Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 25, 2007
This review is from: The Hollow People (The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus, Book 1) (Hardcover)
The first installment in THE PROMISES OF DR. SIGMUNDUS trilogy, THE HOLLOW PEOPLE introduces readers to a kitchen boy and lowly servant. Dante is the least important of all the people on Tarnager, the fortress-like island where he was raised. Since his mom, a dangerously insane criminal, committed suicide when he was a baby, Dante has had no one to care for, and no one who cares for him. That is, until he crosses paths with Beatrice.
The daughter of two doctors on the island, Bea has never been allowed to question the teachings of Dr. Sigmundus, their reclusive leader. Like all young people on the island, she is expected to prepare for her coming-of-age ceremony, where she'll take Ichor for the first time and join the adults in their peaceful, dream-free lives. The problem is, Bea does have questions. Some people, like Dante, still have dreams even after they've taken Ichor. Are those people really insane, as everyone tells her? Bea wants to know why she dreams of a ruined city, and how Dante recognizes the city in her drawing.
Encounters with a notoriously dangerous new asylum patient land Dante and Bea in hot water with the island director. It isn't long before they're launched together on a new journey, where their many questions will no longer be ignored. But, are they ready for the answers?
The characters and storyline have remained with me weeks after reading THE HOLLOW PEOPLE. I enjoyed it enough to seek out the title of the second book in the series, THE GALLOWGLASS, and I can't wait to see how the story unfolds.
Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4.0 out of 5 stars
Creepy Dystopia, March 1, 2011
Reason for Reading: I love dystopian fiction and books that are set in asylums; this fitting both descriptions was a must read.
Tarnegar, is an island community that houses the insane from the rest of the population in this country where dreaming is forbidden, adults (14 and over) take a drug to make them stop dreaming and comply quietly to any authoritative figures. Questioning the wisdom of any part of this society could have you banded a lunatic and thrown into the asylum. Dante is an orphan whose mother was a lunatic and killed herself by jumping off the roof of the asylum. He now works as a kitchen boy, but the drug has never taken away his dreams. Bea Argenti is a middle-class girl, daughter of two junior doctors, who will be turning 14 soon but questions the use of the drug and does not want her dreams to go away as she has been dreaming for a long time about a strange ruined city. The two meet and start to figure out that their society is based on lies and perhaps the time has come for someone to stand up for the truth.
I loved this dystopian novel! The idea of controlling society with drugs has been done many times before, perhaps starting with Brave New world, but it is a realistic thought-provoking idea that is not beyond the realms of possibility. Dante is a wonderful character and I liked him from the beginning; his background and character are fleshed out as the story progresses. This is definitely his story. Bea on the other hand has not been as fully developed, and she felt more like a sidekick, a female element to satisfy the 'need' for one. Personally,l I don't think there is a need for a male/female partnership/relationship for a good story but perhaps she will have more of a point to the plot in the next book. I loved the asylum half of the story, very creepy! Then the story progresses far beyond that level, more character's are introduced and the plot takes on many more levels while remaining a very dark and atmospheric tale of a future controlled by a madman. There is a science fiction element to the story that at first seems more magical than scientific and I wondered where it was going. I like fantasy so that's not necessarily a bad thing, but the book did remain in the scientific world while having this quasi-science/magic element that had me stumped of whether the series was going to turn into fantasy. But at the end, the Author's Note qualifies that there really was, historically, a scientist who did many experiments in the field of the subject matter used in the story. This made me appreciate the story more when I had finished. I look forward to continuing the series but do hope that we see a return to the asylum at some point.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4.0 out of 5 stars
a fun ya adventure novel!, February 3, 2011
I very much enjoy young adult adventure novels that take place in alternate universes. To the guy who freaked on this book, uh, its for kids guy. Get a grip. Homeboy went on for days about how unoriginal it was but never mentioned that Dante and Beatrice are the main characters? This is an odd and interesting amalgam of Dante's Inferno, fantasy fiction and distopian fiction. It draws on and communicates with a tradition of post-apocalyptic and distopian fiction. I thought it a fun addition, and one of the better novels for youth that I'd read in some time. But like I said, I like young adult fiction of the fantasy and adventure variety, and this book is precisely that. Its fun, its heavily plot-based and its somewhat thoughtful, possibly the best thing I've seen since the windsinger series.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
