Fantastica Surreal Prose & Poetry
3.5/5
REVIEW OF FREE COPY
This is a book review of ‘Fantastica - Surreal Prose & Poetry’ by Andrea Lightfoot. I have received this title as a free review copy. I was drawn to it as I’m a fan of fantasy and the fantastic and also found the cover design quite appealing so my curiosity was tickled.
Synopsis:
‘Fantastica’ is a compilation of generally standalone pieces of prose or poetry that provide an insight into the life in Fantastica, which is a land between our human world and Fairyland. On occasion, two pieces provide an insight to a particular event from a different perspective. These pieces take the forms of letters, interviews, articles, poems, diary entries etc.). In these stories, we find reference to various legends, histories and cultures (such as Greek and Egyptian mythology, Celtic legends, Roman gods, God / Jesus and other mythological and supernatural creatures) mixed with modern day life.
Fantastica itself has a lot of resemblance with our human world, but is inhabited by both magic-wielding and non-magic-wielding folk. Just like in the human world they have a government, hotels, leisure centres, a court of justice, CCTV surveillance etc. To enter Fairyland from Fantastica, non-magic wielding people have to be accompanied by magic-wielding folk.
Review:
I actually read this one twice as quite a bit of time had passed between the first read and actually finding the time to write the review. After both times I found myself with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I like the approach of experiencing Fantastica through many different voices and different forms of communication - from historic documents to diary entries. Some of the stories were whimsical and beautiful, colourful and calming. So much work must have gone into researching different cultures and their mythology and then coming up with this great variety of stories.
Fantastica always seems to be just around a corner, behind an unexpected trapdoor or something and you can simply decide to move there. It almost seems that everyone is aware of Fantastica or at least not in total shock when they find it. And I guess that’s where I struggle a bit. Fantastica is on the one hand, too familiar, too similar to our own world, on the other hand, it feels overloaded with too many mythologies, religions and legends. I would have also liked to see a more distinct difference in style between the various pieces. The articles, interviews, etc. are not necessarily written in the respective style. A visual differentiation would have been the icing on the top, but this can get quite expensive.
Overall, I did enjoy reading ‘Fantastica’ on both occasions, but feel that some elements could have been executed better, though the variety of stories presented is amazing! The opinions expressed above are purely my own.
Why not make a trip to Fantastica for yourself to find out. The title is available here:
Would you like to have your own book reviewed? Get in touch.