Stuck in the Labyrinth

Song Stuck on the Brain: Eternal by Robert Pierre. This song is so haunting, and Robert is just 13! He's got a great musical future ahead of him. You can download this song for free when you go to his website. Or get the whole album, it's available now.

I hate to say it, but I'm giving up on a book before finishing it. That rarely happens. I always finish a book with the hope that somehow it will redeem itself in the end despite page after page of drivel, but not this time.

I feel kind of horrible for quitting, but I just can't get into the story. The book is Labyrinth by Kate Moss and I've only made it a quarter of the way into the massive historical novel.

Here's what the publishers had to say:

July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth; between the skeletons, a stone ring, and a small leather bag.
Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade to stamp out heresy that will rip apart southern France, Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father as he leaves to fight the crusaders. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. As crusading armies led by Church potentates and nobles of northern France gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take great sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.

In the present, another woman sees the find as a means to the political power she craves; while a man who has great power will kill to destroy all traces of the discovery and everyone who stands in his way.

Intriguing, right? Mystery, ancient rights and rituals, action, suspense... it's supposed to have it all. But all I got was the yawns. This sounded like just the kind of book I would enjoy. I love a good intrigue. Toss in a secret society and a conspiracy theory and I should be staying up all night devouring the story. I'm not. I have to make myself pick it up and read.

Maybe it's just me. It certainly got rave reviews by other critics. Foreign rights to the story were sold to nine countries then an additional twenty-two. It's kind of hard to argue with that kind of success.

Anyway, I've decided there are too many good books that I will enjoy still sitting in my To Be Read pile for me to waste time reading something I don't enjoy. I'm scrapping this one and moving on.

Whew! That was a big step for me.

On a side note, after two years my friend at Trollville has closed up shop and the village is gone. Farewell Trollville, yours was a good blog. You taught this grasshopper much.

A.

CFBA:
Scoop by Rene Gutteridge. For another great interview with Rene, visit Fiction Fanatics Only.

Don't forget, if you haven't entered to win a Projecting A 2007 magnet calendar, do it now. Just click on the bananas at the top of the page. There are only 13 more days until the drawing.