The Crowfield Curse

Overall Rating:

★ Rating:80 Fullstar:4 Star Piece:0 Fraction:4

80%

The Crowfield Curse
Pat Walsh
Chicken House, 2010
Fantasy
ISBN: 1906427151
320 pages

Synopsis

It’s 1347 and fifteen-year-old Will, an orphan boy, lives at Crowfield Abbey. Sent into the forest to gather wood, he rescues instead, a creature from a trap – a hob, who shares with Will a terrible secret. Somewhere in the forest behind the abbey where he lives, is a grave. And buried deep in the snow is an angel. But how can an angel die? What has it to do with the monks of the Abbey? When two hooded strangers arrive at Crowfield asking questions about the angel’s grave. Will is drawn into a world of dangerous Old Magic.

Critique

As I expected from the description, this turned out to be an interesting read. The placement of a fairy myth lore into a Christian context creates something different than the typical fairy fantasy. Also, understand that when I say fairy myth lore, I’m not necessarily referring to fairies specifically in the sense of little creatures with wings, but the fairy court, fay warriors and such.

In some ways it actually reminds me a lot of Tithe by Holly Black, but in my opinion is actually better because it’s a lot less confusing and I’m not forced to employ so much willing suspension of disbelief in regards to character interaction. However, the main differences are the time periods and the target age group, plus Tithe is really a love story at it’s core, whereas The Crowfield Curse is more of an adventure/mystery. Ultimately, it’s a quick fun read, the ideas are somewhat original, and there’s a nice little glossary of terms in the back to help grasp some of the jargon words related to the life in the Abbey to give a little education.

Rating Rubric

Enjoyable Read: 100%
Original Fantasy: 100%
Original Plot: 80%
Language: 80%
Asthetics: 80%
Depth In Characters: 80%
Depth In Story: 80%
Social Commentary: 70%
Layers/Complexity: 70%
Classroom Text: 60%
Overall Rating: 80%

For the Classroom

Although this is a fantasy novel, there are some historical references to the fashion and architecture as well as the standing philosophies of the 12th Century that make it somewhat applicable as a period piece.