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A review by hollymbryan
The Goldenwealth Light by Scott McCloskey
4.0
Disclosure: I received an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review, as part of the Read & Review program of the group "David Estes Fans & YA Book Lovers Unite!"
I would like to say thanks to the author and to the group for letting me participate in this R&R! I had such fun reading this book and highly recommend it to others.
I was drawn in to this book from the very first pages - before the story itself even starts - when the author sets forth a sort of old-school introduction, inviting the reader along on "a journey together with the Ellsworth children to the mystical Goldenwealth Light of Quaylund." From the get-go, the author evoked great memories for me of growing up and reading fabulous middle-grade fantasies/adventure stories! He goes on to say, "I grew up in a time when computers and television were exciting in their own way, but a good fantasy novel on a lazy afternoon could open your mind to infinite possibilities. I have tried my best to recreate the feeling I enjoyed long ago here, so that you may partake of it as well." Well I promise you, Mr. McCloskey, you ABSOLUTELY succeeded!! I grew up in a time where people didn't even HAVE computers in their homes, at least not until I was nearly done with high school, so I spent MANY a lazy afternoon lost in the pages of a great fantasy novel, enjoying adventures I'd never find elsewhere. Those memories are EXACTLY what reading this book evoked for me, and I truly hope that more people - especially of the target age group - will read this book and get swept away, that they will know the feelings the author and I remember so fondly. I have no doubt that if you pick the book up, you will NOT be sorry.
I don't want to set forth a recap of the plot or anything, because as with most good fantasy/adventure stories, to do so would really be to give away the story. Suffice it to say that our dear hero, Theodore "Theo" Ellsworth, feels neglected at home and bullied at school and, therefore, spends much of his time in the school library. One day he stumbles upon a mysterious book with a raised symbol on the cover that burns a mark into his palm, a mark which, we later discover, is known as the mark of the Traveler of Tarad Ord. Who or what is Tarad Ord? Well, that is precisely what you shall discover within these pages! The night that Theo finds the book, his little sister Marie crawls into bed with him, and thus they are together the next morning when they wake to find themselves in a whole different world.
It is precisely the world-building that I loved so much in this book! Well, the world-building and the characters, both of which were spectacularly done. The world in which Theo and Marie find themselves is painted so vividly for us that I could really see it in my head. In addition to these "word pictures," the workings of the world were extremely well-done as well. There were very distinct races in the world, from the humans to the antlered Balthans to the bipedal cat-like felkin to the yurt to the humming-gnomes to the traversimorphs to the ripplewaifs (sentient pillars of water?? oh yes!)... all of the races were so well-described and so distinct from one another, and they were all extremely fascinating! Further, there was, if not a whole different language for the world, at least a new set of words for things that looked familiar to Theo and Marie but which were just different enough to throw them off a bit. This is a world of magic, and the magic system was thought out well and remained consistent throughout the book. There were also rules for using magic and consequences for using it wrong (or without paying attention).
As with the world-building, the characters pleasantly surprised me. I felt an immediate connection to Theo (yes, despite the fact that he's a young boy and I'm an almost--well, let's just say, a 30-something woman), and little Marie grew on me very quickly (pretty much when she started "blackmailing" her brother, promising not to tell on him if he would just let her have a "sleepover" with him! I am the youngest of three, after all, with a brother who's 6 years older and who I adored!). The beginning of the book just broke my heart, when we're first introduced to Theo and Marie and the world in which they presently live - a world where their parents either ignore them and are never home or else parade them around to show them off, a world that is the result of their father having bought a winning lottery ticket and both of their parents taking to the moneyed lifestyle like fish to water. (Early on, we're told, "His mother bought expensive things and hired servants to take care of most every chore. Theo was sure she thought that just seeing her children off to school in the morning counted as good parenting." Ach, it just broke my heart!!) As for other characters, I honestly thought each was given such a distinct "voice" and personality, and was drawn so well, I never had trouble remembering what race a character was, and could always tell who was speaking in a given scene.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and just say, I highly recommend this book! One last thing to note, since this is an indie author (self-pubbed, I think), is that the editing was perhaps the best quality I've seen in an indie e-book, at least in quite some time. I definitely noted some places where formatting or grammar/punctuation was wrong, but then that's how I am with every single book I read. And beyond the editing, the writing was just ... really good. I don't know how else to say it! It's hard to describe in words, but there are just some indie authors out there that I think could be picked up by a traditional publisher and move forward with minimal edits to their work, and that's how I feel about Mr. McCloskey. There's a maturity to his writing - his use of language and ability to tell a story is just very, very good. I don't know how to explain it any better than that, so I hope you will just pick the book up and see for yourself!
