Daniel Polansky and David Levithan's Epic Tale of Construction and Creation: The Builders

Mr. Prime: It’s a little short and somewhat disjointed but I liked the style regardless. I’d have enjoyed it more if there had been just a little more story for each character so that I would have felt something when they were no more.

United States on Sep 26, 2023

doomguy: The Builders kind of blew me away. At first I was eager to pick it up because of it's short length, as sometimes I just want something I can quickly get through before moving on to something else, but by the end I was craving more of these characters and their world. Now that I've brought them up, let me just say that the characters are the best aspect of this book. The cast is unique, interesting, and full of personality. They would be perfectly suited for a series of episodic adventures, as they work well together and are distinct from one another, and all are very engaging in their own way. Although the plot is simply a typical revenge tale, it serves it's purpose by letting us enjoy these excellent characters as they move through the story. Another positive for me was the writing itself. The prose is good, and the book is actually filled with humor, unabashedly so, which I find very refreshing. Basically, I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did, and by the end I was wishing that it was twice or three times as long, or like I said previously: I would love to experience more of these characters in books of similar length to this one, in some form of episodic...

United States on Jul 26, 2023

TowerKnight: When I was about nine years old, I had gotten tired of reading the basic chapter books that every nine-year-old has to read for school. Encyclopedia Brown. Magic Treehouse. A-Z Mysteries, and those other never-ending sagas for children that seemed to have the same old story but just with different window dressings. Out of boredom, I remember rolling over to the “big kid” section of the school library and perusing the various spines sticking out on the shelves.

And on one shelf, there was Brian Jacques. (I'd remembered seeing Jacques Cousteau books at my grandparent's house, so I thought that it had something to do sea life.) Intrigued, I grabbed the book titled Martin the Warrior. There was a warrior standing on the cover holding a sword aloft, and the background there was a fortress on fire… And the warrior was a mouse! Seem to be an odd combination at the time, but it was loud enough for me to be curious and start reading. I was then sucked into the world of Redwall.

Brian Jacques (Rest in peace.) was the first to show me that one can write a serious story using animals rather than people to convey a serious story. The mix of action, humor and food...

United States on May 14, 2023

Jake: I bought this book on the recommendation that it would be like a darker Red Wall book. It really wasn't, but I decided to finish it as the story is short and sweet. The premise is pretty interesting and kept my attention until the end of the book. The prose however reads like an amateur fan fiction writer.

I understand that the author literally calls this book a juvenile project so I can't harp on it too much since he even knows what he's written. I just can't believe it is being as reviewed as well as it is. This book would be perfect for an edge teenager but if you are well read and a little older this book isn't going to be that great of a read for you. I wish I read this when I was in high school as I was an edge teenager once.

If you are buying this book to get someone back into reading or for a younger person who likes westerns and revenge stories this is worth picking up. To be clear, I did finish this book and I did enjoy some of it, but in the end it rang hollow for me. If you're the person you are buying this for have read meatier books I say give this one a pass though.

Canada on Apr 12, 2023

Arly Koyman: A quick read but it keeps you captivated from the very first page. This is like if redwall grew up a bit.. I would love to see more of this genre bounce back

Canada on Feb 18, 2023

Amazon Customer: Too fast. Not enough build up to the end. Characters are cool, but it's over so soon. Wanted to like it

United States on Jul 26, 2022

Swords and Spectres: Daniel Polansky is fast becoming one of my favourite authors (this is only the second book I have read by him so yea, fast!). The whole concept of this hit me as one of those things that could either be great or terrible. The fact that I had just finished the first book in Polansky’s ‘Low Town’ series made me want to try more of his work and seeing he had this novella out, I thought I’d give it a go.

And I’m so glad that I did.

Polansky has a real talent for creating brilliant characters with real flare. Even the Captain, a mouse that says very little, is brimming with character and is a very intriguing one at that. Others such as the overtly pompous French stoat (Bonsoir) or the mild-mannered badger (Barley) are a true joy to read about.

The novella is broken down into incredibly short chapters. Ever since reading Pride and Prejudice I have hated the idea of short chapters. But, in The Builders, it works stunningly well. The story is very sharp and the short chapters complement the style beautifully. A few of them are barely even a paragraph long but they just aide in building the tension up to certain points.

To think of a story about...

United Kingdom on Jan 31, 2019

josbookblog: As a child, I loved the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, and I couldn't help but think back to those books when reading Polansky's novella, The Builders, although they have little in common apart from the animal protagonists. The Builders is how I imagine Redwall might have turned out if penned by Quentin Tarantino. And many of Tarantino's trademarks can be found within the pages of The Builders – the ensemble cast, the non-linearity, the theme of revenge and an ever increasing number of violent deaths.

Years ago, the Captain and his crew were on the verge of winning a politically motivated war when they were betrayed. The crew went into hiding – their survival dependent upon their ability to maintain a low profile. But now the Captain sees a chance to take revenge.

The novel starts as he gathers the old crew around him – a seemingly rag tag bunch of creatures that have their own skills, each with their part of play in the mission ahead of them. Not that it will be plain sailing – they were betrayed before, and we know that there is a traitor in their midst today…

The Builders is a bleak and darkly humorous tale that works perfectly as a novella –...

United Kingdom on Jan 30, 2016

Kindle Customer: This is a totally unique book. Watership Down written by Glen Cook (The Black Company, Garrett PI etc.). The characters are animals, and their personalities reflect to some extent their animal archetypes. But they are also individuals in their own right: in a thin book, often just sketched in, but with a sense of an enormous backstory. Even the cover is appropriate to the story.

The book is all about a betrayal, that happened a long time ago, and the Captain (a mouse)'s plans for a rematch. There is this backstory that we never fully understand the details about, but which drives the characters now towards their inevitable collision-- the Captain and his allies, and his mortal enemy.

Is it perfect? No. Contrived? At times. It's a thin book. What can I say? I literally could not put it down once I had "cracked" its' electronic pages on Kindle. It dragged me through the short chapters introducing the characters and on towards the inevitable and final cataclysm (but not without twists). Leaving me with the voices of the characters in my head long after I had closed the pages.

It is fresh, unique in its voice. Even the cliches are lightly skipped over-- they don't...

United Kingdom on Jan 01, 2016

Johann Thorsson: It tells the story of a group of not-so-cute woodland animals seeking revenge. It starts with the familiar “getting the gang back together” scenario and then we watch as they head out to seek revenge for something that happened 5 years before.

This is a gritty story, the animals smoke and carry guns that they clearly know how to use. They have scars from past skirmishes and betrayals and indeed we know that within Captain’s group there is still at least one traitor.

The Captain is just a mouse, but somehow manages to be the scariest character among a group of scary animals. Every scene with him is tense, masterfully written. He is the Clint Eastwood of small rodents.

The Writing

The writing is excellent. I had expected this book, a novella, to be just a bit of silly fun, but found instead a book by a writer who treats the characters with respect. There are funny moments in the book, but the characters are never to be laughed at.

Here is a passage where we see the badger, Barley, doing a bit of what he does best; killing with a big rotating gun.

"And in the meantime Barley continued his work, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat. And to find an...

United States on Nov 07, 2015