I recently read Daniel A. Rabuzzi’s The Choir Boats and I must say I was impressed. Rabuzzi is a terrific writer but a storyteller first. You can feel his sense of wonder and deep involvement in his world of Yount from the very beginning. Background in mythology and folklore add an almost dazzling display of interwoven characters and references. Some of them had me making notes for further reading. I can assure you for someone who took mythology courses religiously in college, that is rare for me but greatly exciting. Artwork done by his wife Deborah A. Mills is also interspersed within the work in a most complimentary way. As you cast your eyes on the artwork and hear the sound of the newly created words of Yount, you fall into a steady rhythm gently pulled by some very lyrical and visually descriptive writing. One of my favorite lines was thus: “The walls of the attic leaned inward, the roof sagging like a thumb seeking an insect to squash.”. As I repeat it now it has such a rhythm while also being an amazing visual effect in my mind. Rabuzzi weaves an original cast of character effortlessly and creates a world all his own reachable by only some. Luckily we are to be included in the party. The Choir Boats will be released September 28th.
London, 1812 | Yount, Year of the Owl
“What would you give to make good on the sins of your past? For merchant Barnabas McDoon, the answer is: everything.
When emissaries from a world called Yount offer Barnabas a chance to redeem himself, he accepts their price—to voyage to Yount with the key that only he can use to unlock the door to their prison. But bleak forces seek to stop him: Yount’s jailer, a once-human wizard who craves his own salvation, kidnaps Barnabas’s nephew. A fallen angel—a monstrous owl with eyes of fire—will unleash Hell if Yount is freed. And, meanwhile, Barnabas’s niece, Sally, and a mysterious pauper named Maggie seek with dream-songs to wake the sleeping goddess who may be the only hope for Yount and Earth alike.”
Stiletto Storytime 