A multifaceted fantasy that will satisfy readers.
When the cat’s away, the mice will play. Or, in this case, the gnomes. Ashley Parker Owens has created an entire secret world living in plain sight. Wil, a displaced, rule-following gnome with a love for gardening and a soft spot for an oversized bunny, finds himself mixed up in a crowd that is looking for trouble. Constantly warned that anyone could be a spy, Wil is hesitant to trust this rough and tumble clan, especially since they are the very first gnomes he’s ever known that weren’t family. Once Wil meets a lovely gnome named Lucia, a life on the run no longer seems like any kind of life at all. What starts out as a tentative arrangement between Wil and the clan evolves into a tight-knit group of brothers in arms. However, Wil is averse to war, or really any sort of conflict, preferring to work hard and enjoy the fruitage of his labors. With rampant oppression happening just around the corner and a position of power up for grabs, the season’s vegetable harvest isn’t the only thing at risk as Wil decides the kind of gnome he really wants to be.
A fortune-telling gnome, an overly ambitious feline and the constant threat of ogres, spies and traitors are some of the brightly colored wallpapers decorating the pages of Rosetta Gnome. This second in the inventive Gnome Stories series is a found-family tale told from a true ground-level perspective. The author has a remarkable ability to capture the beauty and life in the natural world and condense it down into a microcosm of the larger world. With such unique personalities and motivations, the cast emotes more than the twinkling eyes of an average garden gnome let on. A grown up story dressed in a deceptively childlike costume, Rosetta Gnome is a multifaceted fantasy that will satisfy readers with even the most sophisticated tastes!
