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3.5 

March's End

By Daniel Polansky
March's End by Daniel Polansky digital book - Fable

Publisher Description

March's End is a multi-generational portal fantasy of strange magics, epic warfare, and deadly intrigue, in which the personality conflicts and toxic struggles of the Harrow family are reflected in the fantasy world they've sworn to protect.

The Harrows are a typical suburban family who, since time immemorial, have borne a sacred and terrible charge. In the daylight they are teachers, doctors, bartenders and vagrants, but at night they are the rulers and protectors of the March, a fantastical secondary world populated with animate antiquated toys and sentient lichen, a panorama of the impossible where cities are carried on the backs of giant snails, and thunderstorms can be subdued with song.

But beneath this dreamlike exterior lie dark secrets, and for generation after generation the Harrows have defended the March from the perils that wait outside its borders – when they are not consumed in their own bitter internecine quarrels.

In the modern day the Harrow clan are composed of Sophia, the High Queen of the March, a brilliant, calculating matriarch, and her three children – noble Constance, visionary, rebellious Mary Ann, and clever, amoral Will. Moving back and forth between their youth, adolescence, and adulthood, we watch as this family fractures, then reconciles in the face of a conflict endangering not only the existence of the March, but of the ‘real world’ itself.

March's End is a book about growing up, in which the familial struggles of the Harrows are threaded through the mythic history of the fantastical land they protect. It is a story of failure and redemption, in which the power of love is tested against forces that seek to break it, and the necessity of each generation to recreate itself is asserted.

File Under: Fantasy [ Not Narnia | Secrets will out | Growing up | Love is all ]

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10 Reviews

3.5
“3.5. I've got mixed feelings about this one. I think I liked the beginning much more than the end. Or rather The End. The story suffers a bit from the overstuffed plot and excessive verbiage. I think Polansky wrote this sitting next to an open dictionary. I know I certainly had to read it with one; I feel like I got brained with a bucket of synonyms! At first it gave the world a luscious feel, but eventually it was just overkill.”
“The Harrows are a close knit family with great responsibility. They are rulers of a magical realm called The March, tasked with keeping the peace between mystical tribes made up of animals, toys, robots and all creatures of the imagination. March’s End flips between timelines. Present day the family is distant and divided. The mother is old and sickly, two of the children have long since moved away, and only one child remained to take care of her mother and the realm. But the realm is in trouble, the tribes are at war, and the wall between the human world and mythical world is crumbling, causing chaos. In the past timeline we get to see how the children discover The March realm, and the tragedies and drama that end up tearing them apart in present day. But it’s time for the children to return home and order to be restored. This book was extremely unique, odd and chaotic. Think Narnia for adults with a lot more weirdness. The language had a timeless feel, and there was a stark contrast between the human world and The March realm that makes the reader long for something magical in their ordinary everyday life. This book lightly covered themes of mental health, grief, loss and family ties. This book is definitely unlike anything ive ever read, if you’d like an interesting fantastical read this may be for you! Thank you @angryrobotbooks for a copy of this book!”

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