Book Review of #16 The Hand of Power By R.L Stine
Author Name: R.L Stine
ISBN: 0-307-24805-4
Publisher: Parachute Press
Part of a Series: Fear Street Sagas: Before: Door of Death, One Last kiss , Faces of Terror, Chamber of Fear, Circle of Fire, etc, all the way to A New Fear
Type of book: Young adult, 1664, 1624-1625, horror, Fier Saga
Year it was published: January 1999
Summary:
Margarete Fier doesn't like using her strange ability to see into the past. BUt when her fiance, Peter Sturdevant, asks her to help him, Margarete agrees. He knows a mysterious source of power is hidden somewhere in his mansion. He's desperate to have it. But then Margarete finds the power-along with its legacy of danger, despair, and death...
Characters:
In all honesty, I didn't think that the characters were memorable in any way. There were attempts at making them human, but I think the author didn't do a successful job at it.
Theme:
In all honesty, no matter how I think or try to analyze the book, its message escapes me.
Plot:
It is cool that Margarete's story intersected with Alina's, and that the book didn't portray a Fier/Fear character as a perpetrator but instead they are portrayed as victims. Mostly the book seemed to be rushed but strangely believable. The book is in third person limited narrative, primarily from Alina and Margarete.
Author Information:
R.L Stine was born on October 8th 1943 and is most famous for other Fear Street series along with Goosebumps series and Nightmare Room. Goosebumps and Nightmare Room were made into TV series ages ago.
Opinion:
Just because this is set back in late 17th century, this is not actual historical fiction, but instead history is simply used as window dressing. I was not impressed with the way Alina's people were portrayed, even if it is a horror genre. Also, I highly doubt that Niels and Alina would be allowed to get married. (I'm surprised that the crew didn't accuse him of being under Alina's spell...) There were few exceptions, (John Rolfe and Pocahontas is one,) but Alina and Niels aren't one. Also, why use same old tired stereotypes for a culture that's different than American one? This is also a final novel in Fear Street Sagas.
3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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