Customer Reviews

The Welkening: A Three Dimensional Tale

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

 

 

Reading this book reminded me of why nothing can match the human imagination. The visual images conjured up in the Welkening are amazing! The author provided so many interesting characters, situations and possibilities. All 3 of these "tales" come together in the end in a very powerful climax. I could certainly relate to a number of the situations the "Misfits" had experienced in their lives, and my guess is that most readers will as well. A very enjoyable read!

This has to be one of the hardest books to review. Much of the acclaim in the friends' reviews is true. The Welkening is a complex tale, three dimensional, clever, unique, fresh, innovative. The glich is, there are so many problems in the writing, the story is hard to follow. Would that Gregory Spencer, such an imaginative mind, had spent more time learning the craft of fiction. Or that his editors had helped him with things like repetition, poor transitions, weak set up and absent foreshadowing, baffling character motivation, and muddled point of view. This story had the potential to be great. Instead it may well languish on shelves because no one cares enough about the characters to persevere. Too bad. The Welkening contains, in small doses, some of the most inventive language. If only Spencer had Tolkienized his story, even a little ...

Gregory Spencer has captured the essence of a three-dimensional tale in his new book, The Welkening. He has developed the four main characters into believable heroes who find action and mystery around every corner as they come up against forces of evil in a strange land.
Spencer writes with visual richness that carries the reader into unknown worlds that are paradoxes of shadows and blinding lights. He creates the extraordinary out of the ordinary with sensitive symbolism of animals, numbers and nature and allows the characters to grow through great paradigms of self-awaness.
The Welkening gives us clues in the very first chapter of the path on which we are being led, but I missed them because I was carried away with the intrigue and fast pace that each page gave. I did go back and read the novel a second time and found clever clues on each character that would prove to be important as the story grew.
Readers of all ages will enjoy this novel and they will hope that Spencer has a Welkening Two on the drawing board. He certainly left the door open for us to want to know more about the life and times of our heroes. One book just whets our appetite for the adventures to continue.
Gregory Spencer's The Welkening is delightful fantasy...or is it?

I read this book years ago when it first came out and it held my interest.
But, when i read it again a few weeks ago, I realized how lame it really was.
The 'three-dimensional tale' aspect of this book is just boring. By the time you get into one side of the story, the author has switched over to a children's story book! It's totally pointless, unless your objective is to add pages to the book.
Character development was almost nil as well. You know who they are, but not WHO they are. I didn't ever develop a connection with the characters, which is what a good author knows how to do!
The writing was my main turn-off with this book. It's just not good. Mr. Spencer can't seem to decide what type of book he is writing. Sometimes the teenagers in the story(ages 15-18) speak as if they are 40 years old, then other times you would think it's kids from 1985 you are reading about. The dialogue is just silly. But not in a fun way, more of a 'are-you-kidding-me-he-can't-be-serious' way.
Then, when you add some of the mixed metaphors and the odd descriptions, you just lose interest.

If you are not an avid reader and have not read very many talented authors, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, look up Stephen Lawhead or Frank Peretti for some first class story-telling.

I tried to read this book for an independent study project for school, but after just a few pages in I begged my professor to let me swap in another book. The idea of a three-dimensional tale is creative and interesting, but the writing style of this book is so poor I couldn't take the book seriously. The characters fell flat and were too cartoonish--not representations of real people. I couldn't bring myself to care about them, and consequently couldn't finish their story.

I purchased this book shortly after it was released. For a while, it sat on my shelf untouched due to the fact that I had too many text books to read through. When I finally picked it up, and dusted it off, I found an enjoyable tale. It is full of great word play and descriptions of places and people. Readers can identify with the four main characters, who call themselves "The Commiseration of Misfits". This was a great story and I hope Mr. Spencer will write a sequel or maybe write other stories. He has a good imagination. Hopefully "The Welkening" will not be the last thing we see from him.