Review by grgmrn -- The Bronze Bear Continues

[grgmrn]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Bronze Bear Continues" by Jerry A. Greenberg.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Bronze Bear Continues by Jerry A. Greenberg is the sequel to the first book in The Bronze Bear series. It is a historical fiction novel with fantastical elements which tells the story of three generations of men whose lives are greatly influenced and irrevocably altered by a mysterious bronze bear statuette, conferred to Fred Warrenton by an old French woman while he was serving in the US Army during World War I. The majority of the novel recounts the wartime experiences of Fred's son, Larry, and grandson, Randy, in World War II and the Vietnam War, respectively.

Even though this is the second book in the series, the story is largely self-contained and can be read and enjoyed without the reader necessarily having read the first one.

Although shelved as historical fiction, this book largely reads like a young adult novel, which, depending on some people's expectations, might be problematic. In my experience, I found that the tone and the vocabulary were mostly adequate and not out of place for the story the author tells.

The pacing is very fast, which does ensure smooth reading, but often feels a little too quick; some sections of the book could probably have gained a lot from more detailed descriptions. As for the plot, although it is somewhat predictable at times, it is interesting enough to keep the reader's attention. The main issue, however, is the characters — almost all of them appear to be either too generic or one-dimensional. One feels that this novel would have benefited immeasurably from richer characterization.

Lastly, a relatively minor problem which some readers (myself included) might find irksome is the author's habit of unnecessarily explicitly stating when a character is joking or being sarcastic: ' "Slogging in the mud is one of my favorite activities," Jimmy said with sarcasm.'

With a few negligible exceptions, the editing is generally well-handled. There is no sexually explicit imagery throughout the novel, and the violence, which is of course an inevitable occurrence whenever wars are fought, is presented in a manner which would be digestible even for very young readers. There is also very little inappropriate language to be found as well, most of which could be considered borderline or innocuous.

All in all, I can give The Bronze Bear Continues a rating of two out of four stars. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction or young adult novels.

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The Bronze Bear Continues
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[EudoraMac]

Lastly, a relatively minor problem which some readers (myself included) might find irksome is the author's habit of unnecessarily explicitly stating when a character is joking or being sarcastic: ' "Slogging in the mud is one of my favorite activities," Jimmy said with sarcasm.'

I've read two books on writing well and each one expressly stated to avoid this mistake of telling the reader; showing is always better!

Lovely review by the way!

[TCG]

I love reading historical fiction. But I've never heard of the bronze bear statue. Maybe I'll try this out. Nice review.