Sunday, February 26, 2012

The Book Of Lies review

The Book of Lies by James Moloney
HarperCollins, 2004, 392 pages

I’ve decided that this week I’ll review something a bit outside what I normally review (i.e. famous books that everyone has already read). I’m reviewing a book from another Australian author, who wrote has written a very family-friendly fantasy adventure (wait, is this review really putting me outside my comfort zone?)
The concept for this one came from O. J. Simpson’s trial (when you know what the book’s about, this will shock you). They were using lie detectors to gain evidence, which wasn’t particularly effective, which gave Moloney the idea of a lie detector that couldn’t fail. That’s how it started, before Moloney realised that there’d have to be something to corrupt it, otherwise there’d be no drama. However, he later came up with something to corrupt it, and it was back to work on this fairly unknown masterpiece. This book was originally going to be a stand alone novel, but as Moloney finished this book he felt compelled to write a sequel, and then another sequel (don’t worry, he stopped after that).
The story is about a boy who finds himself at Mrs. Timmins’ Home for Foundlings and Orphans. He has no memory of who he is, except for a vague memory of the name Robert. During the course of his first day, a girl by the name of Beatrice (another orphan at the house) tells him that last night, she spied on him being brought to the house, then Lord Alwyn (the wizard who lives in the tower above the house) tried to hypnotise him, and would have succeeded too if Beatrice hadn’t of interfered. All she could tell him about himself was his name: Marcel.
Marcel knowing his name has suddenly put Lord Alwyn in a panic. He makes Marcel tell him everything he knows about this name in front of The Book of Lies, a magical book that records every lie it hears within its pages. Once satisfied with the responses, Lord Alwyn forces Marcel to wear a magical ring. The ring tells Lord Alwyn if Marcel escapes, and he will send Termagant (the fierce looking cat-like creature) after him. However, after a stranger tells him that he’s a friend of their father’s, Marcel decides to do whatever it takes to escape the orphanage, with Beatrice there to help him.
A magical adventure for kids who just finished Narnia (actually, that would be a great idea for my tenth review), Marcel’s journey through the land of Elster will keep the young ones wanting more, more, MORE . . . until they finish the series of course. Oh, and adults might like it too.

My rating: 8/10

Any suggestions, post them below

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