The Christmas Chronicles by Tim Slover - BOOK REVIEW (Holiday Gift Guide)

Title:  The Christmas Chronicles
Author:  Tim Slover
Publisher:  Bantam Books, a division of Random House
Publish Date: November, 2010
Fiction
Hardcover, 176 pages
ISBN 10:  0553808109
ISBN 13:  9780553808100

Goodreads description:

In this new holiday classic, Tim Slover crafts a marvelous, magical novel about how Santa Claus became the man he is today. After reading The Christmas Chronicles, you’ll believe all over again in the magic of the season.
 
Snow is falling, and the clock ticks toward midnight on Christmas Eve while countless children, too excited to sleep, anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus. But in Tim Slover’s deeply charming and utterly thrilling new novel, that’s the end rather than the beginning of the story. In this richly imagined tale of Santa’s origins, the man in full finally emerges. The Christmas Chronicles is at once an action-packed adventure, an inspiring story of commitment and faith, and a moving love story.

It all starts in 1343, when the child Klaus is orphaned and adopted by a craftsmen’s guild. The boy will grow to become a master woodworker with an infectious laugh and an unparalleled gift for making toys. His talent and generosity uniquely equip him to bestow hundreds of gifts on children at Christmas—and to court the delightful Anna, who enters his life on a sleigh driven by the reindeer Dasher and becomes his beloved wife.

Still, all is not snowfall and presents. Klaus will be shadowed by the envious Rolf Eckhof, who will stop at nothing to subvert him. But in the end, Santa’s magic is at last unleashed, flying reindeer come to his aid, and an epic battle between good and evil is waged in the frosty Christmas skies.

By turns enchanting, hair-raising, and inspirational, The Christmas Chronicles is a beguiling tale destined to become a holiday favorite for the ages.

My Take: 

The book starts out with a narrator full of the Christmas spirit whose family is not too keen to join him in going into the woods to pick pine boughs, so he sets off on his own.  After going further up the wooded road than he has ever been able to go (as it's not full of snow as it usually is), his car ends up rather stuck.  With no cell phone reception, he decides to get the boughs, then walk down the road until he is able to telephone for help.

As he is going through the woods, he hears bells and sees a road open before him that he had never seen before.  Suddenly, a crimson-red reindeer appears driving an old-fashioned sleigh.  The rider and sleigh appear to be in a hurry, and as they make a sudden turn onto the road, a book falls to the ground and the road suddenly disappears.  While the narrator is pondering, a physical gray cloud full of despair suddenly overwhelms him and seems to howl in frustration at the area where the road USED to be.  Once the cloud leaves, and the narrator is able to shake off the bleakness engendered in him by it's arrival, he picks up the book and walks back to his car, which is now no longer stuck, facing the correct way on the road, and has a trunkload of fresh pine boughs packaged and bundled in the trunk.

That is the prelude, which is rather good. The green book is the history of Santa Claus, as written by the official Court Historian of Castle Noel.

In this magical book, you will learn so much about Santa Claus that you will wonder why no one ever told you his real story.  Klaus, orphaned by the Black Death of 1343, was adopted by the Worshipful Guild of Foresters, Carpenters, and Woodworkers, where he became a Master at a tender young age, earning the jealousy and ire of Rolf Eckhof, whose own talents are minimal at best (he will NEVER be a Master).  His own hand-carved toys, blessed by the local priest, begin the Santa tradition.  You will found out how the false notion of naughty behavior being a cause to receive no presents began, and why toys are delivered through chimneys (as well as the real method of delivery, which is also magical).  I found out that elves is a shortened name for Elevated Spirits, and that the Green Council (who appointed Klaus to Castle Noel), although made of saints, squabble with each other over minor details.

Anna, Klaus's wife, adds such a lovely breath of romance to the story. She is a surprisingly marvelous, well-drawn addition, with her own strong character and her ingenuous plans for nabbing her man. 

Rolf and his vengeful plots add exactly the right amount of intrigue and suspense, and each time he causes trouble, you just want to slap him in the head (not that I'm an advocate of violence, but he deserves it .. read it and you will see).

This is a book that is going on my keeper shelf.  Right now, I am re-reading it with Bebe Boy James (a bit each evening until Christmas), and he is enjoying it too. 

QUOTES (may differ slightly from the finished version, as these are from an ARC):

Look.  I'm going to be revealing so many wonders over the course of this account that you might just as well get used to contemplating them.  I've had to.  So I shall stop hesitating and trying to prepare you for the incredible.  I'll just assume you're keeping up.

A great longing suddenly grew up in him to rest, to sell his tools and move with Anna into the retirement house next door and spend his days holding her hand in the sun.

Only a very special person, one who is almost an Elevated Spirit already, may see Klaus or his reindeer on Christmas Eve - and then only as the barest flicker that teases their imaginings.  Charles Dickens was such a person, as were Clement Moore and Mr. May - but once again I'm getting ahead of this chronicle.

BOOK RATING:  4.5 out of 5 stars

Side Note:  This is the cover of the ARC I actually received (and the disc cover for the book).  I like it better than the cover it actually ended up with:

Read an excerpt

About the Author

BUY IT:  At Amazon, through the publisher's website, and at other on-and-off-line booksellers.

This book is part of my 2010 Holiday Reading Challenge list

This book is part of my Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge List

Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this title through Pump Up Your Book to facilitate my review.  No other compensation was received and I was not required to post a positive review.