Skellig by David Almond

I have been a fantasy reader for as long as I can remember. I have been anxiously waiting this week, in which we had a chance to read some new and hopefully exciting fantasy novels. Part of what I love most about fantasy is it gives you a chance to suspend your disbelief. We live in a world that is so full of pain, sorrow and hurt that it becomes a weight we all need to bear. I find that fantasy is a way to get around that. Magical things can happen. I know that not all fantasy novels are happy or sad, but there is magic. Even when there is tragedy it usually lifts up the reader by the end.
Almond’s novel Skellig is one that I fell in love with from the get go. It was a story that was so soft and simple. What drew me in the most was the mood. Even with all of the issues with Michael’s baby sister, it felt so peaceful. I think part of that is because I am so used to fantasy novels with take place in other lands and have swords and wizards and everything else that is associated with the genre. Fantasy is a genre that I always think of action; the good side is always outnumbered with little hope of succeeding. In the end it is their goodness that propels them to victory. Skellig is far from this. It is more introspective. Almond presents a story that feels realistic. Other than the Skellig, everything that happens is something that could actually happen and something that many students would be able to relate to. It moves slower, but with a purpose I feel.
One of the things that I loved about it was the fact that from the get go the reader did not know if Skellig was good or bad. Almond does a great job developing the character of Skellig without really ever giving anything away until the end. At first he was angry, then he was annoyed and then he became grateful. In a genre where there is usually a good guy and an evil person or force, Almond creates a character that could be either. At first Skellig, is one of the people in life that one passes by that is just plain angry or detached. Yet, we the readers never learn what causes him to be that way. However, as the novel continues we see he starts to change. At first he will not give his name, just want he wants and needs. Than as Michael and Mina start to visit him and talk to him he starts to open up. He still is not what one could call a social creature, or even a friendly creature but, he starts to tell him some things. In the end we find to be a sort of angel. He is able to save the life of Michael’s sister, and in the end we find out that he was saved as well. Skellig was the way he was because he was forgotten and unloved. Mina and Michael show him love. They show him he has a reason to go on. His “Arthritis” takes him from where he can barely walk to where he can save the baby’s life. It brings hope to our world like most good fantasy novels do.
The conflict in all of this is that Michael’s baby sister is having serious medical concerns. As the reader learns more and more about Skellig, he/she starts to realize that Skellig is going to have something to do with whether or not she will survive. In essence, is Skellig the good of evil force in the novel? At first Almond lets the reader draw their own conclusion by deciding if there is a correlation with her illness and finding Skellig. Michael never has that doubt though; he believes that Skellig can help her, and even puts his faith in him at times. This is seen in the fact that Michael asks him to think about his sister when she was going to have surgery. I believe this is where we start to see the good in Skellig. Almond, does not flat out say that Skellig kept Michael’s little sister alive, but by having Michael ask him to think about her and have her survive it leads the reader to drawing that conclusion.
Overall, I think the Almond does a great job creating this wonderful text. For the most part it is a novel that I feel many students will be able to connect with. Whether it is the challenge of moving into a new house in a new neighborhood, or having stressful situations in the family Michael went through many emotions that teenagers are also dealing with; events that will shape his future. It was realistic but at the same time magical. Skellig ended up being exactly what Michael needed, while at the same time Mina and Michael were exactly what Skellig needed. He ending up being able to live up to the faith that Michael put in him. It is a happy ending that brought a smile to my face as I closed the back cover. With all that happens in the world, Skellig brought me hope. This was not overly fantastical, but it was just enough at the end that it can be considered fantasy, and just enough to let the reader know that miracles can happen.