A Christmas Carol has been my favorite book ever since I first read it as a child. There's just something magical in the redemption of the unkind curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge.

When I learned that there were several re-tellings and continuations of Scrooge's story by various authors, I had to start reading some of them. There have always been several unanswered questions for me -- how was the rest of Scrooge's life? What happened to Fred & his wife, or the Cratchit family? But most of all -- what happened to Jacob Marley? He made such an effort to bring about the redemption of his former business partner...was he really still damned to hell for all eternity?

Scrooge and Marley is the first continuation of A Christmas Carol that I have read so far. Written by Karl Hollenbach, the book brings Marley and Scrooge together again to finish out some loose ends. It is exactly a year since the 3 ghosts visited Scrooge in the night to help him turn from his wicked ways. Marley returns to ask Scrooge to do him 4 favors so that he can be freed from his chains as well. As Scrooge completes each task, he learns more about true redemption and what it means to be human. Forgiveness, kindness and understanding are powerful forces for good. There are choices to be made in each person's life that can effect others, and those choices need to be made with care and love.

This book was a delightful read, and I thoroughly enjoyed Hollenbech's take on what might have happened after the ghosts departed and Scrooge's life was reformed. I was glad to see Marley earn more than wailing, gnashing of teeth and a spooky farewell of "look to see me no more.''

The book is short....only 85 pages or so. But it really is a delightful read for fans of A Christmas Carol.

My rating: 8/10
Ages 10 ( )

Hollenbach is a brave man to attempt a follow up of the classic by Charles Dickens. Scrooge and Marley takes readers back to the world of A Christmas Carol where Hollenbach imagines what happens to the ghost Marley. At first the book seemed to stay close to the style and theme found in A Christmas Carol. It deviated dramatically about 40 pages in when the story turns to reincarnation to explain where Marley ends up. It seemed an odd shift and took away from the lovely storytelling in the first part of the book.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. ( )

Hollenbach is a brave man to attempt a follow up of the classic by Charles Dickens. Scrooge and Marley takes readers back to the world of A Christmas Carol where Hollenbach imagines what happens to the ghost Marley. At first the book seemed to stay close to the style and theme found in A Christmas Carol. It deviated dramatically about 40 pages in when the story turns to reincarnation to explain where Marley ends up. It seemed an odd shift and took away from the lovely storytelling in the first part of the book.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. ( )

Scrooge and Marley by Karl F Hollenbach is a very impressive piece of fanfic. The author picks up where Dickens left off at the end of A Christmas Carol. Hollenbach describes in the preface that he has loved this book for seventy years.

We all know Dickens’ famous story, but the author recaps it quickly for us in the preface. So in chapter one, we see the new Scrooge at work and play, and a thoroughly nice man he is now. We fast forward to Christmas Eve, exactly a year after Scrooge’s transformation. And Marley is back. He has saved Scrooge, but now it’s his turn to be freed from his eternal torment. If Scrooge can perform certain tasks, then Marley’s chains will be removed, bit by bit. These tasks are all quite big and so it takes longer than one night for Scrooge to achieve them all, but he’s determined to do what he can for his friend so that he can find peace. They are all relatively straightforward so well within the capabilities of an elderly man with plenty of money to help him along. Thus it is we find Scrooge tracking down the certain people and righting old wrongs in order to redeem his wicked, greedy ex-partner. Does Marley deserve it? Probably not, but Christmas is a time of forgiveness, and the concept of redemption and second chance is clearly one that is important to the author. And it makes for a very good story! There is also an interesting twist at the end.

Hollenbach successfully adopts a Dickensian style of writing for this novel, but luckily avoiding any of the over-long, rambling Victorian sentences. Those were a feature of their time that contemporary readers took in their stride, but we go for more direct communciation these days. The author marries modern and nineteenth-century prose techniques to get the best of both worlds.

The ultimate way to judge a work of fanfic is by considering if the original author would have approved of what has been done with their ideas. Would Dickens have liked this book? He wouldn’t have written it, since Hollenbach has a very original take, introducing the idea of reincarnation for example, but I’m as sure as I can be that Dickens would have enjoyed Scrooge and Marley very much indeed.

This is an entertaining Christmas read for anyone who enjoys A Christmas Carol. ( )