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The Foundling The Hidden Realm eBook A Giannetti

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The Foundling The Hidden Realm eBook A Giannetti

Having read Foundling, I'm now a fan of Giannetti's; the writing was strong, and I loved the characters. Foundling focuses on Balbus finding and raising Elerian, an orphan with an unknown past and powerful enemies. Despite the presence of ancient forests, well imagined creatures, and magic, Foundling is more a coming-of-age tale than anything else. Elerian has to avoid the natural and malevolent dangers while growing up, as well as learn to mesh both his mischievous nature and kind heart.

The good points of the book are the characters, pacing, writing, and world-building. I particularly liked the natural, unforced, and semi-organic style; Giannetti has a light touch as an author, making the reader feel as if the story is true, if foreign, rather than "just a story". The novel could be a bit longer though. While the pacing of the story is good, the book feels like it should be the first third or half of a longer novel (think Rothfuss, Martin, Jordan, or even one of the later Harry Potters for length). In the end, there isn't enough of a conflict between the protagonist, Elerian, and whatever issues he has to surmount.

Overall, I liked the feel of the book, would recommend it to other readers, and I look forward to the sequel. Strong recommendation to people looking for a originally imagined, if somewhat classic fantasy, as well as teen fantasy readers interested in a coming-of-age story.


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The Foundling The Hidden Realm eBook A Giannetti Reviews

This book was a fun and simple fantasy exploit. I particularly enjoyed the world and magic system. Nothing really original (though a few things are pretty cool and new) but the story was pleasant to read. I felt it could have been darker with more conflict, but I am glad I read it! The beginning was a bit boring to me, but the story quickly became well-paced.

The grammer was lacking, and the overuse of words got irritating. But I didnt mind too much. Four stars.
Honestly, I haven't gotten too far into the book, and that is not from a lack of trying. It is just so very incredibly wordy. I find myself skipping entire pages of inane description and internal dialogue. Don't get me wrong...I like a well illustrated setting and insight into the characters' thought processes, but this is a bit ridiculous.

I have a decent imagination. It is okay to tell me that a character hung his cloak on a peg by the door. You don't have to tell me that he placed his well used floor length brown leather fur lined cloak on the second peg on the wall by the back door next to the warm stove and across from the stack of cedar firewood in the corner. And then commence to tell me about exactly what he's thinking as he's doing it. And please don't think that this is an exaggeration. There is that much detail throughout. It's like the author had a list of every adjective known to man sitting right next to him while he was writing.

All I ask is that the author give the reader some benefit for having even a modicum of imagination. Is that too much to expect...?
"The Foundling" has an charmingly retro feel to it in plot and writing style. At the start I wondered if it was going to be a recycled hash of popular epic fantasy themes. Dwarves, elves, mages, magic rings - all the usual ingredients were there. I persisted, however, and was happy to discover "The Foundling" is something very different from the usual Tolkein knockoff. The influences go back much earlier, to fantasies by writers like Edith Nesbit and George MacDonald.

The story juxtaposes themes of innocence, morality, and darkness in a way alien to modern literature. For example, the author mentions that Balbus, completely unaware of his danger, saves himself from capture simply by avoiding greed. He never spent money which could have been used to trace him, as he was content with his ordinary life. Yet, neither Balbus nor Elerian are boringly perfect. Balbus has insecurities and obdurate moments. Elerian is prone to pranks and and his own kind of willfulness. They make mistakes, learn, and become wiser.

The writing level is appropriate for an older child, yet it has enough depth to be interesting to an adult.
The Foundling is the first of a planned seven books in the Hidden Realm Series and I thought overall was a really good read. The author's product description bests summarizes the story's plot, so I will refrain from elaborating. From the very beginning, the author's descriptive writing style of the physical environment and interactions between the humans and creatures, interspersed with uses of magical/mage powers really kept me interested and engaged in the story. I thought the story kept moving at a good pace from encounters with Goblins and other creatures (with the potential for humans on the menu) to good character interplay between Elerian, Balbus and Tullius (each with their own unique personality).

On a personal note, I enjoy reading books where the chapters aren't too long and at just over 10 pages or so a chapter, I felt I could take a break at pretty much any point and could always get through a chapter. Very minor distractions included some basic proofreading issues, and a personal difference on the use (or overuse) of commas. Sometimes I felt the placement of too many commas in a sentence added additional breaks which sometimes slowed or altered the natural flow in the dialogue where it wasn't needed. To be fair, everyone has their own writing style. Regardless, for me, it didn't detract from the story. I honestly did find it pretty difficult to put the book down. Having read the first three books before writing this review, I can honestly say, the story only gets better in the Mage and the Warrior. Overall, a very engaging read. Definitely recommend.

Jeff
Indieproofreader@gmail.com
Having read Foundling, I'm now a fan of Giannetti's; the writing was strong, and I loved the characters. Foundling focuses on Balbus finding and raising Elerian, an orphan with an unknown past and powerful enemies. Despite the presence of ancient forests, well imagined creatures, and magic, Foundling is more a coming-of-age tale than anything else. Elerian has to avoid the natural and malevolent dangers while growing up, as well as learn to mesh both his mischievous nature and kind heart.

The good points of the book are the characters, pacing, writing, and world-building. I particularly liked the natural, unforced, and semi-organic style; Giannetti has a light touch as an author, making the reader feel as if the story is true, if foreign, rather than "just a story". The novel could be a bit longer though. While the pacing of the story is good, the book feels like it should be the first third or half of a longer novel (think Rothfuss, Martin, Jordan, or even one of the later Harry Potters for length). In the end, there isn't enough of a conflict between the protagonist, Elerian, and whatever issues he has to surmount.

Overall, I liked the feel of the book, would recommend it to other readers, and I look forward to the sequel. Strong recommendation to people looking for a originally imagined, if somewhat classic fantasy, as well as teen fantasy readers interested in a coming-of-age story.