Review of The Fox

[iammiape]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Fox" by M. N. J. Butler.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

The concept map has helped me a lot from getting more confused with the relationship between the Royal Houses of Sparta. The author’s writing style closely reflects the time frame of the story, except for some modern expressions.

Apart from the handed glossary, I hope there’s a brief description every time the terms are first introduced in the story for convenience, given the length of the glossary. Secondly, the prologue severely lacks visual imagery both for the setting and scenario. It would be informative if I know whether the characters are sitting around a table, what they are wearing, how crowded it is, etc. Thirdly, there are special terms that are not in the glossary: Peloponnesian, Halikarnassan, Taygetos, Peploi, etc.

At the prologue, I prefer to know the person from where the POV is set. His presence would have been understandable and compelling if I’m aware of his footing. There are some content that don’t necessarily contribute to the plot that prevent a smooth transition. Secondly, I’m lacking supporting details in some scenes that made it slower for me to follow the transitions and fully realize what are going on. Thirdly, it’s very unfortunate that his sufferings, especially in the camp, were not elaborated because they’re one of the cornerstones of his competence. Fourthly, there are some pivotal events that weren’t amplified and emotive enough, resulting to lesser emotional influence of their consequences. At first, the main character is unable to own the story that it seems like his existence is purely the means to narrate the story. He is lacking appeal, and it took longer before he is palpably required in the story. Lastly, in introducing an interesting matter, I prefer to see more literary touch than what I had read.

I occasionally meet a misplaced apostrophe which made some dialogues troublesome to follow. The paragraph spacing varies occasionally that looks awkward. And, I had tallied more than ten grammatical errors so the book needs a lot of adjustments.

I would recommend it to readers who are interested in monarchy, ancient ways, and family feud. Also, to those who love the motif: doing whatever it takes for the better good.

I rate The Fox by M. N. J. Butler 2 out of 4 stars because I have several critics for this book that outweighed what I liked about it. And the grammatical errors also discouraged me. I didn’t give it a higher rating because it still needs extensive adjustments.

******
The Fox
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[RHD]

I usually have the option to review this particular book, but now I'm not so sure. A whole lot seems to be amiss. Kudos for such a honest and insightful review, iammiape