Book Review: Tethers by Jack Croxall

I love a good prologue, especially in young adult adventure novels. It sets my imagination whirring, questions sprouting and I know I have to read on to find the answers. This is exactly what happened with the prologue in Tethers. Why won’t Marriot’s gun work? Who is this mysterious, snarling Mr Dufor? What are Locus One and Locus Three? Who is ‘the girl’ and most importantly, will Mr Dufor murder her?

Predictably, after scooping my ponderings into my arms and curling up so I could pin them to my chest with my knees, I read on as fast I could. Then I realised I wasn’t taking enough in so stopped, drank some tea, grabbed a biscuit and started again.

Tethers is very easy to read, it is well written and paragraphs glide by smoothly. The two main characters are engaging from the start; you recognise Karl as an adventurous young man with a slight disregard for rules, and Esther is immediately likeable with her ‘scorched-black hair’ and skill for arguing. The tranquil start to their adventure is shaped by descriptions of the sleepy village of Shraye in Victorian Lincolnshire. Croxall definitely has a knack for recreating those rural scenes and grand skies that, coming from Lincolnshire myself, I recognise appreciatively. The story then accelerates in an almost alarming manner as Karl and Esther are suddenly thrown in the path of danger, but the pace slows almost as rapidly as it sped up while they decide their course of action. I liked this unexpected change of step as it gave the story a sense of realism and provided Croxall with the opportunity to develop his characters further. It also meant that when the next dramatic event revealed itself it still felt shocking and exciting, but the structure wasn’t choppy or awkward. I found this wave-like pattern of thrills and calm, which continued throughout the book, reassuring. It gave me time to get to know the characters, to revel in their stories and personalities but never get too comfortable, as I knew something exciting would be waiting on the next page.

Being set in Victorian England gives this book a historical gleam, but its true colours lie more in adventure. As a science writer, Croxall does have a clear science fiction leaning, and the mysteries of the otherworldly stone, the Viniculum, that is found by Karl and Esther certainly have answers buried in science. However, this is not the selling point for me with Tethers. I found the most compelling aspects to be in the characters, their decisions and their motivations. It was this that created the drama for me, more so than the dangerous conspiracy right at the novel’s core. Perhaps, however, I have just tapped into the essence of why this book is called Tethers. Normal peoples’ actions, the consequences of those actions and what tethers everything together can be incredibly powerful. Alas, I’m being mysterious myself now as I don’t want to give too much away, you will have to read it to know what I mean.

 However, as much as I loved this aspect of the book, I also felt it was its only flaw. So important are the characters in this book that I wanted more from Croxall about who these people were and how they all became involved in this story. An almost impossible thing to do I grant you, by spending more time and words on character detail you run the risk of losing pace, excitement and of making the text too heavy. But I felt with Croxall’s writing everything I wanted was there in his head, it was there in his style and in ideas but was just missing from the paper. He knows the secrets in the lives of his characters and they are hinted at but never given away. Perhaps I am being too impatient and all I want will be revealed in the next two books in the trilogy, but it does make it impossible for Tethers to stand alone successfully for me. Certainly Croxall has confessed that Karl and Esther will return with new friends and old for more adventure so I will hope that I will find answers hidden in their pages.

I would definitely recommend Tethers to any fans of Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, or Percy Jackson lovers. You are quickly sucked into the adventure, friendship and mystery encapsulated in this book and Croxall’s skill as a writer means he is certainly one to watch for the future. 

 @JackCroxall and blogs at www.jackcroxall.co.uk 

Tethers Kindle edition is available on Amazon

The Do's and Do Not's of Dating Like a Fictional Character

My beautiful tulips from...?

If you’re on of the lucky ones going on a date tonight, well, you’re probably not reading this. But, if you are one of those lucky ones and are going out a bit later tonight so have time to sample this literary delight, you are even luckier than first you thought. Why? Because I am going to give you some advice.

A simple list of do's and do not's from the literary world to make your evening less of a disaster, or not a disaster at all if you're very clever. You can give yourself points for each one you know if you like.

DO: jump off several buses, fight some people and partake in a car chase. As long as you order your martini shaken, not stirred, you can get away with anything.

DON’T: accept the honour of being the Hand of the King if it’s offered to you on your way to your date. Ned Stark accepted and unfortunately lost at the Game of Thrones.

DO: put a lot of thought into dressing yourself. If you’ve ever read the Odyssey you’ll know a lot can be gained through a heroic dressing scene.

