Changes

Having enjoyed the [[The Monstrumologist: The Terror Beneath by Rick Yancey|first book]] in the series, and thought the [[The Monstrumologist: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey|second]] quite wonderful, I'm completely in love with this sequence now. Part of the reason I love it so much is the characters, and the wonderful relationship between Warthrop and Henry, who is gradually developing from a somewhat scared young boy into a figure far more complex and interesting, if not necessarily a traditional hero. Part of it is the fabulous action, and the way the gore seems to have been ever so slightly toned down so it will still appeal to the target audience of teenage boys but those of us with slightly weaker stomachs can enjoy it without needing a sick bucket for the worst scenes. Part of it is the vivid descriptions of the world in the late nineteenth century, and the appearance of real people like Arthur Conan Doyle. But mostly, I think, above all of them, it's the breathtaking, blissful, wonderful language that Will Henry uses looking back on his childhood. A face is beatific, a man may be querulous, while some of Warthrop's rants are spellbinding in their use of words. I love the way Yancey completely refuses to write down to his target audience - there are words here which I'm one hundred per cent sure most readers will never have come across before, but they never slow down the pace of the story because they're used in the perfect context, and readers will either pick up the general idea or be driven to a dictionary to seek out the meaning. When you read Yancey's writing, it feels important. Never pretentious, never overblown - but Henry's carefully chosen words bring home the giant of a man who is the monstrumologist, and the torment he faces as he realises the effect his chosen profession is having on the youngster. Oh, and five hundred pages for a young adult novel generally has me complaining a book's ridiculously long, but I honestly didn't even notice the length when reading I was so entranced.

Huge, staggeringly big, absolutely massive recommendation as the best book yet in a superb series.