About book The Beast Under The Wizard's Bridge (2002)
There’s a bad omen that begins with this book and continues in the next one. It’s the “reference things from better titles in the series” syndrome, and it doesn’t bode well. Unlike some rather vocal critics who dismiss Strickland’s writing, I am quite comfortable defending his work continuing the series. He even has even polished up some aspects that Bellairs never really bothered with. But in this book, Strickland seems to be losing focus. Either that or he’s got an editor who is pushing him to make callbacks to earlier titles. It’s as if he’s trying to remind people why they loved the originals so much.The rest of the series from here on is all Lewis Barnavelt. It seems to be a mercenary decision – Lewis is the star of Bellairs most popular and acclaimed novel, after all. But there’s a reason that Bellairs left the Barnavelts behind and turned instead to Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass – the world of Lewis and Uncle Jonathan doesn’t quite have the flexibility that Johnny’s world has. Subsequently, when Strickland tries to open it up a bit more, you get some problems. At this point, Lewis really ought to have grown as a character. But instead we see him back to his old stuff, being nervous about random things. In this case, it’s the most random thing and takes up at least a third of the novel: bridge-o-phobia. That’s right, Lewis is seriously worried because the county is tearing down an old bridge that made a brief appearance in The House With a Clock In Its Walls, for absolutely no viable reason. The plot hinges on this, and that’s where the book falls apart. Add to that yet another conveniently found creepy manuscript and some really out of place Lovecraft references, and you have a story that doesn’t work. I don’t mind the idea of having a Lovecraft-based story in a Bellairs world. But Strickland specifically references the guy several times, calling way too much attention to a mythology that is not really accessible to a) the kids who ostensibly read these books and b) most people in general, because the mythology is very convoluted and crazy. And the flavor of Lovecraft is rather different from the flavor of Bellairs. The two styles don’t quite mesh. This should have been a Bellairs-style treatment of Lovecraft, but instead it becomes “Bellairs with random Cthulu action.” That would be a great title of a painting. Some good things about this book – a few psychological turns from the various “villains,” a memorable monster, and Edward Gorey’s last artwork for the series. A weak story that shows the need to move Lewis forward as a character.
This title involves some of the action from Bellairs' first Lewis Barnavelt book, The House with the clock in its walls. Is it as good? No, not really. It is still good, but Brad Strickland's continuation of the series is not as well done as I had hoped. I know that the two are different writers, and that they have different styles; but Strickland is dealing with well established characters. Sometimes things feel a little forced. Also, by now I would think that Lewis would have gotten a little bit of a spine.
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