7 Spirits, 4 Friends by David MacNameraMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Despite the fact that I am not a particular fan of this genre this novel was quite interesting. The kind of fiction that includes stories of spirits or fantastical mysterious characters no longer appeals to my imagination, although I will admit to still being a fan of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ and the ‘Gormenghast’ trilogies. However, MacNamera’s novel, ‘7 Spirits, 4 Friends,’ was both interesting and intriguing because it seemed to roam around the world with historical information, possibly real and imagined, about tombs, churches and temples that became fantastic in the way it supported the central plot. The four friends of the title set out upon an adventurous discovery, or quest, to find 'The Centuries Prize', a kind of 'Holy Grail' in the world spiritualism.
The characterisation of the four was quite strong and their specific strengths in the area were well illustrated. There was realistic dialogue throughout the book. Unfortunately the downside for me was generally in the telling of the tale. Often the past tense was used when the pluperfect (using the word ‘had’ appropriately) would have been more accurate and less confusing to the reader. There was quite a lot of tautology and missing punctuation that can become annoying after a while. In most novels the odd cliché will pop up and terms like ‘all of a sudden’ can grate when other ways of expression could be used instead.
As a retired science teacher I could not help but spot a few technical errors that glared, such as the inaccurate use of ‘temperature getting warm’ and saying ‘degrees’ where ‘angle’ is really meant. I’m sure the tale was original and exciting for fans of the genre and thus well worth the telling. But most probably the use of a beta/proof reader and/or an editor would have improved the final publication. At the very least frequent application of the spellchecker and grammar checker in the word processer would pick up some of the errors that spoilt my overall rating.
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