Friday, June 13, 2008

The Magic Scales

You might remember me mentioning a while back about how I did some editing work for a new fantasy author, Scottish writer, Sam Wilding. His book is titled The Magic Scales and has just been released. I told him that when his book was published, I would do a review on it, so here it is…

I really liked it!

Yes, there’s more. Here’s what the book is about:

The Magic Scales takes place in Scotland (well, some of it). The main character is a 12-year-old asthmatic boy named James whose father has recently gone missing. After running off to an old stone circle up on the moors (think Stonehenge) to escape all the gossip surrounding his dad’s disappearance, James discovers a dead animal that had just been crushed by what looks like a giant foot. This gruesome finding is the first in a series of harrowing , life-threatening experiences that James goes through (including nearly being killed by a gargoyle). Not long after the squished animal finding, he meets a talking goldfish who is actually a wizard named Mendel (see if you can figure out how James manages to carry this fish around without it asphyxiating). Mendel is from another world - Denthan - whose twin suns are about to explode, destroying his world forever.

Well, as you might guess, it doesn’t take long before James is involved in Mendel’s quest to return to Denthan and save its citizens. Unfortunately for them, there’s a bad guy named Dendralon Pendragon who is controlling much of this world, who will do whatever it takes to stop them. Joining James is his friend, Craig, who has a wee bit of a problem with diplomacy, always putting his foot in his mouth and getting them into trouble. Along the way, you’ll meet a bunch of strange and mysterious creatures, including monstrous tree trolls, the fierce Osgrunfs (hairy creatures that look like overgrown sloths, but are faster), and the nasty Hedra (that are reptile-like creatures). Keep in mind that none of these fun guys seem to like humans. In a race against time, James tries to help Mendel save his world, but even more desperately, he needs to find his dad, who he believes is on Denthan, as well.

Remember, Denthan’s suns are about to blow up at any time.

The Magic Scales has a lot of action and adventure, fighting and swords, interesting characters and humor - all the elements I look for in a good book. One of my favorite characters is Craig, James’s friend. He’s such a big goof and is always saying, "Ye numpty!" I also like the character, Ephie Blake, a rather large, cantankerous woman who’s always eating fudge. There are tons of other neat characters and monsters to surprise you, as well. There are even human-eating moths.

Reading a book by a Scottish author was an interesting experience. The British spell things differently than us Americans, phrase things differently, or use words I’ve never even heard of. How cool is that?! Sam wrote The Magic Scales for his son who struggles with asthma. He helps the reader see what it’s like to have the added burden (because life is hard enough) of a chronic illness or disability to contend with.

You can find The Magic Scales at Amazon.com U.S. and U.K.

Happy Reading!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Book 2 in the Denthan series - THE SECOND GATEWAY by Sam Wilding is now available at amazon etc or throughyour libraries.