Showing posts with label Malamander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malamander. Show all posts

Sunday, 3 September 2023

MERMEDUSA

 by THOMAS TAYLOR;  

Small book cover. The Jaunty Spark fishing boat, painted red with its wind turbine mast and monster tusk on the prow, is on the high seas near the Eerie lighthouse. The lighthouse is to the left, and a large rock points up to the right with the boat in between. The Mermedusa is seen as a pale grey-blue image against a yellowing sky, without detail. Its hair radiates outward like tendrils. Violet stands pointing to the right as viewed, and Herbie looks aghast to the left at the monster whose blurred image we can see beneath the surface of the water. The ocean is a blur of greens, blues and grey. The sky is a wavy blue and yellowy green. Mermedusa is written in white capitals over the boat. The author's name appears. at the bottom of the page in white, and "An Eerie-on-Sea mystery" is along the top of the book – yellow writing on a blue background.
Image ©
                                                                                       

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©, International Book Reviewer.

Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction.
 
This week, we have a real wonder of a book. An adventure that necessitated tons of research: mainly fish and chips, ice cream and candyfloss on a day out to the beach.
 
OK, OK, as we don't actually have a beach nearby, Mrs H set up a paddling pool in the living room and filled it with sand and salted water. She then tied a hanky around her head, and we pretended it was sunny under a 100-watt light bulb bought especially for the day. No expense spared! What we can't work out is where the donkey, high tide and the crabs came from!  

But enough of my seaside ramblings, let's get on with the review. If you here for a selfie, scroll on down at your peril!

 

Large book cover. The Jaunty Spark fishing boat, painted red with its wind turbine mast and monster tusk on the prow, is on the high seas near the Eerie lighthouse. The lighthouse is to the left, and a large rock points up to the right with the boat in between. The Mermedusa is seen as a pale grey-blue image against a yellowing sky, without detail. Its hair radiates outward like tendrils. Violet stands pointing to the right as viewed, and Herbie looks aghast to the left at the monster whose blurred image we can see beneath the surface of the water. The ocean is a blur of greens, blues and grey. The sky is a wavy blue and yellowy green. Mermedusa is written in white capitals over the boat. The author's name appears. at the bottom of the page in white, and "An Eerie-on-Sea mystery" is along the top of the book – yellow writing on a blue background.
© Image


Author and interior art by:  Thomas Taylor

 

Cover art by:  George Ermos

 

Published by: Walker Books

 

Publication date of Paperback: 7th September 2023

 

Paperback ISBN:   978 - 1529 502 138

 

Cover price for the Paperback £7.99

 

Pages: 336

 

Age range: Kids of all ages from 9 and UPWARDS.


Any dogs or cats?  Oh YES!  The much-loved talking feline character, Erwin, is all aboard for the rollercoaster of an adventure.


 

 

SPOILER ALERT


Yes. As this is the conclusion of the series, there will be references to characters, plot and direction, both past and present. In fact, the brilliant cover by George Ermos is a huge giveaway, so I'll say no more about that 😉.

 


Thank you to... 

 

We are exceedingly grateful to Thomas Taylor, and Walker Books for giving us an electronic ARC to Read & Review this much-anticipated book before publication. All artwork is reproduced by kind permission of the author himself.


As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we have bought, been given as gifts, or received in exchange for an impartial review. 



First and foremost, we read for pleasure, and the books we review are those we love and feel our global readers deserve to know about and that we hope they, their children, friends and students will enjoy.


Please follow the links below to get the lowdown on the first four hugely successful and thoroughly entertaining adventures. 


To get the best from Mermedusa, we strongly recommend reading books one to four first. If you do, so much will fall into place, and these five stories' true strength and sheer brilliance will shine through in a way that Harry Potter never really did for us.

 

Book 1: MALAMANDER.  Read the Review HERE. 

 

Book 2: GARGANTIS.  Read the Review HERE.  


BOOK 3: SHADOWGHAST.  Read the Review HERE.  

 

Book 4. FESTERGRIMM.  Read the Review HERE. 


***** Give away! ***** 

 

Hang on a mo! Mrs H has dug five fathoms deep into her mysteriously capacious handbag and, snatching her purse from the jaws of a rather murderous Scottish lobster, agreed to buy from her pension and give away to one lucky commenter on this week's blog a selection of the stories. The comments will be left open for one week after this post appears, and commenters (who can't be anonymous for obvious reasons) must be able to supply their address and be in an area covered by Amazon. 


