Ever since Jacob Reckless was a child, he has been escaping to a hidden world through a portal in his father's abandoned study. Over the years, he has made a name for himself as a finder of enchanted items and buried secrets. He's also made many enemies and allies -- most important, Fox, a beautiful shape-shifting vixen whom Jacob cares for more than he lets on.
But life in this other world is about to change. Tragedy strikes when Jacob's younger brother, Will, follows him through the portal. Brutally attacked, Will is infected with a curse that is quickly transforming him into a Goyl -- a ruthless killing machine, with skin made of stone.
Jacob is prepared to fight to save his brother, but in a land built on trickery and lies, Jacob will need all the wit, courage, and reckless spirit he can summon to reverse the dark spell -- before it's too late.
I've read The Petrified Flesh multiple times, starting back when it was called Reckless and the series was called Mirrorworld. Something must have gone screwy with the original translator since they replaced that person with new translator Oliver Latsch who translates the Reckless trilogy from German into English.
Jacob Reckless is the main character, a treasure hunter in his early twenties in a magical fairyland that can only be reached through a magic mirror. The reader knows he's unreliable, a liar, and a bit of a womanizer. He's out for adventure and makes promises that he wishes he could keep, but knows all the same that he won't.
Will Reckless, Jacob's younger brother, is the complete opposite of Jacob. A gentle, kind, gullible soul, Will has always looked up to Jacob, all the way up to the point where he finally figures out the mirror and follows Jacob into the Mirrorworld. Where, as the synopsis points, out, he is cursed to grow a skin of Jade stone.
Clara is Will's girlfriend who also comes with him through the mirror and now she and Jacob work together to return Will to his own skin. She's a lot like Will, rather gullible, but gentle, and she was a nurse at the hospital where Will and Jacob's mother lay dying.
Then there's Fox, the remarkable Vixen who has been a faithful compatriot to Jacob since he first found her injured in an animal snare. She is a shapeshifter, but spends most of her time in the comfortable, impartial fur of the fox than in the human skin of a young woman who's starting to realize her love for Jacob Reckless.
The Petrified Flesh is a favorite book of mine just like the series is a favorite of mine, but it is not for everyone. Jacob is an incredibly flawed protagonist. I mean, wow, you can't get much more flawed than him, but I love him anyway because I can relate to his flaws. He yearns for adventure and ignores responsibility to please himself. He's selfish and can be carelessly cruel. But he knows these things about himself, regrets that he is this way, and wishes he could be a better person. For anyone who has read Cornelia's Inkheart trilogy, Jacob is a little bit like Dustfinger, beautifully flawed.
Before anyone makes the mistake of handing this book to their child, The Petrified Flesh is NOT a child's book. It's not even really a YA book, but lands somewhere in the impossible realm of fantasy that doesn't have a clear-cut readership designated by an age group. This is probably why the series was never as popular as it could have been. Readers just never figured out where it should fall age-wise and even how they should feel about it since the lead character is so flawed.
The translation is a bit passive at times. Passive verbs instead of active, that sort of thing and it can make it more of a boring read for certain readers. Even I acknowledge that it's a strange translation style, but I love the characters and the story enough to not get sidetracked. There's a lot of European fairytales wrapped into the story, which makes it all the more intriguing. Most of the fairy stories are terrifying, like the child eating witches or the Tailor or the Watermen or the Lorelei. We even encounter Sleeping Beauty's castle where the prince never actually came to kiss her awake so she's pretty much mummified.
Content-wise, Jacob has had several liasons with women throughout his years behind the mirror, including spending a year with the Red Fairy before he remembered himself and sneaked away. None of these experiences are described in graphic detail, or barely any detail at all, but it gives us a look at Jacob's lifestyle and he's really careless with the feelings of other people. There's quite a bit of violence and death including what amounts to a Red Wedding type of experience like from Game of Thrones, only with not the same gruesome detail.
It's a bit of a macabre story, and the ending, while it puts certain things to right, it does put Jacob on the path of yet another quest, this one with the purpose to save his own life which is in serious jeopardy. The lesson here is to never fall in love with a fairy. And to never believe yourself immortal simply because you're clever. That's where Jacob's pride comes into play full-force.
The Petrified Flesh is worth a read, especially if you like fairy stories that transport you to other worlds. I'm especially fond of these types of escapism tales, so, flawed or not, The Petrified Flesh is one of my favorite books. And, if memory serves me, the next book in the series deals with a Bluebeard's chamber. Exciting!
