A review of Somewhither by John C. Wright

I give this book five stars (on Amazon) only because I'm not allowed to give it ten stars. This book has everything. If you like adventure, you will like this book. If you like horror, you will like this book. If you like fantasy, if you like science fiction, you will like this book. If you like romance, there's even some of that around the 80% mark. There is Wizard of Oz. There is Star Trek. There is mythology, language, physics, theology, and magic. Think of a word, it's probably somewhere in the book. Well, maybe not everything. I don't remember any Aztecs. They'll likely be in the next book.

At any rate, what the book is mostly full of is love: love of goodness, family, home, Earth, freedom, and truth. The main character, Ilya, is so delightful that whenever he thought about his mother (whose disappearance turns out not to be from death) I would think about how I would love to add him to my already adorable set of sons. If you like Odd Thomas, you will like Ilya. Like Odd, Ilya does a lot of thinking, ranging from the mundane to the deep to the hilarious to the bizarre. I laughed a lot. I cringed a lot.

Even thought the novel is crammed with riches, it is not a blob or a mess. All the details are polished and pointed. What the book does not have is an ending. Now I have to wait for the next book. That's irritating in one way, and comforting in another. I will have another chance to read about Ilya.