Customer Reviews

Eccentric Circles

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was looking for a nice, short, cheerful book to read in one sitting. I read the reviews for Eccentric Circles, and decided that it sounded about right. I went out and bought it within 15 minutes. I finished the book about an hour ago, and it was exactly what I had expected: a quick, yet enjoyable read.

Piper Pied has just inherited a Victorian cottage from her deceased Great-Grandmother. She isn't looking forward to cleaning up the endless piles of books that take over every room, but it might provide some inspiration for her writing. However, to Piper's great surprise, she wakes up one morning to find a breathtakingly handsome young elf called Aelvarim sitting at her kitchen table. He tells her that her grandmother didn't really die of old age, but that she was murdered. Piper must find the murderer, and fix the story that her grandmother started writing before she died. Meanwhile, Fairy and the real world are pulling apart, and rifts begin to appear; anything that touches them ceases to exist. Piper is running out of time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, especially the humor and Piper's eccentric family. I only gave it 4 stars, however, because I felt that the characters weren't as developed as they could have been, and that the relationship between Piper and Aelvarim didn't seem as emotional as it did physical.

If you like fantasy novels with deep underlying meanings, complex plots, and believable characters, then this is not the book for you. But if you prefer a light read with humor, romance, and fairies thrown in the mix, then you will love this book as much as I did. All in all I thought it was a worthwhile read, and I will be coming back to it time and time again, whenever the mood strikes me.

_Eccentric Circles_ is the story of Piper Pied, a twenty-something woman who has just inherited her great-grandmother's house. Piper has been drifting through life since college, trying to be "normal" despite her family's reputation for eccentricity, but never finding a good job or a good boyfriend. Then she wakes up after her first night in her new home to find an elf in the kitchen. It seems that her great-grandmother's house is a nexus between the real world and Faery (or Fairy as Lickiss spells it). The elf, Aelvarim, tells her that her great-grandmother was murdered by a denizen of Fairy, and that they must find the killer and set the story right, or the fabric of both Fairy and the Human world will be severely damaged.

Piper assumes that he is a local nutjob, but he is very cute. So she goes along a bit, and soon finds herself meeting a grouchy wizard and a pleasant dwarf and a number of little, mischievous, fairies. She is eventually persuaded to go searching for a story her great-grandmother wrote -- if it can be found, and finished properly, the rift in Fairy might be healed. At the same time she is adjusting to her new job at the local bookstore, and fending off questions from her co-workers and her family about the cute guy with the pointed ears who is going around with her.

Well, we can guess where this is going, and there really aren't any surprises along the way, and the mechanics of the plot resolution are a tad strained. But it is a pleasant, quick read, and the characters are fairly engaging. Nothing special, or worth going out of your way to read, but it passes the time well enough.

Eccentric Circles begins with the burial and wake of Piper Pied's Grandmother. Due to a happy circumstance, Piper, a struggling writer, was left her Grandmother's house, and in the midst of cleaning and organizing, she stumbles upon one of her eccentric neighbors, Aelvarim. Handsome and charming, this eccentric man is also an elf, of the realm of Faery, which Piper discovers lies right outside her doorstep if she "concentrates hard" on finding it. Far from merely introducing himself to his new neighbor, Aelvarim comes to her with a plea: he believes her Grandmother has been murdered, and he knows that the key to her killer lies in her manuscript secreted somewhere in the house.

A bit of fantastical fluff that fails to live up to its hype, Eccentric Circles was not the enjoyable read I expected from the other reviews. The writing style made it feel as if it was written for children, and yet there is the adult theme of sexual desire running throughout that precludes its inclusion within that genre. I found the constant focus of the writer on the protagonists' longing for the handsome elf to be distracting and unnerving. As a result of the small cast, the murder mystery aspect of the book proved quite dull and predictable: I would certainly agree with past reviewers in recommending to the author that a larger number of people would be advantageous in terms of plot development. Perhaps in this manner the author might avoid the constant dwelling upon the sexual tension and move to a greater grasp of her other descriptive powers, especially in the realms of character development and scene description. If you'd like to see the way a first novel should be written, read Sharon Shinn's The Shape Changer's Wife: you won't be the same afterwards.

Rebecca Lickiss's debut novel has charm, wit, and an underlying cuteness, and near the end displays an unusual intensity and strength. It's not clear why many reviewers seem to expect this to be an earth-shattering fantasy, when that is clearly not what Lickiss is aiming for.

Unpublished writer Piper Pied's grandmother has just died, and Piper finds that the house has been left to the first person to throw dirt on the coffin -- her. She settles down into her new sanctum, only to be disturbed when a decidedly attractive elf appears in her kitchen. Aelvarim turns out to be an old friend of Piper's grandmother. He then introduces her to the world of Fairy through one of the house's doors, where tiny sprites flit around and pull her hair, a woman-hating wizard growls, and a cheerful dwarf digs up "stuff" in a mine.

But all is not lightness and air. Aelvarim is unswerving in his belief that Grandmother was murdered, and soon Piper begins to believe it as well. Upon learning that Fairy and its inhabitants can be altered by fiction from the human world, Piper begins the search for a book that was never finished -- and her grandmother's murderer.

