Customer Reviews

The Ratastrophe Catastrophe (The Illmoor Chronicles #1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I picked up this book because someone (whom I will never forgive) told me that it was similar to Terry Pratchett. I bought it (with REAL MONEY!) and settled down to read it.

It was similar to Terry Pratchett alright. It looked as if the author had read a comic fantasy book before and thought that he could do the same thing. He introduced a bunch of characters (with stock quirks -- "mean", "crazy", "weird", "loony", "goofy", and "greedy"), conjured up an plethora of bizarre locales such as Dullitch, Phlegm, and the like) and used them as the backdrop for a "madcap" send-up of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The main problem was that the humor was shallow, at best. The dwarf, named Gordo, had a bunch of short jokes tossed at him all the time. Tambor was a sorcerer who is apparently helpless without his Spellbook (he can't even manage a lock picking spell). Groan is a big dumb oaf in the mold of hundreds of thousands of big dumb oafs. And Jimmy Quickstint is a clumsy thief, or something, I guess. These guys have one joke (Gordo is short, Tambor is weak, Groan is dumb, Jimmy is clumsy).

And it doesn't help that all of the other characters are even less amusing or interesting. The Duke Modeset is a bland Vetinari clone, with even more outward malevolence and less control of his people. He had an assistant (or two) whose names are similar and forgettable. These characters desperately tried to make their pet shticks entertain for the book's run and they fail, badly.

The one character that I thought was mildly interesting was Diek Wustapha, the Pied Piper and unwilling villain of the piece. He was the main reason I kept reading, and the story cheated me yet again of a satisfying end of the character, preferring instead to give me a cookie-cutter ending in the tradition of stories that books like these are trying to mock, not emulate.

I'll probably get the next one out of the library in case it's better than this one. But I still have to give Ratastrophe Catastrophe only 2 stars.

Oh, and if you want to read a genuinely humorous send-up of the Pied Piper story, try The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. You won't regret it.

I only give this book one star because I cannot give 0. I was sorry I ever bought it and spent good money that would have bought me some other, more pleasant book.

If you want to read satire, read Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy reading the fairy tales you love re-written with wry humour and excellent characterisation, try The Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Masquerade etc. You will laugh and you will enjoy trully good books. Obviously Mr. Stone also loved them, and so he thought he could write something like that. But copying another man's style and ideas is vary rarely the road to success, especially if this other, namely Terry Pratchett, is already an established and, most important, a well-loved expert.

So I would suggest to Mr. Stone to avoid proceeding with more books of the Illmoor Chronicles, unless he is prepared to stop copying Pratchett and write something original. Indeed, I cannot stress how displeased I was when in every page of the book I saw bad copies of Diskworld characters (the mayor of the town for example is such a poor copy of the Patrician of Ankh Morpock), ideas (the criminal Guilds being part of the legal life of the town has been the major theme in most books of the Guard, and is mentioned in more than one other Diskworld books) and concepts (such as that of the magic having a life of its own and taking over the human mind). Don't waste your time reading Stone, go to the original and enjoy yourselves.

And, by the way, the story of the Pied Piper has also been reviewed by Terry Pratchett, in the Diskworld framework and for young adult readers, in The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. Read it and you will know the difference between a good original humorous book and a poor uninspired flat one.

Another version of the pied piper... Yet "Ratastrophe Catastrophe" is the best pied piper version for kids. Not because it is babyish but because it is fun, imanginative, funny and full of action!:-)

When a young nobody gets possesed by an evil creature he gets the power to enchant animals and people. Dullitch (a city) has a giant rat infestion, so they offer a huge award to anyone who will rid the city of the monstrous rats. Of course the evil enchanter does and when he gets told that the city has no money to Voice (inside his head) tells him to take all the children. The only people that can save the city are a dawrf, giant and a old time sorcerer that has lost his spell book and has a terrible memory.

Yes it sounds like just another ordinairy adventure were the heros are perfect and of course they are going to save the world but in this story the heroes are not perfect. They are ordinairy (well as ordinairy as you can get in a city run be thieves and assasins) that have their own problems.

All the characters in this story are funny by their personalities, faults or decisions. This is a truly hilarious book that any kid should read. It gives you a different version of the pied piper and in my mind a truly better one. This is a must read for any one looking for a less then perfect adventure!

David Lee Stone's first Illmoor Chronicle is not quite a catastrophe, but it's not good either. The first of this fantasy series, "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe," is one of those books that has to strain to be halfway funny and a quarter entertaining, but doesn't quite manage it.

Evil magic possesses a very ordinary young man named Diek, making his eye glow and giving him the power to charm animals and people with music. At about the same time, the ancient, run-down city of Dullitch is suddenly overriden with thousands of giant rats. Diek offers to charm them away, for a price. He does so... only to be informed that there isn't enough to pay him.

So he charms all the city's children away. So the dim Duke hires some not-so-competant mercenaries, including belligerent dwarf Gordo, crocheted-hat-wearing giant Groan, and has-been wizard Tambor. But can they find the missing children and defeat the evil magic in time, or will the parents of Dullitch revolt?

Something magical is missing from "Ratastrophe Catastrophe," and it's not just because of the constant comparisons to Terry Pratchett. A few too many things -- Dullitch, the Duke, the guilds, even the magical possession story -- are similar to Pratchett's Discworld, but that wouldn't be a problem if Stone had crafted a funny, witty fantasy.

Unfortunately, he tried and failed. With an old plot like the Pied Piper, a story needs exceptional wit to stand out. Unfortunately Stone seems focused more on contrived jokes that really aren't that funny, like hair loss or the Tower of Screaming Doom. They're a little funny, but not so funny that you might actually laugh at them. If he just let the humour flow, it would have worked better.

