Fanboys Anonymous

The Tower of Il Serrohe is a mind-bending read. It follows two main characters at first, and their connection to each other takes some serious reading to discover. They share an uncommon talent for walking in two worlds… or is it the same world in two dimensions? That's a question that you will constantly kick around when you pick up this interesting fantasy book by RJ Mirabal.


The first character is a drunken, sloppy mac named Don. He's no regular drunk, however, but rather a very educated and intelligent professor with little more ambition these days than he needs to make it to the couch at night to pass out. His wife is enjoying the company of another man, a man he himself considers trashy. His life is mundane, his marriage is a drag, he's tired of his students. Don is Eeyore, only more of an adult version.

Our second character is a young woman hailing from a traditional Mexican family with firm Catholic beliefs and a dated lifestyle. Theresa listens to her father… mostly. She is a pillar in her community, a curer, and, in general, a very pure person with an unquestionable sense of morality.

Both of these characters were born in our world of scientific reality; they are both able to visit the valley in its magical parallel; and they are both considered heroes to the clans people. Sounds like a blast, right? Not if you are the leader of a bunch of dummies. Neither finds it easy to grasp the uncommon sense of the magic valley's inhabitants, a very underdeveloped people, if you could even call them people.

At some point, you begin to make surprising connections between the worlds and ways in a backward realization. The people aren't quite what you thought, the timeline may not be what you thought, and the enemy, although never established, you will find to be something other than what you thought. It was quite thought provoking indeed.

My personal opinion, however, is that The Tower of Il Serrohe was a bit too slow. I enjoyed the story, weird as it may have been, but did not so much enjoy the read. After all, I'm a weirdo. The odd fantasy reality is a very interesting place and so much more unique than the general fantasies of dragons, elves, and fairies. I enjoyed the western Native American religious tone that I felt the book's fantasy aspect drew from, and I enjoyed the plot twists. My issue with it was the fact that it flowed somewhat like an ancient epic poem (an exaggeration), so it probably took me much longer to read than it generally should have. To me, flow is key. Tell me what you think downstairs!

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