D. M. Cornish

I'm not going to give a synopsis of the book, that's already done. Rather, I'll just give my thoughts.

This book is pretty awesome, and shows great potential for an ongoing series. The world springs into life, full formed, very well thought out, detailed, with a history and peoples (and monsters), prejudices and ambitions, careers and monies. The major characters, Rossamund and the Branden Rose, are fully formed. There is much to be discovered about the Branden Rose still, her history, her show more motives, her ambitions, but she is there.

The minor characters are waiting to be developed further, I can't wait to see the development of Fouracres, and I think we have not seen the last of Poundish.

In a land where people are brought up knowing that monsters are evil, where they kill wayfayers regularly, what can become of a boy who does not conform? The exploration of prejudices and biases seems fruitful for exploration in future books.

The author does a great job of expressing the atmosphere of the land, the haunting 'threwdish' impact of the land on the peoples.

I cannot wait to read book two.

I surely hope there are many more books to come. Please keep them coming Mr. Cornish.

-Shawn show less

If the entire series is as engaging as this first novel, it will be one I happily follow. Rossamund is a likable enough main character, but it is in the supporting cast and the creation of the Half-Continent that D.M. Cornish truly shines. Without too heavy a hand, the author weaves definitions, customs, and facts from this new world into the story, giving readers the opportunity to absorb the information rather than expecting us to recall slews of terms from the moment of their show more introduction. The comprehensive appendices provide supplementary insight to what is found in the book as well as a well-arranged glossary of terms, should one escape you during the telling of the tale.
The characters with whom Rossamund interacts, from the staff at the foundlingery where the story begins to the creatures he meets on his journey to the new folks we meet at the end who are bound to be important in book two of the series, are all brilliantly crafted and utterly lifelike. They propel the story effortlessly, providing Rossamund with ample opportunities for adventure.
The story has themes to appeal to juvenile and YA readers, but the writing is not simplified for such an audience. I highly recommend this book to youth at or above middle-school level; it may be somewhat challenging to younger readers, but the grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary will set a beautiful example for early reader/writers. show less

Rossamund returns this time in the company of Ms. Europe as her Factotum proper. His new life takes him to a bustling city and into the surrounding countryside where monsters lurk. But now that Rossamund's own identity as a monster has been revealed, his long-suppressed sympathy for the monsters he fights can no longer be ignored.

As a factotum his job is to help Europe in her fight against some of the most powerful monsters in the land. Rossamund finds himself torn between his loyalty to the show more only world he has ever known, and his duty to his own kind. How will he balance these competing responsibilities? More to the point, how will he survive in the world of humans when he is revealed as their mortal enemy?

Once again, I reveled in the rich detail and huge universe that gives this book so much flavor. The universe is so complex and multilayered with detailed slang and lively vernacular. I could read this book all day. show less

FOUNDLING is a delight - strange and gnarly, with a vaguely steampunk mentality. The characters are incredibly vivid, physically and as personalities, and the worldbuilding is astonishingly deep. Cornish takes a real delight in words - his language is fussy, prickly, onomateopoeic, as absorbing and tangled as his tale.

The twist in Cornish's world, the half-continent, is that it is on the eve of a technical revolution - but while ours was mechanical, theirs is biological. It's an oddly show more believable theory, somewhere in between Dr Frankenstein and modern cloning techniques. The result is both fantastic and ghastly - it's hard to call this world "magical" because the magic is so gruesome.

Rossamunde is small, and weak, and used to being bullied - in FOUNDLING, he must discover his courage. It's hard to realistically transition a character from a meek beginning to a brave conclusion; Cornish does the job beautifully. By the end, the reader sees in him a strength that has little to do with blustering and grandstanding; and has great hope for the man he will become.

The book reads like a fairy tale's evil twin. Within the dreary, but safe, walls of his orphanage Rossamunde dreams of adventure - he idolizes the heroes who bravely sally forth to slay monsters and protect the realm. But once he leaves the city, he discovers a very different reality. The monsters are not all bad; and the heroes are not all good. Which is not to say that there is any possibility of peace and cooperation between humans and the creatures who inhabit the wilds. That would be too easy as well.

I thought often of Philip Pullman's HIS DARK MATERIALS trilogy while reading FOUNDLING, and it's eerie, same-yet-different world. I think Cornish's is better. I look forward to finding out how the series evolves. show less