Book Review: Small Medium: Well Done

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A note about my review style. The book reviews featured on my website do not have scores, if you are looking for a bottom-line score; look at my Goodreads account. The reviews here are more of an exploration of the nuts-and-bolts analysis of what I felt worked, and what didn’t.

Characters:

The small medium trilogy has come to an end with this installment, and we get to see Chase’s character arc come to an end (her first one, that is). In this conclusion, we get to visit with the Chase Berrymore that you’ve come to love and expect through the series. She is the same cunning, charismatic, and clueless heroine that we’ve seen in the first two books, but with more panache this time around. In this novel we get to see Chase as not only the heart of her group of misfits, but also the brains. She is responsible for concocting the majority of the many schemes in the book, and demonstrates her Halven cool-headedness with aplomb. Towards the end of the book, she is literally thinking on her feet, using every dirty trick and ploy that her little frame can summon; and the results are glorious.

The only nitpick that I come up for Chase, is that I struggle to think of her has a 15 year old woman. Sure, she’s not precisely human but she is very close to one. Perhaps such wisdom and well-reasoned intellect is more common among the Halven, but I struggle to think of Chase as a naive teenager from a sheltered upbringing. Not that I have a problem with Chase being wise beyond her years, mind you.

Most of the other characters here are familiar faces from the previous books. We get to revisit with Cagna the cop, Bastien the muscle wizaard, Renny the elementalist, and all the players from the previous books. All the returning characters are as we remember them, and provide good counterpoints to Chase and her antics. Unfortunately, most of the side characters don’t grow much and remain relatively static. This is understandable, as the events of this book take place over only a few days, but I would have like to see some more background for the likes of Renny and Cagna.

Some of the side characters do undergo significant growth though. Digiornos does feature some great growth, and even the dreaded Zenoba gives us a peek into her mind. Also we get a peek behind the curtain at the troll-extraordinaire Pwner and see him deal with his choices. These flashes of depth are surprisingly well-executed, and left me pondering the implications for some time.

The new characters to this book are mostly comedic, including a gold-farmer with a FANTASTIC name, and a cat-girl that practically bleeds incompetence off the page. Often, it was these new additions that gave me the greatest guffaws and serve the story well to keep the tone lighter than it otherwise may have been.

Plot:

This book is the closing entry in the small medium trilogy, and Chase’s first big adventure comes to an end here. She starts the story trying to reconvene with her estranged mentor, Thomasi, and stay out of the clutches of the inquisition.

As you might expect at this point, things go terribly wrong.

Of course, I will be circumspect with details about the plot of the book as I want to avoid spoiling anything to prospective readers. However, the overall crescendo of the plot is well executed, and the danger and excitement hits with excellent pacing. At the end, the reader is left with a satisfying conclusion.

At one point, near the ‘great swampy middle’, I felt the plot become muddled as more and more actors entered the stage, creating confusion. This may have been intentional since Chase was equally confused, but trying to keep track of all the actors was frustrating to me. If the author’s intent was for the reader to become as confused and listless as the protagonist, then he succeeded with me (for better or worse).

When the book concludes it leaves a number of terrific hooks for more forays into the Threadbare universe, and a number of references to the characters and events of the Threadbare books. Thinking back on some of the lore buried in those previous books, it’s obvious the author intends to increase the scope of these stories and tie them all together in future installments. There were even a few, ‘wait, that’s what that meant?!’ moments in the story, which I found very thought provoking and compelling.

Setting:

As in the previous two books, the author continues to stay in an Italian-themed setting, this time opting to explore the mighty city of Gnome. There’s no place like Gnome, after all. (Get used to those puns, they are very prevalent throughout the book.) The city, as a whole, isn’t so much explored; rather Chase and company find themselves at various landmarks through the city.

What is interesting about these landmarks is how the author weaves the narrative and background through description. Since the city of Gnome was built by gnomes, there are parts of the old city that still bear the mark of their makers. By showing these bits, we are shown the ancient history of the city, and even explore the trials that the city has weathered and the gods that have visited their wrath on the city. It’s a good technique welded with a deft hand to use the architecture and background itself as a story element to great effect.

We also get a peek at the wider world, and what Chase’s actions mean in the global perspective. Cylvania and its teddy-king are mentioned, and we get some detached information about what may have been happening over there. I and other Threadbare fan are eagerly awaiting some more information about the goings-on of our favorite toy golem in the teased forthcoming book(s).

Also, aside from all other comments, I love that the author decided to name a chapter ‘dealing with dragons’ which is the name of a book by Patrica Wrede. If you haven’t had the joy of reading this little gem, and you liked this book, go read Patrica’s book.

Recommended for: let’s face it, if you’ve read the first two books of the Small Medium series, then you simply must read this one. It is the strongest of the three books, and will serve you well if you enjoyed Threadbare.

Avoid if: This book is not for people who haven’t read the first two Small Medium books. Much of the plot and characters will be lost on anyone trying to enter the Trilogy at the end. Go read the first two, then, get this one!