(By guest reviewer, Laura Blewett)
The Vanishing Sculptor, by Donita K. Paul, follows a girl named Tipper, her friend and guardian, Beccaroon (who happens to be a large, talking bird), and an assortment of other characters including her father (Verrin Schope), an old librarian, a wizard, an artist, a prince, and a few dragons as they venture on a “quest” to find some missing sculptures that apparently hold the fate of the world within their stone. Unfortunately, in the beginning the author seems so concerned with having the characters refer to their actions as a “quest” or “adventure” that she forgets to let the reader actually experience it.
The book opens with Tipper selling off one of her father’s sculptures (he is a great artist), with Beccaroon questioning the wisdom of her decision and Tipper pointing out that they have no other source of income. They then muse over how angry the great artist would be if he found out his famous works were being sold (what else would you do with all your art?), because you see, Tipper’s father abandoned the family years ago and they have not heard anything from him since. As the story unfolds, we meet Tipper’s mother (who is flighty and self-centered and believes that her husband still lives with them) and Bealomondore, an artist who wants to be apprenticed to Schope. To satisfy her mother’s complaints about Schope not painting a view she likes, Tipper tricks Bealomondore into copying Schope’s style as a “tryout” for her father. Here the author takes the opportunity to demonstrate how Tipper is flawed and introduces the concept of a god (referred to as Boscamon) who may or may not be in control of all things, for us to mull over.
In the next few chapters, we find out that Tipper’s father really is alive; he was just trapped somehow in another part of the world and could come see Tipper’s mother at night, but did not manage to let his daughter know what was happening. Schope brings along with him a librarian and a wizard, two old men meant for comic relief. We learn that by separating a particular rock to carve three sculptures (which can, conveniently, be combined into one large sculpture), Schope may have doomed the world. Apparently the stone was a keystone of sorts, without which things (the most important of which is Verrin Schope) come in and out of existence, sometimes reassembling incorrectly. Upon Schope’s arrival back home there is no dealing with any hurt or betrayal that Tipper would have felt when seeing her absentee father suddenly appear—they are merely a happily united father and daughter and act like nothing ever happened. Furthermore, Tipper is admonished for selling the works that her father wanted kept safe (although what she should have done to keep them all fed, we never find out). They also present the concept of Wulder, a god who is involved in the lives of humanity—not just a god of absence and chance that Boscamon represents.
The three men decide to continue looking for the three sculptures and Tipper and Beccaroon tag along because they have decided to ask Bealomondore for help, thinking he’d be more likely to know where the sculptures are than a dealer or collector would (although there does not seem to be an example of this being the case). Luckily, Tipper’s mother has conveniently gone on a trip and therefore needs no attention. Over the next third of the book, the author has various members of the group use the words “quest” and “adventure” and “danger” numerous times and they stop in various towns and meet people, but nothing particularly interesting happens. The author attempts to thrill with various inventions or oddities particular to the magical world, but an interest in the characters and what happens is just as—if not more—important than the unique atmosphere in which the story happens. We merely read about how Tipper would sometimes like to say mean things that she shouldn’t and have the old men complain about how she always voices her opinion and wants to jump into something without listening to them, though they rarely, if ever, explain their actions.
Eventually the group meets Prince Jayrus, who lives as a dragon-keeper and who may or may not be used to fulfill a prophecy, and of course is handsome and charming and Tipper and he develop a “thing,” though neither demonstrate any impropriety. After Prince Jayrus and some of his dragons join the group, they visit a collector who does not want to sell the important piece he owns. After they leave, the author has the man kidnap Verrin Schope so that the group of “adventurers” can stage a rescue, Tipper can do something rash, and Jayrus can save them all from the collector. By the way, we have been told quite obviously from the start that the collector is a rather disagreeable person. He is also mean to his wife, who whimpers a lot.
At this point, which was less than two-thirds of the way through the book, I stopped reading. The characters never captured my attention, and the constant mentioning of their “quest” seemed like an attempt to artificially create excitement. Tipper’s development as a character consisted of her staging hotheaded internal debates, the other characters reprimanding her, and her debating the existence of the Wulder-god, who the other characters said influenced their actions. All of their actions seemed rather pointless, convoluted, and showy.
Overall, I thought the writing was rather simplistic and the story nothing special. Although she seemed to have an interesting concept of what she wanted to write, the author’s execution was poor and I will not be checking out anything else by her.
If you want to read The Vanishing Sculptor and let me know if you agree or not with my assessment, I have two copies to give away.
