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Friday 11 April 2014

Review: PRINCE OF HAZEL AND OAK

Prince Of Hazel And Oak by John Lenahan
Book 2 of the Shadowmagic series
Narrated by the author.
Format: paperback & audio format
Genre: YA / urban fantasy

About Prince Of Hazel And Oak:
The eagerly-awaited sequel to Shadowmagic. Having returned to the real world from Tir Na Nog at the end of the last book, our hero Conor finds himself arrested for the murder of his father. When he explains to the cops that his dad is safe and well and enjoying life as king of a land of elves, imps and banshees they understandably think he is a nutcase. That is until he is rescued by Celtic warriors on horseback and taken back to Tir Na Nog, accidentally bringing a policeman with him. Once safely back in The Land, Conor finds that all is not well. His father is dying, the girl he loves is betrothed to another and a rather confused American cop is wandering around causing havoc. It falls to our young hero, and his band of friends, to find a cure for the king. On their epic journey they encounter one of the most mystical and dangerous races in The Land, the shapeshifting Pooka, and find their fates linked in ways they could never have imagined. The Prince of Hazel and Oak is a stunning fantasy adventure that takes fans of Shadowmagic further in to the land and brings back many of the favourite characters from the first book.
Source: Info in the About Prince Of Hazel And Oak was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9631271-prince-of-hazel-and-oak on 09/01/2012.

Narrative Evaluation:
First and foremost, let me say that the best part about this book is the humour! This book had me laughing out loud one minute and crying the next. Good thing I was in the house. Or else some well-meaning strangers would have called the authorities and they would surely lock me away in a padded room. Secondly, this book, even though it is part of a series has a well-structured story with a main dilemma and a satisfying ending which fits snuggly into the main story arc of the series. I find that a lot of books in serieses fail to achieve this thus I am appreciative to discover that in this one.

I also noticed that the audiobook did not exactly match the paperback version. The audiobook is a whole lot longer than the paperback.

I still think Joshua Jackson makes a good Conor, our main protagonist.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = N/A
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries

Thank you to John Lenahan for this free audiobook which was downloaded in podcast form from iTunes on 09/01/2012.

1 comment:

Blodeuedd said...

Sounds good to me :D

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