1 out of 4 stars
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The Power of the Babbling Brook is an historical fantasy written by Marie Fostino. When I first read the description of this book, I was very excited. The book included several things that I love: a Renaissance Fair, history, and time travel. The novel is about the famous explorer Ponce de Leon and how his life becomes integrated with the life of Marlena Gates, a history teacher, whom he meets at a present day Renaissance Fair. Ponce takes Marlena back to his time and although she is angry with him for the kidnapping, she has to trust him to help her find her way back to her time. Sounds unique and exciting, right?
Unfortunately, the start of the book (during which everything in the exciting description happens at a very slow pace), just did not play out as it had sounded. The beginning of the book was too choppy: in chapter one we are introduced to a young boy and his grandmother whom we learn next to nothing about, chapter two is a memory of the grandmother’s, then we go back in time in chapter three to read about Ponce de Leon. The next few chapters are also brief cuts from the king to Ponce and his time in Florida. I nearly gave up because of how short and unfulfilled the chapters felt.
The choppiness continues throughout the novel as the chapters are all ended abruptly instead of using any kind of transitions. The punctuation and verb tense problems indicate that the novel could benefit from an editor. The novel could also benefit from a bit more research. The language use and body language did not feel accurate to the time period that was being portrayed.
The characters are also as dull as their conversations. I am all for suspending my disbelief to read fantasy novels, but I was irritated that the history teacher who should know so much about the time period she is transported to did not use her knowledge to her advantage more or to blend in better. In one scene she is being accused of being a witch and her reaction is to then tell everything she knows about the accuser even talking about his death because that is supposed to prove she is not a witch?
I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars. The idea of the story is interesting enough that it could have been a great novel, but the execution of this tale really missed the mark. The novel does a lot of telling and not enough showing. It was very difficult for me to finish this book.
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The Power of the Babbling Brook
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