Three Scoops

Three Scoops by the prolific Kiwi author David Hill is a collection of three short stories for pre-teens. One story is historic fiction, one low fantasy and one near-future sci fi with a touch of the supernatural. Together these make for an entertaining but ultimately unsatisfying book.

One concern I had with the book was how Hill represented some of the characters and events in his stories. In the first story ‘Coming Home,’ about a young soldier fighting in South Africa, it felt like Hill made a half-hearted attempt at best to paint war for the horrific thing it is. Hill captured the excited attitude of many young men of the time, but then did not develop Harry (the protagonist) any further. Despite the injuries and deaths Harry had witnessed, his outlook did not change a bit. Yes, he ended the war with a negative opinion on the conflict, but it felt more like it was a result of his treasured horse Blaze going missing than anything to do with the war itself and that it all would have been one great adventure if only Blaze had not disappeared.

The characters, especially in the second story, titled ‘I Wish,’ felt slightly one dimensional, and stuck with some very basic stereotypes: Trent, the protagonist, was the perfect archetype of the ‘new kid’. Boys played sport and girls focused on fashion and Barbie Dolls. In the end, Tren saved a girl in his class and ended as a hero in a basic and dated cliche. This was not the case for all characters, but it was definitely something that stood out to me as I read. This story was set in a time when these stereotypes were much more common, so at first I expected Hill to address these at the end of the story, but he didn't do so.

It felt fitting that the first story in this book was a war story, because every page was a minefield of mistakes. This is an issue I have found with other books by the author (see my review on Coastwatcher). Every few pages, a small mistake would pull me out of the story, be it a typo, a misplaced comma or two people’s dialogue appearing on the same line. The biggest issue I had, however, was Hill’s use of exclamation marks. I understand that every author uses these differently, but as F Scott Fitzgerald said, ‘An exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.’ I think Hill would have to think about a career as a stand up comedian if he was funny enough to pull off the fourteen exclamation marks he left on one double page!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The third story is set in New Zealand in the near future. I enjoyed many aspects of this. Hill hooked my emotions with the giant asteroid set on a collision course with Earth and tied science with magic in a satisfying way. The only issue was this: I couldn’t believe a word of it. The whole idea with near-future sci fi is that you need to really believe that this world is just around the corner, and none of the science in this was at all plausible, from the satellite early warning system that only picked up the meteorite when it was two days off, to their ridiculous Hail Mary solution. While this may not be an issue for some readers, I personally do not like a story that doesn’t feel at least slightly believable (even in sci fi and fantasy).

One of the biggest issues I have with short fiction is when the story is not properly wrapped up, leaving you wondering if it really was meant to end there. I particularly enjoyed how Hill tied his stories together well, creating fully formed tales with clear beginnings, middles, and most importantly, satisfying ends. Each of these were different enough to remain interesting, but were all told in a similar voice that added to the feeling that all three worked together as a whole.

Hill played around with narration in a way I really liked. Different sections of narration were marked by italics, often at the end of each chapter. These were used for several purposes. In ‘Coming Home,’ Blaze narrates his search for his master, giving us more information on the story. In ‘Strange Meeting’, suspense is built by an omnipotent voice describing an asteroid as it sails closer and closer to Earth... These really helped to draw me into the story and break up what otherwise would be long stretches of similar narration.

This book was written for children, so some of the unbelievable ideas may have gone unnoticed by the target audience. Despite this, I believe that high quality children’s writing should appeal to adults as well. Also, because of the questionable representation of some groups, I would recommend an adult read alongside a child so that some of the stereotypes can be discussed. Then the child can enjoy this book for the fun writing it holds while understanding the stereotypes that influenced how some of the characters were portrayed.

In all, Three Scoops, by David Hill was a disappointing read. It had several positives: The way Hill played with narration to give us that little bit more, and the fully formed stories with satisfying endings. There were, however, too many negatives to ignore. The lazy editing left me feeling slightly cheated, and several outdated stereotypes left me uncomfortable. Because of this, I would not recommend this book, but David Hill is a widely acclaimed author, providing local stories for New Zealand children to enjoy, so don’t let this put you off his other works.