The War of the Flowers By Tad Williams

Another Tad Williams book, so lets see how we go; I mention in my review of Tailchaser's Song that I have mixed feelings about Tad Williams; his fantasy is very good, but some of his more modern stuff I'm not so thrilled with.

So, when this book opened with a modern setting, I was a little bit worried that this would be Otherland all over again. In some ways, perhaps, it is. But I'll get on with the story. This is the tale of one Theo Vilmos, a down and out musician for whom nothing is really going right at the moment. After his mother dies, he discovers a diary left by his uncle, telling tales of a fairy world. Predictably, this turns out not to be just story, and soon the fairy world finds him, too.

The fairy world is wonderful; it's comic, but it really makes sense. All the things you expect for a fairytale world are true - trolls live under bridges, full moons are dangerous things, etc - but they've got a lovely modern bent. Trolls might charge tolls for use of their bridge, but then, the railway companies just pay that as a stipend...

In some ways, it's this world that really carries the story. There's one or two surprises, but the plot is not too unpredictable, and... well, it gets worse as time goes by, as if the author has ran out of steam. The laters characters are more shallow, the evil plot at the end wouldn't actually make the baddies win in any way, and the plot twists get less and less surprising. Even the hero seems more stupid later on.

I did enjoy this book, though, and the imagination of the world is worth a read all on its own. It's got some lovely patches of humour in too, which gets it bonus points. Anyway, I'm going to give this a 7; It's a brilliant world with an alright story that fizzles a bit by the end.

7/10