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Title: A "set-up" novel
Review: Charles Coleman Finlay's writing in his first novel is strong and does a great job showing the complexities of his characters, human and troll alike (well, perhaps only one troll). However, I feel that Finlay looks too far ahead toward describing Maggot's future adventures as a troll-reared man dealing with the various corruptions of civilization, instead of focusing on this one story. Although each scene is carefully crafted, the book taken as a whole doesn't have much continuity or momentum. It left me asking myself "Why do I care?" after I finished, particularly after the rather abrupt and slightly cliched ending.With that in mind, I still look forward to Finlay's future stories about Maggot because of Finlay's insight and characterizations of places and people. I just rather wish he didn't write this book first.
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