Thus, Grimpow begins a journey that includes the philosopher's stone, the secret of the wise and, of course, the Knights Templar. The story is well told, avoids most dawdling, and has likeable characters. Abalos' book stresses wisdom and knowledge over religion, but as some of the characters that are responsible for guiding Grimpow are good monks, I felt that his conflict centered more around the greed of the powerful and imposition of willful ignorance than God per se.
I have no qualms about any of my children reading Grimpow, though it seems to be more a boys book than a crossover tale. Plus, I don't know if my boys would get into the story. While it was written well enough and I was interested in seeing the end, it just didn't grab me, and 482 pages are a lot of pages to get through when you lack a hook. The book is translated from its original Spanish, I don't think that had anything to do with it, but without reading it in the original Espanol, who can tell?
Favorite Quotes:
"Nausea quickly ran up Grimpow's throat and stirred the stew that sat so sweetly in his stomach."
"The young lady noticed the boy who stood staring at her, and smiled, sending Grimpow's thoughts scattering like a flock of birds taken by surprise, and turning his cheeks red."
Overall Opinion:
I started on the fence and am swiftly falling to the opinion that says this book was not for me. It seemed to have all the right elements, but was still missing something, umm, how do you say, umm (snapping my fingers), a je ne sais quois? By the end of the book I was flipping through the pages and just scanning to see what happened.
Rating:
1 Time Read (but with the caveat, "You might like it, it just didn't quite do it for me.")
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