★★★☆☆ Grimmworld, Vol. 1: The Witch in the Woods, by Michaelbrent Collings
Fairy-tale Multiverse
Grimmworld, Vol. 1: The Witch in the Woods
Michaelbrent Collings
Fairy-tale Multiverse
Michaelbrent Collings' Grimmworld, Vol. 1: The Witch in the Woods is about twin brother and sister Jake and Willow Grimm. When the book begins they're unhappy because their parents have decided, against Jake and Willow's wishes, to move from Los Angeles to New Marburg, Idaho. Said parents are an engineer (Mom) and a quantum physicist from the Novelist's Catalog of Standard Characters (Dad). In New Marburg they stumble into Grimmworld, a kind of multiverse collision, in which fairy tales (like those collected by the Grimm brothers -- get it?) are real. It is, of course, not coincidence that Jake and Willow's family name is Grimm.
I'm sorry to say I didn't love it, but I have hope that subsequent installments in the series may be better. There were two things I didn't like. The first is that the first 60% of the book is spent introducing us to the world, and it is confusing and chaotic. I wish Collings had saved some of the world-building for subsequent books. The second is that Jake and Willow's relationship felt inauthentic to me. For instance, here's a conversation they have
Jake looked genuinely confused, like he wasn’t sure how to answer the question. “I know I’m smart. But so are you. And you’re strong and funny and cool. People like you, Will.” Jake shook his head. “I’ve never had that, and never understood it. But I do envy it.”
Willow’s gaze bored into him. “You know, I changed my mind. I don’t want a wand that lets you see yourself through my eyes. I want one that lets you see yourself through everyone’s eyes. Everyone who thinks you’re amazing, who wishes they had one-tenth of your smarts, or one-hundredth of your kindness.”
Now here, for comparison is a brother/sister conversation as imagined by James Thurber
Sister, who is twenty-one, and who goes around with a number of young men whom her brother frankly regards as pussycats, is sitting by the fire one evening reading André Gide, or Photoplay, or something. Brother, who is eighteen, enters. “Where’s Mom?” he asks. “How should I know?” she snaps. “Thought you might know that, Stupid. Y’ought to know something,” he snaps back. Sister continues to read, but she is obviously annoyed by the presence of her brother; he is chewing gum, making a strange, cracking noise every fifth chew, and this gets on her nerves. “Why don’t you spit out that damn gum?” she asks, finally.
-- "Pythagoras and the Ladder", James Thurber
I leave it to those of you have have brothers and sisters to decide which of these conversations sounds more like a real conversation a brother and sister might have.
In summary, I was disappointed by The Witch in the Woods, but I hope the next installment will be better -- the world-building is mostly done now -- and I plan to read it.