 

So join Mrs H and me for the final time as we head into the Lost and Founders room in the basement under the Grand Nautilus Hotel in Eerie-on-Sea. It is two days before mid-winter, and the tourists have gone. It is the time of year when the Malamander stalks the foggy beach at night . . . ..

 

 

The plot


Herbie Lemon, the hotel's Lost and Founder, stands lost in thought at the bottom of his stairs. In his hand is a stopped and scuffed watch handed into his desk moments earlier, found by a staff member behind a radiator. The hands point to midnight, or so Violet Parmar says, to the moment when some terrible crime befell it and its owner. But why could it not be midday, Herbie asks. 


In any event, they have an appointment on the beach to accompany three Americans — co-hosts and sound and camera recordist — from the podcasters 'Anomolous Phenomena'. They intend to visit the area and discover more about the Eerie's hitherto little-heard-of monsters, the Malamander being but one, proving or disproving their existence in front of a camera. The trio comprise Professsor Newtiss (the alleged believer), Angela Song (the sceptic) and the sound recordist and video guy (whom Herbie names Fluffy Mike). Of course, it is the time of year when the Malamander's howls can be heard from the wreck out to sea, and it stalks the beach at Eerie, looking for its companion and mate. It is a time when the locals steer clear for fear of what it might do to them in the winter fog that descends. 


The foolhardy podcasters head out across the sands at low tide and towards the wreck, which we, the readers and Herbie, feel will end badly – and it does with a narrow escape for the cameraman. Enter Sebastian Eels, Eerie-on-Sea's villain personified. Yet strangely, he saves the Fluffy Mike from an untimely demise, then stalks back to the town, but before issuing a dire warning to them all. What was he doing out there? These thoughts are forgotten when a howl from the fog drives the party back to shore and a fish and chip supper. And it is there that the professor reveals there is one real monster in Eerie – Sebastian Eels! The Prof wants Violet and Herbie to dig around and get information about his past, precisely what the words on a slip of paper mean. In exchange, he promises to give Herbie details about his past and who he is and give Violet information about her missing parents. They accept the offer.

 

When our two protagonists are safely in Herbie's room, they read the piece of paper, which they think has come from Eels' diary. It says: "When I was only twelve years old, I sold my soul for Kraken gold."


Now, that sets the scene for what happens next. Well almost. Whilst Herbie, Violet and a deathly sickly Erwin are contemplating what these words might mean, they feel the building vibrate. Not only that, they soon feel it in their skulls, and poorly Erwin is writhing in agony. Just as they are about to pass out, the sound stops. When Erwin tries to flee the room through the window, he turns and bolts the other way, wide-eyed and fur-spiked in fear of what is outside. Flicking on their torch, a monstrous shrieking rattles the windows, sending a monster crashing away. 

 

Giving pursuit to the fearsome Malamander is not high on Herbie's to-do list, but Violet is off and running, so he has to go along. It is a chase that follows a trail of destruction and screams around Eerie and back to the hotel.

 

This is where things definitely dial up many notches on the Eerie fear scale. And thus where the story launches into a whole new world, or worlds, of adventure that entails . . . . but let's not ruin things for you. 

 

What I will say is that it tests our main character to the limit. It makes complete sense of all the eerie goings on from the previous books that have happened over the space of not only the year since Violet arrived into Herbie's life but decades, nay centuries, before. Mysteries that culminate in the deepest, darkest of Eerie-on-Sea's secrets. The secret that Eels himself has been seeking for years and robbed, and some say, killed for.

 

There will be tears, that I promise. There will be catastrophe, loss, and revelations of past evil doings, and not just those of Sebastian Eels. However, we get a whole new look at what makes this rogue tick and how he and Mr Mollusc are linked. Both are quite a surprise.


Surrounded by monsters, when things are at their darkest, and everything is lost, can anyone, let alone Herbie, survive the night? That, dear readers, is for you all to enjoy and find out. 

 


So, what did we think?

 

I suspect this series will have been described as weird, off the wall, or similar. We have never seen it that way. It is different yet comfortably familiar, or should I say eerily familiar. We can look at churning waters, at wrecks and ageing barnacled piers with their fish and chips shops, and closed amusement arcades at the end and immediately see and thus enter Herbie's world. How many of us have wondered what monsters, manmade or otherwise, lurk beneath the waves, in the shadows of an abandoned waxworks museum, or stalk through the foggy streets at night in search of unwary folk daft enough to be out late? 

