Thorne is a prospector on his way back from California, his homecoming journey marked by new relationships and dangers. A warning from a fellow trailblazer lays the stakes bare for him: “They can have anything of yours they set their black hearts on after that,” and this threat remains threaded throughout his journey. Thorne navigates uncertain terrain, with indigenous populations both friendly and unfriendly. He finds himself at the site of a brutal attack, becoming the steward of young survivors of dangerous territory and lawless behavior on the trail.
The stakes set, readers of Harold Toliver's THORNE'S JOURNEY HOME may expect a high-intensity adventure in a highly immersive world. Opening to any part of the book places the reader square in an environment that's easy to visualize with such extensive world-building. Scenes jump off the page with vignettes of gushing crystalline pools of water, “the skeletons of dead trees” sharing the impact of “whatever cataclysm” had created a spring. They also offer auditory experiences, like how “the hoot of an owl and the faint answer of a mate deepened [the woods].” Toliver makes the trail truly come alive, offering a rich perspective on the landscape of the United States and territories of 1850.
However, that same strength of detail also creates a weakness in the reading experience. THORNE'S JOURNEY HOME kicks off with great intensity involving gunfights and outlaws, but the book finds itself bogged down by the depth of detail provided on the trail. At one point, a character mentions four weeks passing, but, to the readers, it may feel like four months have passed. Moments with the children feel ripe for strong emotion and yet fall flat, particularly in comparison to the scene-setting surrounding those passages. While the world feels immersive, Thorne's character journey lacks the same attention and his arc likewise falls a bit flat.
While not a deeply emotional story, Harold Toliver's tale of survival and found family will satisfy readers yearning to blaze the trails of largely untouched historical fiction. Expect to be whisked into the mid-1800s American frontier to fight for survival and build a different kind of belonging in THORNE'S JOURNEY HOME.
The promise of adventure pulls a lot of weight in the highly immersive THORNE'S JOURNEY HOME, but Harold Toliver's heavy descriptions bog down the action and fail to extend into emotional moments.
~ Melodie Coulter for IndieReader