“An empty moon hung itself in the night sky. It was dull red in color;
a “blood moon,” is what the townsfolk called it, but for the silent man
in the dark cloak, it had no name, at least in this world. In others it had
names, and powers as well, but in this world, science had reduced it to
a dead, gray rock.”
Through The Portal: The Strange Tale of Thomas Barclay ”

What a taste of things to come! How I wish it could have kept its hinted promise. Alas however, the book suffers from simple editing problems. Switches in pronouns that made no sense, and other areas I could not put my finger on that just seemed wrong. I do not go about reading a book for the point of editing it. I read to get a story. But if I were to look past that, what else could I say?

Through The Portal: The Strange Tale of Thomas Barclay opens up with all the thrill of an adventure sizzling with vapid characters. The hero is a young man being forced to grow up. He is told to follow the footsteps of his paternal ancestors whether he wants to or not. He does so reluctantly, in part because he knows not what else to do. In doing so, he lays himself open to manipulation. But wait, all is not what it seems.

Unfortunately, a lot of this shows up near the very end almost as if it got slapped on. Then there is the part about his family having been in this other world on and off for centuries. He remembers some vague stories but little more. In the beginning there is so much said and in the end, there is so much hinted. But the middle is left with a quest that is mostly actions to get from the beginning of the book to the end. Nothing is truly learned except that a sword he acquired is full of magic.

The landscape is descriptive but the characters seem too much like stock: soap opera melodrama. "Characters killed off to make room for others" is such an obvious ploy that it is painful to read. There is a lot in the story that could be so enjoyable. But I fear that most people will be distracted instead by the poor editing, flat characters with little feelings of back story. One does not need to know the back story as long as one has a sense there is one. And the Villain ends up being no more than a pitiful fool of a mad scientist.

Still, if you like Portal fantasy, you could do worse than this book. I will read the second one, if only to see if there are improvements, and if Through The Portal: The Strange Tale of Thomas Barclay can somehow be redeemed.

Reviewed By Nancy Louise
© December 2006