And even more unfortunately, all the time that Stone spends on his jokes takes away from the characters. They're all paper-thin one-joke characters -- inept wizard, big doof, grumpy dwarf, corrupt politicians. And the most interesting characters vanish pretty quickly, such as the weirdo who is mad because he LIKED having a rat infestation.

Humorous fairy-tale retellings are a common thing, but David Lee Stone adds little to the genre in "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe." Here's hoping the second book of the series has some substance.

I'm basing my review on the very real fact that this book was meant for 5th and 6th graders. Here we have a fantasy novel with just the right amount of humor and "10 dollar words" to get a young middle schooler interested in reading fantasy fiction. The characters are in no way evolved and the plot is generously sophomoric, but it's cute and fun. And really, there's something to be said for cute and fun - not everything has to be War and Peace. Kids will like it as an introduction to grown up type books and adults will like it for the tragically obvious, but funny parallels to modern government and politics.

David Lee Stone's first Illmoor Chronicle is not quite a catastrophe, but it's not good either. The first of this fantasy series, "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe," is one of those books that has to strain to be halfway funny and a quarter entertaining, but doesn't quite manage it.

Evil magic possesses a very ordinary young man named Diek, making his eye glow and giving him the power to charm animals and people with music. At about the same time, the ancient, run-down city of Dullitch is suddenly overriden with thousands of giant rats. Diek offers to charm them away, for a price. He does so... only to be informed that there isn't enough to pay him.

So he charms all the city's children away. So the dim Duke hires some not-so-competant mercenaries, including belligerent dwarf Gordo, crocheted-hat-wearing giant Groan, and has-been wizard Tambor. But can they find the missing children and defeat the evil magic in time, or will the parents of Dullitch revolt?

Something magical is missing from "Ratastrophe Catastrophe," and it's not just because of the constant comparisons to Terry Pratchett. A few too many things -- Dullitch, the Duke, the guilds, even the magical possession story -- are similar to Pratchett's Discworld, but that wouldn't be a problem if Stone had crafted a funny, witty fantasy.

Unfortunately, he tried and failed. With an old plot like the Pied Piper, a story needs exceptional wit to stand out. Unfortunately Stone seems focused more on contrived jokes that really aren't that funny, like hair loss or the Tower of Screaming Doom. They're a little funny, but not so funny that you might actually laugh at them. If he just let the humour flow, it would have worked better.

And even more unfortunately, all the time that Stone spends on his jokes takes away from the characters. They're all paper-thin one-joke characters -- inept wizard, big doof, grumpy dwarf, corrupt politicians. And the most interesting characters vanish pretty quickly, such as the weirdo who is mad because he LIKED having a rat infestation.

Humorous fairy-tale retellings are a common thing, but David Lee Stone adds little to the genre in "The Ratastrophe Catastrophe." Here's hoping the second book of the series has some substance.

Personally I loved this book, I felt it explored the tale of the pied piper and gave it an interesting new twist. Just because it is comic fantasty it should not be likened to pratchett, personally I found the characters much more enjoyable the humour was well writtenand the stroy gripped me right through to the end. I brilliant book that I thouroghly enjoyed reading, and I can't wait for the next one.

I read this book in advance copy quite awhile ago and was surprised to find that it was actually published, considering how thoroughly wretched it is. Each character is as flat as a cardboard cutout from a comic shop fantasy display, and the dialogue is muddled at best. The plot seems to be some kind of take on "The Pied Piper" padded out with completely pointless action scenes that do nothing to either advance the plot or breathe some life into the protagonists. There is the occasional glint of genuine humor (I can only think of one right now) but these moments are generally buried under what feels to be the trappings of a confused D&D game inexplicably turned into a book.

If you're in the age group this book is marketed at, take my advice: read Terry Brooks, David Eddings, or Kristen Britain and then work your way into more challenging material. Heck, even that Eragon book is better than this.

When I bought this book, I was prepared to get a not very genius experience, and so I didn't.

The book is a humourous fantasy-book, but rather than developing his own style, David Lee Stone adopts a style too close to Pratchett, making this book like a childish version of Pratchett's.

When looking away from that, though, the humour is okay. I must admit I never laughed - just smiled sometimes. But where this could have saved the book, the rest collapses.

The fact that the story isn't even his own, makes me really gross. I expected some new twist about the story, making it new and more original, but no - only a bunch of creative characters is to find, and though they are funny, they are not enough to save the story.

The main character is hard to find; I thought it was the boy (can't remember his name, sorry), but onwards through the book we barley see him at all, even though he's the one causing all the trouble. And when I was waiting for an intense and exciting end, I was yet again dissapointed by some clichés.

The book is not terrible. I DID read it through, though mostly beacuse I so wanted to see something original.

The reason I give it a 2 instead of a 1 is because of the writing in general; it's easy to read and understand, without too long descriptions.

And also, I think, because I'm nice.

I can honestly say that I loved this book. The humour is twisted in a Tim Burton/Beetlejuice way and most of the characters are completely deranged. The plot, a reworking of the Pied Piper tale, cracks along at high speed, but tends

to swerve violently just when you think you KNOW what's going to happen next. The town of Dull Itch has been infested with giant rats and only the moronic trio of Groan, Gordo the dwarf and the ancient wizard called Tambor can handle the trouble. The story also has an evil duke, who I absolutely loved (though who reminds me a lot of Edmund Blackadder). This book was an total joy to read, though it is primarily for kids. Still, if you're like me and you can't get on with Anthony, Asprin or Pratchett, then go for it: I'm sure you wont be disappointed!