 

That, to us, is literary gold, the magic that radiates from within the best set up books. 

 

Herbie's first-person narration is a delight, funny and really engaging. As a character, he has always been at the brunt of things, the underdog to Violet's brash, sometimes wayward enthusiasm. He is overly cautious and the butt end of others' ire and dislike without knowing why. It was lovely to see how he didn't suddenly change in this last story. But he does learn and, in his own way, step up even when he doesn't want to and, for better or worse, make decisions. 


This final adventure takes us all around Eerie. We venture underground, over, into and under the sea. Chases abound, as do monsters and the perils. This is nicely balanced by emotional revelations from past and present. It is hard to recall a moment when we weren't entirely absorbed. 

 

Mrs H and I are lucky enough to read some of the best-of-the-best books out there for our own pleasure and to share with you and prospective buyers around the globe. This closing adventure is, without a doubt, the highlight of our year. 

 


So . . . Crunch time. 

 

Make no mistake, this is a powerful, no-holds-barred tour de force of a conclusion. Everything comes together flawlessly and spectacularly. Nothing is half-hearted. Thomas really has poured his soul into this; that much is evident. 

 

He told me it was tough to write for various reasons. I can believe it with what has been woven together in this finale and the emotionally touching undercurrents and conclusion. 


So, middle-grade adventure or not, you'll not find a better read out there now. And, if you ever wanted to assemble a cast of characters, monsters, villains and heroes, there are none finer, more entertaining, and more frightening than those in Eerie-on-Sea. 


Small book cover. The Jaunty Spark fishing boat, painted red with its wind turbine mast and monster tusk on the prow, is on the high seas near the Eerie lighthouse. The lighthouse is to the left, and a large rock points up to the right with the boat in between. The Mermedusa is seen as a pale grey-blue image against a yellowing sky, without detail. Its hair radiates outward like tendrils. Violet stands pointing to the right as viewed, and Herbie looks aghast to the left at the monster whose blurred image we can see beneath the surface of the water. The ocean is a blur of greens, blues and grey. The sky is a wavy blue and yellowy green. Mermedusa is written in white capitals over the boat. The author's name appears. at the bottom of the page in white, and "An Eerie-on-Sea mystery" is along the top of the book – yellow writing on a blue background.

 


Want to buy a copy?


To get a copy of this book or the series, please head across the shingle down to your local independent bookshop, dodging gulls, Malamanda and creepy guys named Eels. Fish and chips after your purchase are optional, but we think they are an absolute MUST after any visit to Eerie-on-Sea. There are plenty out there, both chip shops and book shops (and likely very few Mermedusa or Malamander unless you happen to be in Eerie on Sea!), and each shop is just waiting to serve up whatever kind of fishy fun, adventure, mystery, and delight your hearts' desire.

 

THOMAS TAYLOR's WEB page can be found HERE  or type this: https://www.thomastaylor-author.com/


 

WALKER BOOKS' web page can be found HERE.  or type this: https://www.walker.co.uk/

 

GEORGE ERMOS's page at his agents site can be found HERE or type this: https://thebrightagency.com/uk/childrens-illustration/artists/george-ermos#bio

 

After all that reviewing, and so much ice cream, I shall leave you with a selfie of not-at-all eerie little old me.  🙂 🙂

We are joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the wonderful Kittes Blue and their mum, Janet Blue in America.

Small image. The Cat on My Head Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge. Features a yellow-haired lady with a tuxedo cat on her head.

 


This is me looking at you. Or, more precisely, at Mrs H, wanting to know why supper is late. And it better not be anything fishy or with more legs (or tentacles) than me!

 


Till laters!

ERin


Saturday, 18 December 2021

MALAMANDER

 

by Thomas Taylor;  

An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Cat Princess©

 



 

Hello, and welcome to my Saturday Book Review featuring adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!

 

 

This week we are decidedly pleased to bring you a decidely NOT eerie review of the first book in one of our favourite series. Malamander is the book's name, and it is quite different from anything we have reviewed before. This just goes to show how diverse Middle-Grade reads can be! 


 


But first, back by popular demand is....... 

