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The Keya Quests

Glenn Skinner
Outskirts Press, Inc. (2010)
ISBN 9781432749392
Reviewed by Charline Ratcliff for RebeccasReads (11/10)

Every year RebeccasReads hosts their annual “Written Art Awards” program and I was asked if I would be willing to read / review / critique “The Keya Quests” by author Glenn Skinner. The book sounded interesting enough: a brave young woman being chased by her kingdom’s enemies opens a magical portal and finds herself in modern-day America. She’s also been charged with the finding of a “great warrior,” the only person who has the ability to save her world. I enjoy reading fantasy so I, of course, accepted the invitation. Boy was I ever unhappy once I started reading my copy…

Before I begin my review I would like to comment that I couldn’t help but notice a striking similarity between this book's "The Introduction" and parts of the trilogy "Lord of the Rings..."

Now that my previous statement is out of the way, allow me to move on to my actual review… As I began to read “The Keya Quests” I discovered almost immediately that Glenn Skinner has an uncomfortably stiff and “robotic” writing style. “The Keya Quests” reads more like a court reporter’s transcript than a well-written fantasy. Sadly, the author’s repertoire of adjectives is slim therefore, when adjectives were actually used, they were the same tired ones that had already been used over and over again. The dialogue between characters had way too much “proper” name usage. Generally, we, the reader, understand who is speaking or being spoken to. An experienced author would understand this and would exchange some of those proper names for their corresponding pronouns like: he and him, she and her, or they and them.

I would also like to recommend that the author learn to use words other than “say” and “replies” when writing character dialogue. Don’t use “say” multiple times in the same paragraph; it sticks out like a sore thumb. Instead try something that coincides with what’s happening in that section of the story. Example, instead of writing: “Fine,” says Julie, pulling her hand back. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?” she says as she reaches instead for a slice from the pile of cold cuts on the counter. Try something like: “Fine,” scolds Julie, pulling her hand back. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to share?” she asks as she reaches instead for a slice from the pile of cold cuts on the counter. This is especially important since the last part of that original dialogue is actually phrased as a question…

Grammatically this book was a train wreck and unfortunately there’s really no “nice” way to say that. I also had a challenging time following the separate sections in “The Keya Quests” because the author did not use any form of division between the differing parts. In future I would suggest the author learn to write using chapters as dividers or if he can’t because the scene is too short than please, for your reader’s sake, use asterisks as a divider.

In summary I found “The Keya Quests” to be a difficult, odd and un-enjoyable read. While Skinner may feel that his “true calling would be that of a bard, spinning a rich tapestry of tales by firelight, infusing magic into the grey sameness of everyday life” I’m going to just say that I did not find this tale richly spun OR infused with magic…

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