Puppet Master by Joanne Owen - Revision history

Sue at 12:52, 18 April 2018

2018-04-18T12:52:40Z

Sue at 14:32, 13 November 2014

2014-11-13T14:32:11Z

Keith at 18:12, 1 June 2010

2010-06-01T18:12:53Z

Keith at 10:50, 5 February 2010

2010-02-05T10:50:26Z

Keith: 1 revision

2009-10-24T17:15:21Z

1 revision

Sue at 13:26, 27 April 2009

2009-04-27T13:26:10Z

New review

{{infobox
|title= Puppet Master
|author= Joanne Owen
|reviewer= Stefan Bachmann
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= ''Puppet Master'' is an odd, interesting, underdeveloped little book with some nice atmosphere, some not-so-nice dialogue, and a pair of fascinating twins. It's too shallow to be entirely satisfying, but it's worth a look all the same.
|rating=3.5
|buy= Maybe
|borrow= Yes
|format= Paperback
|pages=240
|publisher= Orion Children's Books
|date= May 2009
|isbn=978-1842556207
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842556207</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1842556207</amazonus>
}}

Once, Milena's father was the owner of the most beautiful and famous puppet theater in all of Prague. He died, though. To make matters worse the theater had to be sold. And just in case things weren't bad enough yet for poor Milena, her mother disappeared shorty thereafter.

Three years later, a new puppet theater arrives in Prague, run by a mysterious man known only as the Puppet Master. When Milena runs into him one dark and stormy night along with his menacing twin protégés, Zdenka and Zdenko, she is instantly invited to his show. Of course she goes, completely unsuspecting of the shocking secrets lying in wait for her...

Before reading this book, I had never come across a story wherein puppets play a crucial part, and I must say I like the idea immensely. There's something inherently creepy about those wooden figurines, usually limp and dead, and yet in the right hands as alive as any person. I, for one, would welcome more fantasy books on the subject.

Aside from that, I'm not entirely sure who this book will appeal to. It's marketed as a chilling historical fantasy for young readers, and everything from it's starkly austere cover to its ominous tag line point towards kid-horror. In reality, though, ''Puppet Master'' is quite dreamy and detached. There are a few shivery scenes that are nicely done, but it's definitely not what you would think of as frightening, or even exciting. Nor is the plot as twisty and clever as one might come to expect from this sort of book. What finally banishes all thoughts of this being a straight-forward fantasy are the five short stories from Bohemian folklore that come interspersed with the plot.

So... If this still sounds like your cup of tea then read on.

The author's delicate prose complement the atmosphere of the story very well. Turn-of-the-century Bohemia is strongly evoked and the snatches of Czech myths were interesting to me, as I probably never would have heard of them otherwise. Also, Zdenka and Zdenko, the psychotic twins, are fascinating creations, not to mention the most well-rounded characters in an otherwise one-dimensional cast.

On a negative side, ''Puppet Master'' is just too short. None of the characters, ideas, plot points, and twists get nearly the attention they deserve. And I thought the dialogue rather bad. Almost every conversation is wooden and runs a predictable arc. To illustrate, here is a short excerpt from page 105:

''This little sprig can clear your mind and sharpen your senses. It can even quicken recovery from a fever.''

''Are you sure a dry old leaf can do all that?'' (Cue lecture on the properties of mystical herbs that will somehow benefit our heroine in her adventures ahead.)

And parts of the (mostly good) prose simply needed another edit.

''Next day, just as the sun rose, a stream of people came to the queen's castle. The higher it rose the bigger the crowd became...'' (pp. 93)

I don't know about you, but when I read that passage I thought the queen's castle had begun to float up into the air.

But be that as it may, ''Puppet Master'' is not at all a bad book. There are plenty of small touches, a spark of inspiration here, a rush of suspense there, that make it worth reading. Unfortunately it all rings slightly hollow by the end. At a slim two-hundred pages, and packed with notes, legends and illustrations, it would have had to be ''very'' densely written to be completely successful. As it is, it's just too underdeveloped.

My thanks to Orion for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further reading suggestion: [[Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell]] is also a short book, but the author knows how to use his space wisely. ''Puppet Master'' put us in mind of [[The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt]] - and we think that you might enjoy that too.

{{amazontext|amazon=1842556207}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6274245}}

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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title= Puppet Master
 |author= Joanne Owen
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 |date= May 2009
 |isbn=978-1842556207
 |website=http://twitter.com/JoanneOwen
 }}

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 |buy= Maybe
 |borrow= Yes
 |pages=240
 |publisher= Orion Children's Books
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 {{interviewtext|author=Joanne Owen}}
-{{amazontext|amazon=1842556207}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6274245}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=1842556207}}
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 |reviewer= Stefan Bachmann
 |genre=Confident Readers
-|summary= ''Puppet Master'' is an odd, interesting, underdeveloped little book with some nice atmosphere, some not-so-nice dialogue, and a pair of fascinating twins. It's too shallow to be entirely satisfying, but it's worth a look all the same.
+|summary= ''Puppet Master'' is an odd, interesting, underdeveloped little book with some nice atmosphere, some not-so-nice dialogue, and a pair of fascinating twins. It's too shallow to be entirely satisfying, but it's worth a look all the same. Joanne Owen was kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Joanne Owen|interviewed by Bookbag]].
 |rating=3.5
 |buy= Maybe
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 Further reading suggestion: [[Barnaby Grimes: Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell]] is also a short book, but the author knows how to use his space wisely. ''Puppet Master'' put us in mind of [[The Toymaker by Jeremy de Quidt]] - and we think that you might enjoy that too.
 {{amazontext|amazon=1842556207}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=6274245}}
 {{commenthead}}

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 |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1842556207</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>1842556207</amazonus>
 }}

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