Wednesday, September 10, 2014

It's Nothing to Lose Your Head About

Keith R A DeCandido “Sleepy Hollow:  Children of the Revolution” (Broadway Books, 2014)


Sleepy Hollow was my favorite new show of last season.  Who saw that coming?  But what’s not to love?  It’s just a buddy cop show about a time displaced revolutionary spy and his 21st century cop friend.  Of course Ichabod’s neck deep in supernatural weirdness.  After all, the American Revolution was really a battle over supernatural forces, not about emancipation from Britain.  It’s fun, it’s hilarious and somehow they cram in feels just when you least expect them.

Children of the Revolution is a tie in novel.  Quite frankly, if you are not a fan of the show, this book will make no sense to you.  Yes there is some effort to help out those who aren’t up to speed, but I think that if you haven’t been watching you’re just too far behind.  It works better as a refresher.  Especially since the show’s been on hiatus for quite a while now.

Unfortunately I was not very impressed with DeCandido’s craftsmanship.  While he did do a very nice job switching POVs (and capturing the feel of Ichabod’s unique voice), he is too committed to telling instead of showing.  The writing felt clumsy and awkward.  I would say that this is for the completist only.

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