Shannon's Library

LET’S GET EXCITED ABOUT THIS BOOK!

Charley Sutherland has an unusual gift. He can “read” literary characters out of books and into the real world. His very normal brother, Rob, is resentful of this gift and has spent his life trying to cover up Charley’s abilities. When more and more literary characters start showing up in the real world, Charley and Rob realize there is someone else out there with this same gift. This other someone has nefarious plans afoot and it’s up to Charley, Rob and a fun cast of literary characters to save the world from destruction! If you’re a fan of the likes of Mr. Darcy, Heathcliff or David Copperfield, you’re in for a treat with this book! It’s creative plot caught my attention from the start and kept me hooked until the very end! My full review of “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” is below. After reading this novel and my review, leave a comment and let me know who your favorite literary character was that came to life! Mine, of course, were the Mr. Darcy’s!

Shannon’s Rating — PG-13

---

LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK!

“Chapter One. I am Born. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anyone else, these pages must show.”

Do you recognize these lines? If so, then you are way ahead of the game going into this novel, “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” by H.G. Parry. If you didn’t immediately know that these lines begin Charles Dicken’s novel, “David Copperfield,” then that’s ok. You will soon know them very well. Charley Sutherland, one of the main characters in “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, says that the opening lines of “David Copperfield” are perfect…

“…because they are all of our opening lines. They are how our stories all begin. We love Dickens because he tells us stories, and because he tells us that we are all stories. We are. We are more than stories, of course. But we have to start somewhere. And there are worse places to start than, ‘Chapter One. I am Born. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life or whether that station will be held by anyone else, these pages must show.’”

I am a lover of stories. Unique plots have always appealed to me and the plot of “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” is most definitely unique and creative. Charley Sutherland is a summoner, meaning he has the ability to read characters out of books and bring them into the real world. His brother, Rob, is as normal as you can get and has always been resentful of Charley’s extraordinary gift and how keeping his secret has affected the lives of their entire family. When more and more literary characters start appearing in the real world and causing trouble, Charley and Rob realize there is another summoner in their midst; one with evil intentions that must be stopped. They team up with some of these literary characters in order to stop the villain and his plan to destroy the world. Their most notable sidekick is Millie, a character from a fictional novel called, “The Adventures of Millie Radcliffe-Dix, Girl Detective.” I picture Millie kind of like Pippy Longstocking, if Pippy Longstocking had been a kid detective. Millie is plucky, headstrong, adventurous and brave. She’s the leader of all the other literary characters who are living in the real world and is one of my favorite parts of the novel.

The best told stories have the best characters, and what a cast of characters this novel has! Let me tell you just a few of these characters and see if you don’t get excited to dive into this book…Sherlock Holmes, Heathcliff, The White Witch, Matilda, Mr. Darcy (5 of them, in fact!), Scarlet Pimpernel, Lancelot, Huck Finn, The Artful Dodger, Dorian Gray, The Cat in the Hat, Mr. Tumnus, Frankenstein, Charles Dickens, Lady Macbeth, the god Maui, the Hound of the Baskervilles and of course, Uriah Heep. That’s not even all the literary characters that make an appearance in this book but it’s a good start. Very fun, right! I will admit, I had to look up a few of the literary characters that showed up in the book. For example, I didn’t know Scheherazade from “One Thousand and One Nights,” or Miss Matty from “Cranford.” And I now know who The Implied Reader is, but I had to research that one along the way. So, if you don’t know all these literary characters off hand, don’t stress about it or be intimidated to read the book. However, it was fun to see how the personality of the literary characters I knew well were portrayed in this novel. Heathcliff was appropriately brooding and dramatic saying things like, “Get out. Or I swear from the depths of my stormy soul you shall feel my wrath.” Dorian Gray was eerily ageless, bewitching and surprisingly proficient with computers. He declared, “There are no innocent people. I know the darkness in their hearts. I’m a creature of the Gothic imagination; more than that, I’m a creature of the Internet. I don’t hold it against them. I’m no better that them. But believe me, there is no happy ending to real life.”  But the Mr. Darcys were my favorite literary characters in this book. They were laugh out loud funny and perfectly portrayed by H.G. Parry. “Edging their way to the front of the group were gentleman who seemed to move as one, clothed in an assortment of breeches and cravats. Their faces were more different than I’d thought, but all looked proud, disdainful, and distractingly handsome.” One time the Mr. Darcys got angry at the Artful Dodger for something he had done wrong. The Artful Dodger apologized and said he would be more careful next time. Darcy One said warningly, “Next time means nothing to me. My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

While it is not necessary to know all the classic literary characters that make an appearance in this novel, I think knowing most of the main characters personalities and the books they came out of, definitely enhanced my enjoyment of “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep.” I wouldn’t have found all of these references amusing if I didn’t already have an attachment to these literary characters and enjoyed seeing how they would act if suddenly thrust into the real world. Additionally, it wasn’t just characters that were being read out of books. King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, makes an appearance. The tunnel from “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and the door from “The Secret Garden,” also are used in the novel. It got to the point where Rob couldn’t handle seeing books anymore because of all the characters and objects being read out of them and used against them. He declared, “Frankly, I was sick of the sight of books. They were starting to look like grenades lying about to be triggered.” Again, such a unique concept by H.G. Parry!

So, before starting “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” it would help to have at least a basic knowledge of “David Copperfield,” by Charles Dickens. You would need to know, for example, who Uriah Heep is and the role he plays in “David Copperfield.” (Google would probably be sufficient.) But if you are an overachieving type of personality and reader, then I would recommend reading “David Copperfield,” before jumping into, “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep.” Also, if after reading “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” you have a new found interest in classic novels and are inspired to read more of them, these are some of my favorites that I highly recommend: “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” “Pride and Prejudice,” “Wuthering Heights,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” and “The Scarlet Pimpernell.” So, so good!

I think the biggest surprise for me in “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” was how the relationship between Charley and Rob became such a main theme throughout the novel. I was expecting a fun and exciting plot filled with villains, action and some magic thrown in. However, at the heart of the novel was the evolution of this brotherly relationship and it was surprisingly touching. I loved seeing how these estranged brothers overcame their misunderstandings of each other and came together throughout the novel.

Towards the end of “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” the villain asks Charley, “Have you never wanted to escape into a good book?” I think all readers desire to escape into a good book. To get lost in a fun story. To imagine a world filled with magic and fantasy. To forget about our real-world troubles for a while. Well, “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep,” is just that sort of book. Read it, escape into it and enjoy the ride!