I would like to say thanks to the author and to the group for letting me participate in this R&R! I had such fun reading this book and highly recommend it to others.
I was drawn in to this book from the very first pages - before the story itself even starts - when the author sets forth a sort of old-school introduction, inviting the reader along on "a journey together with the Ellsworth children to the mystical Goldenwealth Light of Quaylund." From the get-go, the author evoked great memories for me of growing up and reading fabulous middle-grade fantasies/adventure stories! He goes on to say, "I grew up in a time when computers and television were exciting in their own way, but a good fantasy novel on a lazy afternoon could open your mind to infinite possibilities. I have tried my best to recreate the feeling I enjoyed long ago here, so that you may partake of it as well." Well I promise you, Mr. McCloskey, you ABSOLUTELY succeeded!! I grew up in a time where people didn't even HAVE computers in their homes, at least not until I was nearly done with high school, so I spent MANY a lazy afternoon lost in the pages of a great fantasy novel, enjoying adventures I'd never find elsewhere. Those memories are EXACTLY what reading this book evoked for me, and I truly hope that more people - especially of the target age group - will read this book and get swept away, that they will know the feelings the author and I remember so fondly. I have no doubt that if you pick the book up, you will NOT be sorry.
I don't want to set forth a recap of the plot or anything, because as with most good fantasy/adventure stories, to do so would really be to give away the story. Suffice it to say that our dear hero, Theodore "Theo" Ellsworth, feels neglected at home and bullied at school and, therefore, spends much of his time in the school library. One day he stumbles upon a mysterious book with a raised symbol on the cover that burns a mark into his palm, a mark which, we later discover, is known as the mark of the Traveler of Tarad Ord. Who or what is Tarad Ord? Well, that is precisely what you shall discover within these pages! The night that Theo finds the book, his little sister Marie crawls into bed with him, and thus they are together the next morning when they wake to find themselves in a whole different world.
It is precisely the world-building that I loved so much in this book! Well, the world-building and the characters, both of which were spectacularly done. The world in which Theo and Marie find themselves is painted so vividly for us that I could really see it in my head. In addition to these "word pictures," the workings of the world were extremely well-done as well. There were very distinct races in the world, from the humans to the antlered Balthans to the bipedal cat-like felkin to the yurt to the humming-gnomes to the traversimorphs to the ripplewaifs (sentient pillars of water?? oh yes!)... all of the races were so well-described and so distinct from one another, and they were all extremely fascinating! Further, there was, if not a whole different language for the world, at least a new set of words for things that looked familiar to Theo and Marie but which were just different enough to throw them off a bit. This is a world of magic, and the magic system was thought out well and remained consistent throughout the book. There were also rules for using magic and consequences for using it wrong (or without paying attention).
As with the world-building, the characters pleasantly surprised me. I felt an immediate connection to Theo (yes, despite the fact that he's a young boy and I'm an almost--well, let's just say, a 30-something woman), and little Marie grew on me very quickly (pretty much when she started "blackmailing" her brother, promising not to tell on him if he would just let her have a "sleepover" with him! I am the youngest of three, after all, with a brother who's 6 years older and who I adored!). The beginning of the book just broke my heart, when we're first introduced to Theo and Marie and the world in which they presently live - a world where their parents either ignore them and are never home or else parade them around to show them off, a world that is the result of their father having bought a winning lottery ticket and both of their parents taking to the moneyed lifestyle like fish to water. (Early on, we're told, "His mother bought expensive things and hired servants to take care of most every chore. Theo was sure she thought that just seeing her children off to school in the morning counted as good parenting." Ach, it just broke my heart!!) As for other characters, I honestly thought each was given such a distinct "voice" and personality, and was drawn so well, I never had trouble remembering what race a character was, and could always tell who was speaking in a given scene.
I could go on and on, but I'll stop here and just say, I highly recommend this book! One last thing to note, since this is an indie author (self-pubbed, I think), is that the editing was perhaps the best quality I've seen in an indie e-book, at least in quite some time. I definitely noted some places where formatting or grammar/punctuation was wrong, but then that's how I am with every single book I read. And beyond the editing, the writing was just ... really good. I don't know how else to say it! It's hard to describe in words, but there are just some indie authors out there that I think could be picked up by a traditional publisher and move forward with minimal edits to their work, and that's how I feel about Mr. McCloskey. There's a maturity to his writing - his use of language and ability to tell a story is just very, very good. I don't know how to explain it any better than that, so I hope you will just pick the book up and see for yourself!