Auralia's Colors - Jeffrey Overstreet

Auralia's Colors (Overstreet, 2007)

A mysterious child found in the wilderness is raised by outsiders and lives freely in the forest, creating art from all she finds. When she presents her masterpiece to the king of House Abascar, who has ordered all beautiful things locked up in the royal treasury, it sets off a cataclysmic string of events.

There is a lot to like in this, the first installment of the Auralia fantasy series. We have an oppressive law, a rigidly stratified kingdom, a mythology believed by children but dismissed by (most) adults, and an irrepressible artist whose work stirs unrest in the people's hearts. The characters and events gradually draw you in, then take hold and keep you rushing toward the end.

However, this book also ticks an unhealthy number of boxes on my Bad Fantasy check list.

1. Leaden-eared Tolkein Imitation: Not everyone can write beautiful, poetic prose like Tolkein. It's nothing to be ashamed of, just accept it and move on with your story, instead of trying again and again...
2. Unnecessarily Made Up Words: Why call it a "pickerstaff" when there is already a perfectly serviceable (and old-timey) word available in "pike"?
3. Embarrassing Vernacular:  "What do you reckon we should be a-doin'?"
4. Cheap Attempts at Endearing Humor/Characters:  "I sure agree with ya there." "You don't have to agree with me all the time." "I sure agree with ya there."
5. Unoriginal Original Names: The River Throanscall, King Cal-Marcus, House Bel Amica - look how creative I am at making up original names!  Just watch out, I might invent a whole language for my world! (Again with the Tolkein imitation...)

There are also a disturbing number of violations of basic writing rules and grammar, mostly in the attempts at Tolkein imitation.  In one passage, Auralia is described metaphorically as a tree, yet in the same sentence, she is described as literally clutching twigs in her "fisting" (see # 2 above) fingers.  Wouldn't her fingers be twigs in the metaphor?  Why is she holding actual twigs?  Is each of her fingers forming a fist in and of itself?  In another passage, a cat is described with "glowing green eyes shut tight."  If they're shut, they definitely aren't glowing, unless this cat has clear eyelids and we just neglected to mention that detail...

Okay, enough jabs. The book is worth reading, despite the poor writing. It has a very good message about art pointing us toward greater truth, about the human need to create, and about the fragility of what is created. And after the characters become a little more fleshed out, you just get caught up in the story, which is the best reason to read a book anyway.

Arbitrary rating: 3 out of 5 fisting fingers