 

 

The UMM VILLAGE NEWS. (Delivered hands-free online. This edition is kindly sponsored by Mrs Singh's Home Delivery Service called Jumbo Eats – Free lifesize banana and joyride on Jumbo with each kids meal!)



On the Frontpage. 

 

News that a new type of Corona shot was available in the village started circulating yesterday afternoon. By evening, the village hospital was besieged by crowds of drinkers from the Pied Sparrow Public House. It later turned out that they thought the free shot was of Corona Beer. The evening wasn't entirely wasted as the nursing staff managed to inoculate everyone for Flu, TB, MMR, Tetanus and Shingles!

 


In the Sports News. 

 

The UMM Ladies Darts team scored a decisive win against the ladies from Much Deeping-Hollow. The final score included five bulls (none of whom needed veterinary care), 107 doubles and 96.5 trebles (paid for by the losing team). Sundry other items including one foot, two knees, a pierced nose and the picture of the late Duke of East Lambtonshire, Ferdinand the Lesser!


In the Wanted Column. 

 

This week sees a request for items of bric-a-brac for the Scouts and Guides Winter Fair. It is very last minute as the various prizes donated by two passing gentlemen of the racoon persuasion were later removed as evidence by the police. 

 

The vicar has advised that he is still looking for small girls and boys to play rats in the Dick Whittington Pantomime his year. I had offered to supply the same, slightly dented, for a small consideration, but it seems like my offer met with some concern. Something about equity rights for the rats??? 


And finally. . . .


In Breaking NEWS: 

 

Racoon X and Racoon Y are now in custody! In their defence, they have asked for various other offences to be taken into consideration. These included the theft of the hairdryers and several hundred meters of hosepipe stollen from the local allotment gardens, which they sold to Mrs Singh to build her car wash. 

 

When asked to comment, Mrs Singh said that she had been well and truly fleeced by the two. In a big-hearted show of goodwill and to make amends, all customers of the hairdressers will now receive a complimentary Authentic Indian Cornish Pastie with their next appointment. As for the allotment owners, Mrs Singh has arranged for Jumbo to leave various packages for them to use to improve their soil.

 

 

OK, with the news and small ads sorted, let's get on with the review!


 


 

MALAMANDER, by THOMAS TAYLOR

 

Published by WALKER BOOKS LIMITED.

 

Cover artwork by GEORGE ERMOS 

Interior Illustrations by Thomas Taylor

 

Export Paperback ISBN: 978 - 1 - 4063 - 9302 - 6 

Trade paperback ISBN: 978 - 1 - 4063 - 8620 -8

Exclusive paperback ISBN: 978 - 1 - 4063 - 9303 - 3

Cover price for Paperback £7.99 (or cheaper)

Pages 302.

Age range: 8 and upwards

Any cats? YES, one, called Erwin, and he talks too!

The Plot: 

 

Our story this week is set in the seaside town of Eerie-on-Sea. It is the sort of small seaside resort that many of us will have visited. The kind of place we'd look around and forget once we have driven away from our week-long summer stay or one day visit. However, once winter comes and the tourists leave, the true Eerie emerges. The sailors take back their favourite pubs and haunts. Gone are the touristy tables and bunting, and in rolls the fog, gloom and mystery that goes with a damp cold seaside town.


The adventure features Herbert Lemon, Herbie to his pals. Five years ago, he was washed up on Eerie beach on a crate of lemons. With no knowledge of who he was or how he came to be as he was, he was given the name Herbert Lemon. And in Eerie-on-Sea he stayed. Now, five years on and aged twelve ish, he has the job of Lost and Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. He has a cellar room to himself and manages all the Lost and Found items that get handed in. The hotel's ancient and reclusive owner, Lady Kraken, gave him the job of seeing something special in his eyes. However, the hotel's windbag of a manager, Mr Mollusc, really doesn't like anything that doesn't earn its keep or smooth the hotel's running. Herbie, of course, doesn't fall in either category, so he is at loggerheads with Mr Mollusc.


Now, all that intro aside, our adventure starts when a girl drops through the small pavement level window and into Herbie's life. Violet Parma is her name, and, like Herbie, she is an orphan. Well, not quite. It seems twelve years earlier, her parents vanished whilst staying in the same hotel. Their shoes were found on the harbour wall, and they had gone. Twelve years on, Violet has come to try and find out what has happened to her missing, presumed dead parents. 