DON’T: follow any rabbits with pocket watches down rabbit holes. Very unwise. If, however, the rabbit doesn’t have a pocket watch you might be OK, but don’t be late, late, for a very important date.

DO: make sure, if female, that your eyes are looking particularly ‘fine’ this evening. Any Mr Darcy’s hovering around will find you irresistible.

DON’T: marry them if you know they are a member of your rival family. It all ends in tears believe me.

DO: take their hand if they are sitting upon a magic carpet asking “do you trust me?” They might show you a whole new world.

DON’T: be put off if they turn out to be a werewolf. They may lead somewhat troubled lives but some are actually very nice, as long as they’ve taken their Wolfsbane potion, and they make very good Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers.

DO: slam on the breaks if you see a distressed woman running out in front of your car. It could be that she is the lover of your husband and he was previously driving this car, which actually belongs to your lover. Killing her will cause an awful rumpus, as if there isn't enough confusion anyway. (Ten points if you guessed this one).

DON’T: press the red button. (That’s not from any book I can think of but it’s still good advice).

Follow these simple steps and you should have a stress-free romantic evening, I’m sure of it. 

Fictional LGBT Characters: Marriage Material?

I am determined to prove that I am intelligent and I do know what is going on in the world. So, what is going on in the world? There was a big hullabaloo about gay marriage, that’s what. Personally, (getting the serious bit out of the way here) I don’t see the problem. Two people who love each other and want to get married…where’s the harm? Marriage isn’t all about making babies anymore and besides, Rachael from Glee has two Dads. I’m not saying lets rewrite the whole law book, but surely we need to move forward with some aspects, considering a lot of our laws come from times before women were allowed to vote and you were allowed to hit children with sticks…just saying.

Serious point aside, I thought I would examine my favourite LGBT fictional characters and think about their marriage potential. I decided to insist that I had to have read the books in which they feature, which made this surprisingly hard.

At number five we have the beautiful, if not slightly insane, Dorian Gray, represented here by my absolutely number one man, Ben Barnes. Dorian is one of those lucky chaps whose charm and beauty wins over everyone and he’s not picky about where he applies this charm, so to speak. Despite his ridiculously good looks, however, the crazy aging thing and tendency to batter his friends to death do make him a risky one to love. As bisexuals go I don’t think he should be trusted, by men or women.

Coming in at number four I have chosen Maud Lilly from Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. It was a close call between Maud and Sue, from the same novel, but in the end I went with Maud because she doesn’t try to kill anyone…exactly. It’s a great but confusing story of love between two girls who have to battle crazy women/mothers, gentlemen/con-men and mental asylums to truly find each other again. Maud does end up being the settling down type eventually, but a knowledge and respect of pornography is essential. 

Is it surprising how many vampires are gay? I suppose not, but I thought there were too many to pick one that stands out. So I chose a Shadowhunter instead. If you are unfamiliar with this term I suggest you read all the books in the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. I don’t normally go for gothic-vampire-sex-rock-and-roll type stuff but I really enjoyed these books. You meet Alec Lightwood in the first book. He’s dark, mysterious, a bit grumpy and broodingly sexy, and he fights demons in his spare time. Unfortunately for me, he’s gay, and taken. I won’t give too much away by telling you who he ends up in a relationship with, but lets just say…it’s magical.

Classily gliding into my number two spot is Clarissa Dalloway. Now, close friends of mine will know that I do not get on well with Mrs Dalloway. Literary classic blah blah, all she does is wonder around and worry about things she has no intention of doing anything about! If that’s not annoying I don’t know what is. However, for this occasion she is saved the rest of my rant for fitting superbly into the bisexual category. No one can be completely straight if they are pining so much for a bit more of a miss-spent youth with young Sally Seton. It’s a pity she "had not the option" of being with Sally, I think it would have made her much more interesting.

Finally, apparating with a satisfying ‘pop!’ into my top LGBT spot is the one and only Albus Dumbledore. Ten points to your corresponding Hogwarts house for those of you who guessed he would feature. I was so glad when JK let that one slip, otherwise he would have stayed completely asexual in my mind and that would have made him less real…because it is all real! I like the idea of him having complicated emotions about Grindelwald. Dumbledore having heartbreak of his own in his youth just makes his wisdom and understanding about love make more sense. It adds more depth to his character that feels like it was there all along but we just didn’t realise. Pity Grindelwald turned out to be an evil dark wizard in the end, as I don't think there are any other wizards out there that could win Dumbledore's heart, which is terribly sad actually.