The Year of the Hangman, by Gary Blackwood, has so far been an enjoyable read. My group and I have only read about half of the book so far, but agree that it's pretty good. This book is historical fiction, it's fiction not only because we are seeing the story through a person who doesn't exist, but it rewrites the outcome of the Revolutionary War. It takes a real historical event and puts a big twist on it. The main protagonist in the book is Creighton Brown. Creighton is a spoiled English teenager who lives with his mother. They are both still mourning over the death of Creighton's father who had died during his service in the war as a Loyalist. Creighton like I said is a spoiled teen. His family is rich, having that fortune has really changed Creighton for the worst. He is very carefree and reckless which is something his mother has had to put up with for some time. His mother finally snapped and had him abducted. He had been abducted to come aboard the Amity to go seek a new life in the colonies. His uncle, who is a colonel for the loyalists, was asked to take Creighton under his wing to fix his act. Along with meeting Creighton's uncle, we are introduced to A British Marine named Hale. Hale so far hasn't played a big role within the story, but hopefully he will soon. Eventually, Creighton reluctantly goes to work for Benjamin Franklin in his paper shop. He is providing the loyalists with information relating to the Americans propaganda and is currently stuck in the colonies.
• Define what makes an interesting story or poem.
In my opinion, what makes up a good story in this case is going to have to be the characters within it. I feel setting and plot are minor compared to the character in the book. I mean if you really think about it, the character forms the plot along with the rest of the important story elements. The elements are covered within the characters actions and emotions. Their roles are needed in order to actually create an interesting story. Also, you can't have an enjoyable experience with a book if you don't like your characters. The main character is who I am mostly referring to. You are going to have to go through this quest with this one character along with a bunch of others as well. If he or she is boring, unrelatable, bland, tasteless, then why should you continue to read. Your experience is going to be ruined because the author of your book couldn't provide interesting characters for you to read about. You're going to get a really bad taste in your mouth after reading that book and may not want to read anything from that author ever again because of that. That's not how books should be. They should have noteworthy people in them. People who you actually like and who can maybe find connections with. That's what I feel like The Year of the Hangman did pretty well with. None of these people so far I haven't been disinterested in. I never have the feeling of the book boring me to death. It’s gotten me a little more motivated into finishing it because I think the characters in it are depicted pretty well.
• Why do you think the author wrote this?
I feel like the author wrote this to try and create a cool scenario that people probably have thought of and actually bring it to life. You can do this for any sort of big “event.” Like what if the Nazi's zis won the Second World War? Or what if the Holocaust never happened? I'm sure people have had these thoughts about other historical events as well. What do you think would happen if the loyalist won the war instead of the Americans? That's the cool idea this book uses. Just that one small question can open so many doors and possibilities in your head. Anything you could think of isn't a crazy idea because it's just a scenario. That's what makes think book so unique. It rewrites the past by changing one small detail and it actually creates a story as to what could happen if this happened instead of this. It really opens your eyes and actually makes you think, “wow, this really could have have been the case.” To be honest, I have never read a what if situation type book ever. Maybe after reading this, I'd look a little more into that category and see if I can find another book like this one that I may like.
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