Last month I reviewed A Slow Parade in Penderyn: Book One of The Dryad’s Crown by David Hopkins for Independent Book Review. It was an interesting read, particularly the open-content worldbuilding aspects, and I thought I’d share it on The Storytelling Blog, in case you missed the initial review.
March with Silbrey through the scene of her crimes as she confronts the past she thought she’d escaped.
Independent Book Review
Penderyn As Part Of An Open-Content Setting
A Slow Parade in Penderyn conducts the reader into a finely drawn world of both deep magic and gritty human struggle. Author David Hopkins provides more than an entertaining secondary-world fantasy: Herein lies a challenge. A Slow Parade unfolds in an “open content” setting, Efre Ousel. (Available for table top roleplaying purposes, here)That is, we are invited to join a “collaborative community, where other storytellers can build upon each other’s work.” In this small slice-of-Penderyn-life, a genuine story of human frailty and regret plays out on a solid bedrock of fantasy worldbuilding.
Silbrey’s Return to Penderyn
A Slow Parade is Silbrey’s story. Her past is more mysterious than that of most orphans—her origin is the stuff of fairytales, and she has played many roles and gone by many names to survive to adulthood. Valued enforcer for Penderyn’s ruthless guildmaster, Silbrey longs for sincere human connection and a peaceful life. When she finds love, Silbrey seeks refuge in the country but learns that, sooner or later, every choice has its consequence.
Her new world shattered, Silbrey makes her way through Penderyn to confront her former master. Much of the novella’s narrative is Silbrey’s reminiscences of the decisions that lead her to this showdown.
Most of the novella is flashback during Silbrey’s slow parade through town, as locations and people she encounters spark recollections. The resulting tapestry of thoughts, feelings, and experiences is immersive.
Voice of The Tale
The novella’s point-of-view is omniscient with a slightly detached storyteller tone especially suited to such a tale. This voice is most pronounced in the prologue, which is pure fairytale. Yet as the adventure unfolds, the book subtly modulates that tone to step back and let the events show us the action.
Lyrical Language
While always serving the narrative first, the story’s language is often lyrical. For example, a description of Silbrey’s place in the natural world as she trains with her unique staff tells us about her fighting style, her personality, and hints at her past. “The secret of her skill went much deeper than any training. Silbrey did not just feel the wood in her palm. She held the whole tree. The whole tree held her. She sensed the deep roots digging into rich soil . . .”
Language throughout is skillful and imaginative. For example, Silbrey breaks into her former master’s house to confront her. “The house was silent. Every echoing step upon the stone floor felt like a public greeting: presenting Silbrey of Penderyn . . .” The fishy smell of Penderyn’s docks is a familiar one to most readers and certainly evocative, but A Slow Parade takes that sense detail a step further to comment on society. “To the nobles, it’s unbearable. To the residents, it’s familiar. But to the fisherman, it’s the smell of a good haul and honest work.”
Empowered Women Rule Penderyn
Silbrey is a fascinating character, a woman who’s made herself powerful through deadly choices. Above all, she is a survivor. But she has secrets, some unknown even to herself, which influence her wants and needs. The novella successfully weaves its non-linear narrative into a cohesive story.
The fantasy world, Efre Ousel, is intricate, but the story avoids a sightseeing tour of extraneous information. Hewing to effective storytelling’s essential elements, Slow Parade presents a real person with a real problem overcoming real obstacles to reach a plausible resolution. The world is grounded in a rough realism that might seem incongruent to fantasy but works.
Illustrations and Maps
Delightful woodcut-style illustrations and maps enhance the feeling of having uncovered a book of old lore. This reader was happy to find pronunciation guidance in the introduction and intrigued by the open content concept.
Most of the novella is exposition, which is a reasonable choice given the retrospective narrative style and storyteller tone. However, this reader became more engaged in the story when Silbrey confronts her former master and events begin to be presented primarily in scene.
Reader Recommendations
I’d recommend A Slow Parade in Penderyn for young adult and adult secondary-world fantasy fans who appreciate empowered female characters, meticulous worldbuilding, and the promise of more tales to come. Polyamory and bisexuality are briefly mentioned. For writers, artists, and game designers, the invitation to come play in the Efre Ousel sandbox will be hard to resist!
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