Ivan of Aldenuri Bk. 1:
The Forest of the Taurocs
by J. P. Foncea

    THE FOREST OF THE TAUROCS by J. P. Foncea
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  10/9/07
    Publisher:  CBH Books
    Reviewed by:  Candace Cunard
    Rating:  4 Stars


    Readers of the fantasy genre will immediately recognize the story of THE FOREST OF THE TAUROCS. It’s
    another of those quest/coming-of-age tales that have been around for ages, arguably popularized by Tolkein, Lewis,
    and later Pullman and Rowling. It takes place in a world that the author has apparently spent a great deal of time
    crafting. It has its own map in the front of the book (now a fantasy standard), detailing the strange lands of Aldenuri,
    Errion-Thal, and others. Foncea obviously knows more about the history and people of these lands than he lets on
    through the narrative, but even the reader will leave the book with a wealth of information about the people who
    inhabit it.

    The story begins when the twelve-year-old titular hero of the story discovers that he has been gifted with the ability to
    fly. Ivan reveals his talents to his family, but they decide to keep it a secret, and he uses his ability only sparingly until
    one day his town of Aldenuri is attacked by vicious Viking-esque Kerren warriors from across the sea, and Ivan uses
    his ability to distract them. His plan backfires and he is caught and taken captive by the Kerren, but when their ships
    are ambushed by sea monsters, he manages to escape and flies to land in Errion-Thal, a foreign country.

    Entirely by coincidence, Ivan ends up at the fortified home of Gulden Fendordun and his son, Astur, who is Ivan’s
    age. Ivan learns from the Fendorduns that they have begun to see large dinosaur-like monsters coming out of the
    Forest of Arkane, near where they live, and have barricaded themselves in the tower for protection. Using his ability
    to fly, Ivan safely carries information to the nearest town, and the people of Errion-Thal begin to organize in order to
    defeat the Taurocs, who have not been seen for hundreds of years. It turns out that Ivan is tied more closely to the
    destiny of Errion-Thal than he might have suspected.

    I was unimpressed by the writing style, which seemed to hover somewhere between fairytale, myth, and legend. I
    wanted a better idea of the internal lives of the characters involved, especially Ivan, but I even felt slightly distanced
    from him. This was particularly frustrating when it came to discussing character motivation, which was almost entirely
    delivered through dialogue with others rather than as part of the characters’ inner lives.

    A unique trait of Foncea’s fantasy is that, while it has its fair share of strange places and monstrous creatures, it is
    almost entirely bereft of “magic” as the average fantasy reader would define it. Even Ivan’s ability to fly is posited to
    be the result of a potion he drank accidentally as a small child, the result of one of his grandfather’s scientific
    experiments. There are certainly no wizards or mages in the story, although there is still a great deal of action and
    adventure.