Book Review: "Into the Mist" by Patrick Carman

SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY

Before Alexa was born, the Warvold brothers, Roland and Thomas lived in an orphanage. There they are treated like slaves and made to hunt through trash heaps to earn their meals. One day they find an item that urges them to leave and discover the unknown. From there they go to amazing places, like an underground lake of fire, a towering building of a maze, and a place outside of time.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Thomas is the more adventurous of the two brothers. He often acts first and thinks later. He loves to draw and paint. He has a blank book that's special to him, as its the only thing that is really his since growing up in an orphanage.

Roland is more cautious than Thomas, and it's through his eyes that we see the story. He admires his brother and wants more for them. Often times, Roland compliments his brother by being the one to stop and examine things, while Thomas would rather just barge in.

Thorn is a wild cat that was found and tamed by a cruel man, who uses her for his own purposes. She is rather curt with the brothers at first, but eventually opens up and tells them her past. She learns to respect and care for them, putting her life on the line. Her blunt way of speaking is rather distinct, but its her past and her confusion over her freedom that endears her to the reader.

PACING

The pacing is decent. By chapter three they have found the odd item that will push them to their journey. By chapter five the boys decide they are leaving. Carman creates many good cliff-hanger endings for his chapters that urge you to turn the page. Only near the end of the book did this taper off and leave me a little restless.

NO SET VILLAIN

The story is really a discovery story. We don't go on a quest to defeat an enemy, but to gain knowledge. At first, it just involves the item, but it evolves into something much more important. The story doesn't suffer for it, because we understand that this all happened before Alexa. And to me, solving the mystery of the item was enough to sustain my interest.

BACK AND FORTH

The story sometimes goes back and fourth, from the main story of the brothers, to Alexa being told the story on the ship with the present day Roland. These chapters were very short, but I still felt they were kind of unnecessary. I skimmed them, knowing nothing of any real significance was going to occur. I think perhaps Carman wanted to remind the reader that this book was just an interlude, and Alexa is still our main character. But I'm not sure that it was needed.

RELATIONSHIPS

Carman does a good job of portraying the relationship between Thomas and Roland. We see their personalities contrasted in many situations. And both develop as the journey progresses. But there are a few occasions where the writing seems awkward, and their is a time or two when the phrase “brotherly love” is used. It just feels clunky, like he's trying to explain what he should be showing.

As for Thorn, she is used as more than a guide and an informant about Elyon and Abaddon. She is the first being the boys have meant that actually puts herself into harms way for them. Roland explains how this changed him and his brother and I thought that was significant. Two often in stories I read, characters almost die for their friends, and no one seems to react like a real person. They just say thanks and the author hurries onto the next action-packed scene, not wanting bore us with a characters feelings and reactions.

THE CLIMAX

If you are reading the story alone, without the previous books, I understand how the climax may feel underwhelming. Put in context, it sets up the next book, where we learn about the origin of where Alexa is heading. Even so, I thought it dragged on a bit too long, a whole five chapters before coming to a close.

THORN'S WISDOM

As I mentioned, Thorn is also an informant on Elyon. Her information is never boring, but I thought it was rather odd when she said that Elyon and Abaddon could not exist without one another. It seems obvious that Carman is drawing on the Judaeo-Christian tradition, and yet here he seems to get rather Eastern in his philosophy. I don't feel it was intentional, as there were no other elements of Eastern philosophy in any of the other books.

On a positive note, I fully enjoyed Thorn's tale about the chained bear. I thought it was rather insightful about her character, that she would tell a story to relate her feelings, instead of simply stating them outright. It was a simple tale, and still I realized I have read many childrens' books that never put in little nuggets like this, things to get you thinking. Although it was rather blunt, and a more poetic way might have been to have the story being told actually being witnessed first hand, and then applied to the main characters.

EXPLICIT CONTENT

There are two dogs that are kept as pets by the owners of the orphanage and it is referenced that sometimes they may harm children. They are used as threats.

CONCLUSION

Carman creates a prequel with likable characters that grow and change as the story progresses as well as an original tale with fantastic places. A feat that is surprisingly rare. The pacing is good, but the climax is slightly too slow in my opinion. The highlight for me was the relationship between the boys and Thorn. I give “Into the Midst” three and a half stars.

What do you think? Have you read this book? Agree or disagree with me on any of my points? Or just have an insight? Please let me know, by commenting.