Book Review of The Hidden Flute


Ah, another book to add to the slowly growing list of books published by Jaded Silence Press. How wonderful it is!

I was the lead project editor for "The Hidden Flute" written by Tony Chavez AKA Nexus here on the WC. The story only took about a week of hardcore edits and reading. Like with all books and stories there were some problems but those were all addressed to the author.

I don't read too much fantasy that often, not that I don't like it but because my own personal book collection consists mainly of horror. What can I say, I love the dark and macabre side of writing. Anyhow, as I read this story I was impressed by the integrity of the piece as a whole.

The chapters are short but incredibly well written and action packed. The book only contains 29 chapters ranging from 2 to 4 pages in length, giving the book altogether 100 pages. It is qualified as a short novel and should not be discredited. After all, many great authors have done the same, for example; Stephen King with his book "The Green Mile." That was written as several short novels and then compiled into one collection.

The plot and story line were well thought out and delivered in an almost flawless manner. There were some quirks as I mentioned that tended to interrupt the flow of the piece. The author used 'seem' and all of its forms far too much as well as the word rather. Despite these problems, I weeded it out so that these two words were only used when it was appropriate. So with getting rid of these excessive hinderances the story was able to flow along easily, just as it was meant to do.

The characters in the story were enjoyable to meet and were easily liked or disliked depending on their roles. Abbey, who is the heroine of the tale, is easily attached to. She is shown as the young daydreaming girl who wishes for more interesting things to happen in her life. I'm sure that we have all have felt the same as she as some point in our lives therefore it makes it easy to identify with her and care about her. There are other characters that are introduced throughout the story, that help with the plot line and ongoing adventures of Abbey.

I found Tony's use of creativity with his fantasy creatures astounding and very descriptive. The usage of his adjectives were well placed and I could clearly see each and every single creature in my mind. All of the ranging from the horrific Impure to the fantastical and glorious gryphons. They were all incredibly well done and amazing for a fantasy book.

Overall with the use of magic, plot, character development and fantasy creatures, this was an incredibly well written book with a lot of raw talent waiting to be harnessed. Tony leaves the story open for a sequel to come and I eagerly await it.


Lead Project Editor: Pauline Ramsey

http://www.lulu.com/content/1438114