The second review of Strings! This one is courtesy of Tom Aguiar of Octopus' Garden, the Fanzine By and For Beatles Fans. The review will be appearing in the September 2010 issue. Thank you, Tom!
What do you get when you cross the Beatles and Dungeons and Dragons? You get With Strings Attached, a book that takes the Beatles in 1980 and transports them 16 years younger, to another planet where they must travel between universes to locate pieces of a magical statue and bring them together before they are allowed to return home to their lives and families. The lads find themselves thrown together without warning or knowledge of what has happened or where they are. Terrified, furious, and homesick, they learn the purpose of the situation as time goes on. In order to accomplish their goals, they are given magical powers to aid them in their quest. As each Beatle receives his own special magical powers, his personality begins to change, but Rothschild leaves enough of the basic values in place so that the reader knows each of the four throughout the story, even though they become different. In the end, the Beatles save the world but there is a twist as they find out exactly why they were chosen for this adventure.
Rothschild not only creates an entirely new universe but also two vastly different civilizations within that universe. Each is a different society unto itself, with different values, cultures, and character names. Rothschild also creates a different presentation of the English language into which the lads must adapt.There is a glossary of terms, locations, and characters in the back of the book and the reader should familiarize themselves with these early on for ease of understanding the story.
I’m not a big fan of fan fiction and have read many that would have been better left unwritten, but I found myself really enjoying the story and what Rothschild created, and what she created displays her talent. With Strings Attached was a 28-year labor of love for Rothschild and it paid off. The 661-page book may not appeal to everyone, but it did to me and is worth the read. I gave it an A minus.