Lickiss seems to be aware that few elements of her book are truly new -- in fact, in places she spoofs the conventions of fantasy and magic. At one point, Malraux the dwarf explains a few things about the dark and high elves ("If you ask me, the elves over the water are nothing but a bunch of snobs"), and about the conventional mindset for a wizard. When Aelvarim describes how fiction alters Fairy, he ends it off by praising a certain person for his muscular, handsome physique: "Thank goodness for Tolkien." That and a joke about "feminine matrices" add an element of humor into the plot that help buoy it up.

One of the biggest difficulties is that the cast of characters is quite small, and the number of Fairy denizens is even smaller. It makes the possibilities for the murderer quite limited; though Lickiss is clearly at home in small casts, in future books with a "murder mystery" theme she may want to expand the cast slightly. Hints are also dropped about the murderer throughout the plot, with the result that I could guess who it was relatively soon. (And I'm not very good at solving murder mysteries) On the other hand, it's refreshing to read a fantasy where the romance element doesn't become too overwhelming; there is nothing headier than a few intense kisses.

Piper is a pretty good heroine; at times she seems a little too restrained around the Fairy inhabitants, but is a pretty normal young woman with no exceptional qualities. She is also an unpublished writer, which may endear her to aspiring writers. Aelvarim is a charming character, though I preferred the scenes where his alienness rather than attractiveness is emphasized. He has a childlike enthusiasm and naivete which shows up in such scenes as when he marvels at a shopping mall or tries to use Piper's toaster. Malraux the dwarf is a fun character, with a mischievous sense of humor; the pixies are not really too important to the plot.

"Eccentric Circles" is a good first novel, and a good light book for those who like a sweet, often charming read.

Right now we all feel the need to unwind and Eccentric Circles is the perfect company to unwind with. If the general gloom and stress have been getting you down, brew yourself a cup of hot chocolate and sit in your comfy chair with Eccentric circles. A few hours in the company of Piper, her delightfully loony family and her elf-friend Aelvarim will make you feel like you just had a vacation. So indulge. It contains no calories, no artificial ingredients and though some of us regret the great lack of elf nudity, it does make the book rather wholesome. Probably good for you, actually.

...And a sweet, airy book. Though the plot was light and stayed entirely out of the dark cracks that could have been present in the story line, I still found this an interesting read. It was sweet, but not saccarine, light as air, but not frivolous. Piper is an engaging character, and her eccentric family was fun to read about, and I would like to have heard more from them. Her relationship with Aerlvarin had that wonderfully vague quality that romances in YA fantasy posess. The wise dwarf did not appear often enough in my opinion, and the evil just wasn't bad enough. I did like the use of stories to define the Faerie, and the aunt's cottage and Piper's ability and presence reminded me of Mary Stewart's THORNYHOLD, which is one of my favorite books. All in all, I'd say this is a must read.

Similar to works by Charles De Lint, this book explores the entanglements of myth and reality. A girl inherits her great-aunt's house and discovers a door into the summerland. There she learns of an unpublished manuscript by her aunt which threatens the integrity of both worlds. While the writing never reaches the deep insights or the lyrical prose of De Lint's work, it has a simple freshness and likeable characters which make it a perfect weekend read.

....but I'll try to be objective anyway. The story line was cute, although some of the ideas seem a little too familiar (the concept of writing in the human world affecting the fairy world- anyone here see "The Neverending Story"?). I thought the story flowed well to a perhaps predictable conclusion. Character development was not as strong as it could have been, but still better than I've seen from a lot of more "experienced" writers. Bottom line is: if Rebecca's first effort produces this well, I can't wait to see her third, fourth and beyond!

Lickiss has created a fun story of the interaction between the fairy and human worlds. Piper, an aspiring writer, inherits her great-grandmother's house. As she moves in, she discovers that she not only inherited a dusty book-cluttered home, but what seems to be a portal between the fairy and human worlds. The characters that she meets in that new world first persuade her to believe in fairy and then help her solve the mystery of her grandmother's death.

Overall, this is a fun story with some very amusing parts (what would you do if an exceedingly handsome elf showed up one morning at your breakfast table?!) But while the story is fun, it does not hold together well. Characters slip in and out of the story, leaving one confused as to who in the story is important. Similarily, elements such as the main character's affinity for writing seem important but are not really developed. I also found myself wanting a better explaination of how stories written in the human world affect the fairy world. It was a great idea, but not pursued as far as it should have been.

Nevertheless, it is a cute book and its short length makes it a great choice for a fun evenings read.

I've been going through a craving for light-weight fantasy lately and this book fit the bill. The premise of the dark eating the link between the realms of fanstasy of the mundane world was a little lame, but the characters were so enjoyable that I'd love to see another book from Lickiss. If you've been reading Diane Duane's Young Wizards series to get your Harry Potter fix, try this book. Piper is a heroine to root for, the idea of knowing where you want to go and walking out the back door to fantasyland is sweet. I'd love to see the back story of the Grandmother's adventures in the realm before she died and left Piper the house....