The Fall by Garth Nix

 

The Fall (The Seventh Tower #1) is the first entry in The Seventh Tower series, a children's fantasy series written by Garth Nix at the request of George Lucas of movie producing fame.  In this book, we're introduced to Tal, a young boy who lives in a state of semi-darkness, the whole world lit by "sunstones." His dad goes missing, his mom is sick, and Tal is suddenly responsible for taking care of his family and maintaining its status as a "Chosen." In order to do this, he needs to find a sunstone for his family and so begins our adventure.

The Good:
This is an interesting world. Nix introduces us to the different classes at the castle - the Underservants, the different colors, and how it matters how old you are what your status might be. He introduces us to this world that is darkness, where true sunshine is only found on the other side of the Veil.  He introduces us to the idea that there might be a different world outside of the castle. He introduces us to shadow magic, in which Chosen have "spiritshadows" that assist and protect them.  I like this setting very much.

The Bad:
The rest? Tal is a boring character who makes decisions without seeming to put any thought into them. Most of the other characters we're introduced to just seem to be stereotypes without any true depth. I might let that go (it's a children's book, after all), but there are also big problems with the plot. Tal just goes from one calamity to the next and it's go, go, go with no time for reflection.  And the ending was so abrupt that I felt like Nix just couldn't bring himself to break 200 pages.  

My overall impression:

I like this world and it was a short read, obviously. I put the next book in the series on hold at the library and I'm going to hope for a good outcome in that book.  There are definitely interesting places that this idea and setting could go and I'm curious to see what Nix does with it.