That really is a can of worms she's opened. No sooner than she has arrived than a ghastly, sodden boathook handed sailor arrives at the hotel and tears apart the Lost and Found room in search of the girl. Herbie, naturally enough, is not sure about his new guest. But very soon, they are both on the hunt for clues as to Violets parents fate. Now, if that was all there was to it, well, I'd not be here telling you how good the story was. It seems that Eerie on Sea is packed to the brim with legends. One speaks of the Malamander, a half-human half-fish that stalks the beach in winter when the mists and fog are in. Wails can be heard, attributed to the beast. The locals won't use the beach at night in winter. But the sceptics say it is the wind whistling through the hulking remains of the Leviathan, a sunk battleship just out from Eerie and that can be walked to at low tide.


Stuff and nonsense, I hear a lady say from the cosiness of her fireside deep in the English countryside. But is it? When local Professional Beechcomeber and owner of the town's Flotsamporium gets attacked by some sharp-toothed sea-creature on the beech one evening, the tide of doubt shifts. The Malamander legend appears to be more than a fairytale to keep kids off the beach.


It soon transpires, a connection exists between Violet's father, Peter, and this beast. Worse, though, there is some sort of connection between Peter and the local (and smarmy) writer called Sebastian Eels. He really didn't get on with Peter, yet for some reason now he wants Peters manuscript.


The more Violet drags our unwilling Herbie into this investigation, the more dangerous it gets for them both, from land and sea!


Now, I have told you really as much as I can. Suffice to say, things go from bad to worse, and I do not mean the weather forecast! As the final chapters draw us into this wonderful adventure, the clues, people, and the monsters - myth or otherwise, converge for the grand finale!


Before I conclude, I need to add that Eerie-on-Sea has more unusual delights for the reader. There is a Mermonkey and a rather handsome cat called Erwin. Yes, he talks and can be pretty helpful too. But he is not like Oswin from the Willow Moss books we reviewed recently (Link to review of the third book HERE). He is more your contemplative cat who adds his advice when he feels. 

 

As an aside, an author once dismissed a character I wrote, saying something along the lines of 'Come on, a talking cat? Don't be silly!' Now I don't know about you, but the adventure makes a better read, and an entirely natural one too, with a talking cat or dog. A view that was shared by a publishing agent I spoke to. 

 



So, what did we think?

 

Basically, we both LOVED this story. The adventure captured both our imaginations and was so different from anything we had read to date. It is a first-person story told by the lead character, Herbert Lemon. We loved the mix of characters that the author has built around Herbert, be they the windbag of a hotel manager, Mr Mollusc, and the hotel's owner, the reclusive Lady Kraken. Equally as fun are the characters in the town, like Mrs Fossil, the beachcomber, and Dr Thalassi, the town's Doctor and museum keeper. 

 

They really do all work together so well, and quite naturally. As to the villains, well, they come in various shapes and sizes, and like the best of stories, not all is as it seems. I like that about this book. It unfolds as all the BEST books should, carrying the imagination and us along with it. Nothing about this was overpowering or underwhelming. It was exciting, slightly tongue in cheek, and wholly entertaining. And yes, just a bit eerie too!


Even better for us kids and cats is a website dedicated to the stories. This can be found via this LINK  OR by cutting and pasting this address https://eerie-on-sea.com/

 

I genuinely hope that I have been able to help you get a feel of what was going on. And, if you get a chance, you get to enjoy this read too.


 

So . . . . 



Crunch time. 

 

There really are NO downsides to this book. Whilst set in what I have come to think of as a quintessential old small-town British seaside resort, I think the setting and characters will relate to a global audience. The author did the inside artwork, which adds a little extra seasoning to the story. It is, just right, an essence of the sea and Eerie-on-Sea! 

 

So, an unreserved success in our book. I have books two and three by my side as I sleep . . . I meant, as I labour on this review, and will be reviewing book two next time. We will review book three as our first book of 2022, all being well.

 


 

Want to buy a copy?

 

This salty seaside adventure can be yours if you take a stroll down to your local independent bookshop. No flip-flops, suncream or sunhats are required. 

 

Thomas Taylor's web page can be found HERE. http://www.thomastaylor-author.com/

 

Walker Books web page can be found HERE. https://www.walker.co.uk/

 

If any authors, publishers or agents wish us to review their books, please do get in touch. Details are listed on our book review page.

 

 

Till laters!

 

ERin