A.J. Hartley

Will Hawthorne — (2009) Publisher: Act of Will is a boisterous fantasy adventure that introduces us to Will Hawthorne, a medieval actor and playwright who flees the authorities only to find himself inextricably bound to a group of high-minded adventurers on a deadly mission. Will travels with them to a distant land where they are charged with the investigation and defeat of a ruthless army of mystical horsemen, who appear out of the mist leaving death and devastation in their wake. In the course of Will’s uneasy alliance with his new protectors, he has to get his pragmatic mind to accept selfless heroism (which he thinks is absurd) and magic (which he doesn’t believe in). Will must eventually decide where his loyalties really lie and how much he is prepared to do — and believe — to stand up for them.

Act of Will

A.J. Hartley is best known as a writer of best-selling mystery-thriller novels, as a distinguished professor of Shakespeare in the English Department at University of North Carolina, and as editor of the Shakespeare Bulletin published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Dr. Hartley’s theater expertise is readily apparent in Act of Will, the first book of his first fantasy series.

It’s Will Hawthorne’s 18th birthday and he is finally a man. Today he hopes to be promoted to playing male parts and penning plays for his acting company. But, O how full of briars is this working-day world! Will instead finds himself on the run from The Empire, dashing across rooftops in a dress and blond curly wig with an arrow stuck in his thigh. As good luck would have it, he’s rescued by a strange troop of a different type, and off he goes to have adventures, to (reluctantly) fight evil, and to learn that all the world is not a stage.

I liked Act of Will from the very first paragraph. That’s kind of surprising because Will Hawthorne is not my kind of hero. Not only does he have no heroic qualities, but he has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever: he’s arrogant, selfish, unscrupulous, lazy, immature, thin, weak, and cowardly. He is true only to his own self. The only things he does well are to BS his way out of tight spots and to run like hell when he can’t talk his way out. When a hero is called for, Will’s first concern is how to remove himself from the situation in order to save his own skin. Will Hawthorne is, quite simply, not a likeable person. It’s no wonder he has no friends, and not much of a life either.

But Will is so open, blunt, and unapologetic about his inglorious personality that he somehow ends up being kind of disarmingly charming and you’re always hoping that perhaps he’s got just a scrap of mettle deep inside that might find its way to the surface. Occasionally he manages to screw his courage to the sticking place, but for every time he does something remotely heroic, he does something equally cowardly.

But what really kept me reading Act of Will is that the writing is altogether perfect. I would expect no less from an English/Shakespeare professor, but it’s so rarely that I can say this that I feel the need to point it out. The prose flows trippingly along and it’s funny. I liked Will’s cynical and sarcastic voice (it’s written in the first person). This could have been so easily overdone, but I found that I didn’t tire of it. The dialogue, both internal and external, is crisp and believable.

I took my mug, sauntered over to the table where the others sat, swinging the crossbow roguishly by its strap, and cast Renthrette an easy smile. She might as well have been wearing her armor, because it glanced off and fell in some dustless corner.

The writing style is clearly Dr. Hartley’s greatest talent. So for this reason, I found Act of Will to be delightful and entertaining and worth my time. However, there was a problem with Act of Will which I have seen before in first fantasy novels written by authors who are popular in other genres: too many plot points wouldn’t hold up to high scrutiny. For example, it is never explained (nor does Will ever wonder) why the magic sword and staff that have gotten them out of some tricky spots before can’t be used the same way in similar tricky spots. We get several clues about the origin and powers of the evil raiders who are terrorizing three countries, but never a full disclosure. And how is it that Will’s otherwise normal horse could have, according to the map in the front of the book, carried him nearly 300 miles in 24 hours … with a full night’s sleep in the middle, and apparently without any ill effects on either Will or the horse.

There are a few other sloppy spots that the editor should have noticed: in one scene Will gets down from a wagon that he had already dismounted two pages previously, there were times when characters with no magical powers seemed to suddenly and unnaturally translocate, and the maneuvers and proceedings of the last battle scene were an improbable fiction. I have no idea why authors who are popular in other genres might fall guilty to the Sloppy Fantasy Plot Syndrome. It troubles me to speculate, so I’ll choose to believe it’s just coincidence.

So. … To read, or not to read; that is the question… And this is the short and the long of it: Act of Will is like a Shakespearean comedy — really entertaining, very funny in places, contains an occasional cheesy monologue, and uses several unbelievable plot devices. Act of Will is a bit clumsy, but I found its style appealing. So far I like this series and willingly could waste my time in it. —Kat Hooper

Will Power

Will Power is A.J. Hartley’s second book about actor-turned-adventurer Will Hawthorne. It’s a direct sequel, beginning just a month after the events in Act of Will, but a reader could easily enjoy this book without reading Act of Will.

In Will Power, Will and the gang are swept away to what appears to be a parallel universe in which goblin-like creatures are threatening the beautiful people of Phasdreille. But all is not as it seems, and Will finds himself needing to solve a mystery and, at the same time, confronting some of his own prejudices.

If you enjoyed Act of Will, you’ll probably enjoy Will Power. It’s a very similar book, but perhaps a little too similar for my taste. While the writing style and dialogue continues to be spot-on perfect, some of what was refreshingly unique about Act of Will starts to feel a bit stale in its sequel. Most noticeably, the plot of Will Power contains many of the same elements as the first novel’s plot does: reluctant adventure, mystery about what’s motivating and powering a race of people that are acting strangely, a companion thought to be dead, Will sneaking into a forbidden room and having a flash of insight that saves the day, etc.

The characters remain the same, too. There is no development in any of them — Will’s sarcasm, selfishness, and cowardice were charming at first, but there were times in Will Power that his personality started to annoy me. Most of the other characters are sketchily drawn, so there isn’t anyone to heartily root for. While I enjoy laughing at Will (the novel is truly funny), I can’t really love him.

Unfortunately, this lightness affects the tension of the novel, too. Because it’s a comedy, the “scary” moments don’t evoke much fear. The evil isn’t very frightening, the conflict is solved and dissipated quickly, and the constant humor and lack of character development makes the novel feel more like an episode of Scooby Doo (complete with moaning zombies).

But if you’re looking for a light fantasy novel with a bit of mystery, A.J. Hartley’s Will Hawthorne series is a good place to go. The writing is excellent and funny, and Will is a… “special” hero. His adventures are sure to please those looking for a quick enjoyable read. —Kat Hooper