Review: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved the concept behind this setting: one of the two protagonists has a special power than enables him to conjure the characters he reads from books into real life. Or rather, the characters that manifest into reality are his interpretation of that character from reading their book. From a fantasy and world-building perspective, this premise has a ton of possibilities. On some level it's almost Frankenstein-esque.

Also Dickens' David Copperfield is one of my favorite books of all time (see: Uriah Heep). So what's not to like?

As it turns out the execution was just okay; maybe a little too conventional for my taste. The narrator was frustratingly obtuse to his own character flaws (I may be biased because I too am an elder brother), but seriously this guy needed to get with the picture waaay before the climax.

Or basically... do you ever have that feeling where you get 25% into a book, figure out that you already know how to solve the main character's relational problems, and then realize you still have to drudge through a couple hundred more pages of interpersonal conflict and bickering just to see it end? That's basically what this is.

(I still felt emotional during the climax, but again that's because I too am an elder brother. and probably needed this catharsis in my own life lol)

Also if you haven't caught up on your 19th century reads yet (Sherlock Holmes' Hound of the Baskervilles; Wuthering Heights; Pride and Prejudice; Dorian Gray; of course David Copperfield; and more), then beware before reading, because this book spoils ALL of their plots.