Between The Lines
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree
The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree: 1 (The Outlaw King)
Published: February 2013 by Madmen Press
Category: Steampunk/Fantasy
Ross Brigham returns from active duty in the army to the news that his father Ed, an award-winning fantasy author, has died. Not only that, his wife has left him and his life is in a mess. Ross is persuaded by his father’s fans to finish writing the last novel in the gunslinger series.
Going through his father’s things after the funeral Ross comes across a key he can’t find the lock for and an unusual mirror. Both these objects lead Ross and two of his father’s greatest fans, Sawyer and Noreen, into the fantasy world of Destin.
There they meet the gunslingers , amongst other much less pleasant people, and are drawn into conspiracies and schemes they don’t, at first, understand. What the three of them learn on their journey through this strange lands makes them re evaluate their lives and everything they thought was real.
Thoughts
Told from the point of view of Ross this is an imaginative story of an extraordinary parallel universe peopled by the characters of Ed’s novels.
The book is very well written and descriptive with vivid imagery. The detailed narrative of the fantasy world makes it very easy to imagine.
I liked that the main characters were believably human with their underlying complex characteristics, emotions and foibles. There’s a good mixture of tension and suspense and the extracts from Ed’s novels at the beginning of the chapters was a great addition. Considering this is not my usual reading I enjoyed it a lot.
