Speculative Fiction Junkie

A.J. Hartley

While I do most of my book shopping online at this point, I still occasionally look for books the old fashioned way, at brick and mortar bookstores. Part of the reason for this is that I just love bookstores, another is that there is a Borders bookstore right next to my apartment, but another benefit of doing things this way is that I'll sometimes come across a book that I might never have even heard about if I hadn't seen it on the shelves. This was how I discovered A.J. Hartley's Act of Will. After seeing it in Borders and reading this excerpt at home, I returned immediately the next day to pick up a copy.

I'm not sure how many regular readers of this site (if such people exist) will be familiar with Mr. Hartley's work. He has written several bestselling thrillers, but this is his first work of fantasy and I had never heard of him prior to purchasing Act of Will, even though he currently resides in my home state of North Carolina.

Act of Will follows the adventures of Will Hawthorne, who, when we find him, is a young adult actor (who always plays women's roles) who seems rather ambivalent towards most things and is just sort of drifting through life. Shortly after the book opens, soldiers attempt to shut down the theater and arrest some of the writers, including Will. Inexplicably, he decides to attempt to evade capture and winds up having to figure out how to flee the city. He finds himself unintentionally mixed up with a band of rebel adventurers who are on their way to distant lands to help put an end to raids by a mysterious company of crimson-clad men who are launching merciless attacks throughout much of the known world.

This book differs in several respects from typical works of fantasy being published today. For starters, Mr. Hartley has declined to follow the trend towards gritty fantasy. There is no sex, no foul language, and only mild violence. Similarly, worldbuilding was clearly an ancillary concern. While the exact loci of action are well described, for example, I never really got much of a sense of the setting as a whole. I found myself having a good feel for, say, the building in which the action was taking place, but not for the city or country in which that building was located. Similarly, I never got a good sense for distances in this book.

Even if these aspects of the story had been more fleshed out, though, they would have almost certainly been eclipsed by the character of Will Hawthorne, which is obviously the aspect of the story to which Mr. Hartley directed a majority of his effort. Put simply, the story of Will Hawthorne is what makes this book unique and what makes it worth reading. The story is told in the first person and it is some of the most hilarious reading I have come across in a long time. In addition to being funny, it gives the narrator a unique route into the heart of the reader. As we follow the exploits of Will and his companions, we see an unremarkable person remain unremarkable but nonetheless accomplish great things. In this way, Act of Will turns out to be less of what we might expect from a work of genre fiction and more just a really fun story that happens to take place in a setting we traditionally associate with fantasy.

Mr. Hartley is a great writer and manages to maintain a tone befitting the age and tendencies of his narrator throughout. He also knows how to write some pretty enthralling action scenes and works elements of mystery into the book. The only thing that I really didn't like about Act of Will was that the underlying mystery of the mysterious raiders, once revealed, didn't quite live up to all the hype in my opinion. However, this in no way detracts from the fact that the book triumphs remarkably in its main goal: introducing us to, and telling the story of, Will Hawthorne.

Act of Will was one of the most refreshing and original books I've read in some time. Do yourself a favor and read this excerpt. I'd be willing to bet that you enjoy it. I sincerely hope that Mr. Hartley continues to write books like this. It looks like he plans to for the moment at least, as a sequel is scheduled to be released sometime in the fall or winter.

Rating: 8/10

The True First

Act of Will was first published by Tor in March of 2009. Oddly enough, my copy of the book appears to be rather fragile as the spine is already bending substantially and the paper has a generally ragged look to it. Oh well. Since Mr. Hartley resides in the same state as I do, perhaps I'll be able to make it to a book signing some day. Based on the sorry shape of my copy of the book, he'll probably conclude that I reread it on a weekly basis.

[This review was not based on a review copy]