Treasure at the heart of this tale...proving the best stories are simple
Written: Feb 27 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: lovely and simple
Cons: slow and rambly for a while, characterization
The Bottom Line: An uncomplicated but worthwhile book for young adult readers.
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| Greatpilgrim's Full Review: |
Having read the descriptions for this book, I wasn’t too sure why I decided to get it from the library. Even though I’d already read and enjoyed my first Meredith Ann Pierce books (Birth of the Firebringer and The Darkangel, I wasn’t convinced that she could pull off a “woodsy flower child” novel, which Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood sounded like. But as often happens in life, my initial prejudices were proved wrong and my time spent reading it was fully rewarded.
The story begins with the simple life of Brown Hannah, a girl who lives on the edge of the Tanglewood Forest, providing remedies to the local villagers that she gathers from the woods and from her own peculiar hair, which randomly grows locks of plants, herbs, and flowers. Able to talk to her numerous animal companions, Hannah feels right at home among the trees and does not understand the villagers’ superstitions about a Golden Boar that lives deep in the heart of forest, guarding a mound of treasure; after all, the only being Hannah knows in the Tanglewood is the Wizard, who as long as she can remember has come to her for a strengthening draught of her hair’s fruits every month. But knights have ridden into the forest seeking this mysterious treasure, and none have ever come out alive…save for one, a nameless man Hannah dubs Foxkith as she nurses him back to health. Convinced of the reality of this sylvan terror, Hannah embarks on a quest to find the Sorcerer Queen, the one who has sent Foxkith and the other knights to retrieve her stolen treasure, and the one with the key to defeating the creature and to unlocking Hannah’s own mystery.
I’m sure this description makes the book sound chintzy and juvenile; that was my impression when I read plot summaries of it beforehand. “A girl who has magical powers and can talk to animals, and goes on a quest to defeat a monster…how typical!” But after reading Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood for myself, I realized just how much a pedestrian plot in the hands of a skillful author can succeed. Pierce fills this book with a light, woodland charm and an air of magical delight, tempered with earthier details of the villages and lands Hannah visits, and darker hints of the more sinister forces at work in the story. Charming inventions like the changing seasons in Hannah’s hair, given in specifics of grains and colors and so forth, and the corresponding shifts in her gown, add a nice touch of variety to the book that distinguish it from other young adult novels like it. It was quite similar in tone and approach to T. A. Barron’s The Lost Years of Merlin series, just a little less, I don’t know, comic; a bit more subtle.
Some of the plot twists are visible a mile away, while others come as clever disclosures, especially the conclusion, which though not stunning was pleasingly contrived; more of an “aha” moment than a “wow!” one. I found the beginning 50-100 pages slow-burning and, if not hard-going necessarily, perhaps a bit unexciting. As the story developed, it definitely gained speed and momentum, convincing me to cheerfully come along for the ride. Turns out I was pleasantly surprised by the creativity and uncommon sensitivity of the story, woven out of a clear love of nature without an obtrusive twee tree-hugger mentality. I expected the talking animals to be likewise annoying, as they invariably are in these stories, but they have “animalish” personalities that seem to suit each species, rather than anthropomorphisms disguised with annoying vernacular.
I did wish that Pierce had developed her characters a great deal more. Hannah made a fine, unusual heroine but her personality was still a little hazy to me by the end; Foxkith was even more unclear as he spent a lot of time, erm, not in human form, before I could really get acquainted with him. The Wizard and the Golden Boar were the most neglected of them all; the hints of the magician that we get in the first third of the tale are tantalizing, a kindly and rather creepily seductive caretaker who clearly has something up his sleeve, but Pierce never really does anything with this promising start. The ending will leave you more unsatisfied than ever with the characterization, as those two characters disappear without a trace, no resolution of the plot thread whatsoever, and no prospects of a sequel either.
Despite these flaws, Pierce’s writing is professional enough to carry the story. The characters’ conversations is perhaps the most unique thing about them; they have a rural, backwater Britain tang to them, although the world Treasure… is set in obviously is some other, unspecified magical realm. I enjoyed the distinct, rolling flavor of the dialect, pulled off marvelously by the author, unlike many other fantasy novels that end up with long dialogs in awful inflections. Pierce’s own storytelling is straight-forward, no holds barred; a tidy narration with a sylvan tang to spice it up, and a seasonal ebb and flow with appropriately descriptive passages. It’s a transparent young adult novel, probably TOO simple for adults, but not dumbed down or unstimulating at all. I found it easy reading, youthful but not juvenile, and I would think it’d particularly appeal to dreamy teen girls.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a painless, enjoyably written fantasy for the young adult or the young at heart, Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood is a fine choice, a great book to pick up on those days when a little light reading is all you’re in the mood for. When I crave richer works of fantasy, with the same fanciful tone, I’d tend to head more for works like Patricia McKillip’s The Changeling Sea or Patricia Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles. To every season, turn, turn, turn.
Other books by Meredith Ann Pierce:
Birth of the Firebringer
The Son of Summer Stars
Dark Moon
The Darkangel
A Gathering of Gargoyles
The Pearl at the End of the World
Recommended:
Yes
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Greatpilgrim
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Member: Victoria
Location: FL
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