the little magic he
knows, twists it, and uses it to trap Jacob and a young neighbor Lucy inside an
old book of fairy tales (The Tall, Thick Book of Tales).
Palmer refuses to release them unless Jacob imparts all magical knowledge to
him in an instantaneous way.
From the moment of
Jacob’s entrapment, Birdsong creates three interwoven storylines: Palmer’s
dealings with the townspeople, who are searching for Lucy and quickly suspect
Palmer for her disappearance; Jacob’s journey to escape, which takes him
through scenes written into the book by Palmer, designed to harass Jacob and to
speed his compliance along; and Lucy’s interaction with the book’s original
characters, all magical themselves, trapped within the margins by Palmer’s
spell, and are united in their desire to expel the intruders. Added to this mix
are an enchanted bookworm and the fairy tales’ narrator, who have objectives of
their own.
Readers will enjoy Inside the Tall, Thick Book of Tales. Birdsong skillfully
mixes the real and the imaginary worlds with a lean and fast-paced style. A
well-crafted and fun novel with colorful characters and great dialogue written
for any fan of adult fiction, and suitable for young adults and older adolescents
as well.
Author Bio
A.C. Birdsong wrote the
first draft of Inside the Tall, Thick Book of Tales during
an unseasonably cold winter in Athens, Greece. “I spent all my time either
writing the story or searching for a reasonably warm and cheap place to write
it. Often this left me huddled near tepid steam heaters in dingy hotel rooms,
and drinking endless cups of weak Nes to fight the
cold. Eventually the weather turned, which was not only fortunate for me, but
for Jacob and Palmer as well, because they probably would still be fighting it
out inside that book otherwise.”
A.C. lives in Seattle,
where people voluntarily allow themselves to be trapped in books on a regular
basis. This is his first novel.
Links
http://acbirdsong.net
https://twitter.com/acbirdsong
https://www.facebook.com/anthonychristopher.birdsong
https://www.facebook.com/InsideTales
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7377463.A_C_Birdsong
https://twitter.com/acbirdsong
https://www.facebook.com/anthonychristopher.birdsong
https://www.facebook.com/InsideTales
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7377463.A_C_Birdsong
Book Excerpts
Jacob’s face becomes
grim. “Palmer,” he says, “tell me how you could do this.” Palmer’s grin widens.
“It was easy! I simply cured myself of obesity!”
Jacob continues to gape.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I haven’t taught you how to—” He shakes his head with
exasperation. “You can’t cure obesity—it’s not possible!”
“Of course it’s possible!
I’m your proof right here!” Palmer jumps up and down, then walks on his hands
for a few steps. He falls and laughs, lying on his side on the grass. “I feel
like a teenager! Heck, better!”
Looking up, he sees
Jacob’s reddening complexion. “Hey, look,” he says, rising and brushing off his
new jeans. “You taught me this and made me promise not to use it on anybody. So
I used it on myself. Where’s the harm?”
Jacob shakes his head.
“Palmer, with something like this, even the most skilled magician can’t know
what the side effects might be. The psychological effects alone—”
Palmer frowns. “Look, I
just wanted to see if it would work.” He smiles. “And it has! I didn’t hurt
anyone. And look at me!” He spreads his arms and laughs again. “I’ll be a much
healthier caretaker. What’s wrong with that?”
Jacob stands silently for
a moment, a wisp of white hair floating back and forth across his forehead.
“I’m truly sorry you have done this, Palmer. Truly sorry. I would like to have
seen things . . . but no matter.” He turns toward the house. Keeping his back
to Palmer, he says. “Go. As of now, I am dissolving our agreement. You are no
longer, never have been, my apprentice. You do not understand what it means to
be a caretaker. It’s apparent you can never know. I’m sorry, Palmer. This is
how it must be. By the time you are sitting in your new car again, you will
remember nothing of me, nor of any of the magic I taught you.” He looks back
over his shoulder at Palmer. “Don’t worry, you can keep your new body.”
Palmer’s face falls.
“Hey, wait a minute! You can’t just quit! We’ve worked too hard to . . . to. .
.”
But Jacob is already
going back to the garden. Palmer takes a deep breath. “Wait, Jacob! Wait! I—I
came here to give you something. A peace offering, for my . . . my mistake the
other day. Wait!”
Jacob turns around and
watches as Palmer runs to the car. Reaching through the window, he takes a
package from the passenger seat and anxiously runs back.
“Look,” he says, “I know
this isn’t going to change anything, but . . . well,”—he thrusts the package at
Jacob with both hands—“here.”
Jacob takes the
brown-paper-wrapped object. Eying Palmer, who has turned away, he slowly and
deliberately removes the wrapping. It is a large and dusty book. Jacob raises
an eyebrow and brushes off the surface. “The Tall, Thick Book of Tales,” he
reads aloud, turning it over. His face softens as he looks up toward Palmer.
“Well. Thank you, Palmer. You humble me,” he says with a hint of sarcasm. “Now,
if you’ll excuse me. . .”
Palmer glances angrily at
Jacob. Gesturing to the book, he shouts, “At least read the damned
inscription!” Jacob frowns, and Palmer lowers his voice. “Please.”
Jacob’s shoulders drop,
and nodding, he sighs. “Oh, all right.” Propping the large book in the crook of
his right arm, he lifts the cover. As he does, Palmer’s face lights up in a
triumphant grin.
The moment Jacob opens
the cover, a blinding flash of blue light illuminates the surprise on his face.
His free hand begins frantically gesturing in the air over his head.
A second later, the book
drops heavily to the ground. It bounces once and shuts itself with a soft slap.
The brown paper wrapping tumbles into the garden fence, blown there by a gust
of wind.
Palmer stands over the
book, arms and legs outstretched, mouth open in a silent victory celebration.
Jacob is nowhere to be seen.
Review:
Fun
concept about getting trapped in the pages of a book and interacting with the
characters already there, the unintentional side effects of magic, and what
happens with things don’t go as planned.
This is a fun read. It is a good
read for all ages because it is intriguing, clean, intense, and funny. I think it is a good book for parents and
kids to enjoy together and for reading groups of mixed ages, a plus in my
circle of readers.
Very
imaginative writing with fun twists and unusual circumstances. I hope to see more of Jacob and Lucy, even
Palmer, in future books. The authors
imagination soared to heights unseen before and left me with a longing to visit
the world of the books I have read before and meet the souls of the books as
worm has.
I
give this book 4.5 out of 5 clouds.
This
product or book may have been distributed for review; this in no way affects my
opinions or reviews.
