Love her and hate her - introducing Darcy.

The Six by K.B. Hoyle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

THE SIX tells us the story of Darcy, a self-absorbed, hormonal brat of a thirteen year old (whose solipsism is her greatest defining feature) and her five companions - Sam, Amelia, Perry, Lewis and Dean. In a tale with parallels to the Narnia Adventures, the six find themselves crossing a magic portal to a parallel land in which magic abounds. Populated by fairy folk and mythological beings, Alitheia is a land of extraordinary beauty, clarity and magic. However, as with all good stories, Alitheia also harbours a Shadow - the Tselloch, an archetypal evil being which had entered Alitheia through the vanity and foolish greed of a human and was bent on destroying the world. In true fantasy novel style, the Six have been prophesied to save the world, but only after mastering their own magical talents.

So, the tale is not new and the characters not unsighted - how is this different from an attempt to recreate the Famous Five in Narnia?

Darcy.

She is extremely unpleasant, mightily moody and just plain thirteen. This girl represents all of the worst traits of your adolescent - a sense of entitled victim hood. Seriously, I wanted to lock her in her bedroom and tell her not to come out until she had grown a conscience and a rational mind!

Loved her. Can relate (I'm trying to grow one of those in my house right now, so I feel I know her well).

I think this is one of the first novels where I have disliked the central protagonist immensely, and still wanted to come back for more.

As the first in a penta-panoply of novels, THE SIX did everything it was supposed to. We discovered our band of merry travellers. We identified our leader (albeit reluctantly - from both perspectives (the reader and the character)) and we exposed the evil threatening the world. We even set up an opportunity to face the evil, a flaw and tempered the close of the chapter with the promise of more engagement to come.

Top notch. No real plot holes, no flat characters, enough drama to keep the pages turning, and heaps of room for development - particularly in the characters as they grow up, presumably to return and save the day once more.

Top effort. Now, do I start the next one, or try to get some sleep before work in the morning?

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