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popthebutterfly's review
4.0
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Pages: 240
Amazon
I was provided a free copy of this book by the author. Thank you so much! All opinons are my own.
After having the same strange dream, siblings Rachel and Eric find themselves being transported to another world where Rachel's special powers come into play to help free the children that have been captured by the evil Dragwena. - Amazon.com
So to start this review off I do want to say that I do love books that have that Harry Potter/Narnia type feel to them and I felt this book fit that perfectly. The book was highly imaginative, the world building was fantastic, and the characters felt like real children instead of mini adults who know how to solve all the world's issues.
However, I did feel like the book didn't keep my interest. I'm not sure why but I could walk off from the book and not feel a need to go back to it. I blame my funky mood I've been in lately. I also felt that the plot was a bit similiar to other middle grade books I've read.
Verdict: If you're looking for a middle grade book that your child might love if they like magical books like Narnia then this book is for you! If you're an older reader this book might drag a bit for you.
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Pages: 240
Amazon
I was provided a free copy of this book by the author. Thank you so much! All opinons are my own.
After having the same strange dream, siblings Rachel and Eric find themselves being transported to another world where Rachel's special powers come into play to help free the children that have been captured by the evil Dragwena. - Amazon.com
So to start this review off I do want to say that I do love books that have that Harry Potter/Narnia type feel to them and I felt this book fit that perfectly. The book was highly imaginative, the world building was fantastic, and the characters felt like real children instead of mini adults who know how to solve all the world's issues.
However, I did feel like the book didn't keep my interest. I'm not sure why but I could walk off from the book and not feel a need to go back to it. I blame my funky mood I've been in lately. I also felt that the plot was a bit similiar to other middle grade books I've read.
Verdict: If you're looking for a middle grade book that your child might love if they like magical books like Narnia then this book is for you! If you're an older reader this book might drag a bit for you.
essjayreads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Childhood favourite of mine. Definitely young teen fiction. But 100% comfort book with some amazing descriptions
thelastcolour's review
2.0
the book was okay, maybe it's just my frame of mind right now but i didn't enjoy it as much as i had hoped. the magic is good but it feels too much like the chronicles of narnia to me. will continue with the rest of the trilogy though...
kittbean's review
4.0
At times I really thought "This is a children's book?!?!" as there was so much to it! But it was a wonderful read, big Terry Pratchet vibes in terms of world building, I look forward to the rest of the series
rochi0320's review
4.0
Al fin lo encontré! Este libro lo leí cuando era chica, y nada más me acordaba de que la nena se transformaba en pluma, y de que me había encantado!
secre's review against another edition
5.0
I was bought this book by my foster mother a fairly long time ago (I was about 14 I think) and I really liked it, in fact I loved it. I re-read it so many times that my poor old paperback is nearly falling apart. Recently I picked it up again, I did however read it with something like a sense of dread because I know how much your taste can change over many years, and I really didn't want to read it to find that I hated it! Luckily, this was not an issue.
This book really does remind me of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis, except it doesn't have the religious references and metaphors and, if I can say this without being stoned to death or other such punishments, it's better written. It is almost a modern version of this literary classic with massive similarities such as an evil witch who rules the world, the children being brought into the world and forced to stay, the snowy frozen world that has been enforced by the Witch and the underground resistance that has grown up over the many, many years of her tyranny. However, the children were dragged into the world instead of coming of their own free will and there are only two children as main characters; Rachel and Eric. Children have been dragged into the World by the Witch for centuries upon end as she has tried to find the one who can end her exile, and Rachel and Eric are just the latest two who were dragged in while their father desperately tried to save them. At the beginning of the book their father is left looking at the hand which had let go of his daughter when she most needed him, cursing it and crying as he doesn't know whether he will ever see his children again.
This is the story of two children brought into a world so dark that it should be impossible to imagine. A world where a single Witch rules and has brought about eternal snow. A world where a series of resistance groups have tried to overthrow the Witch throughout many centuries but have always, and without fail been defeated and destroyed. But it's more than that, this Witch has always used children from earth to do her bidding, and for hundreds and hundreds of years has been looking for the one child she can use who has enough power to release her from her banishment on a world she can never call home. But above all, it's a story of magic. Every child from earth has magic in them, magic placed there by the Wizards of old to protect them from the Witch, and it is this magic which the Witch is trying to use to get back to her original home where the other Witches live. The basis of the story is that there is one child who can either be the people's saviour or the Witch's saviour, and both Rachel and Eric have quite amazing powers which the Witch wants to analyse and use. The inhabitants of the world who were brought there as children are desperately looking for the Child-Hope, whilst the Witch is looking for the Girl-Child. Overall, this probably doesn't sound like an enthralling or an original book, but somehow it seems to be. It is based around two verses; the verse of hope:
'Dark girl she will be,
Enemies to set free,
Sing in harmony,
From sleep and dawn-bright sea.
I will arise,
And behold your childish glee.'
And the verse of darkness:
'Dark girl she will be,
Fair hearts broken,
Ancient wrath awoken,
Children unborn,
Wizards under lawn,
Darkness without dawn.'
And this kind of sums up the book, it is the story of a struggle between hope and darkness. And again, I hear you say, this is nothing new, we are treading on a road that has been travelled so many times before. But somehow Cliff McNish has made it new, somehow he has made this into a fantastic piece of writing and an almost magical journey into another world. What should be yet another rip off of a 'timeless classic', has instead been transformed into a marvellous piece of story telling all of his own. There is a darkness to it which many 'young adult' books don't fully grasp, like the fact that the servants of the Witch are forced to grow older in body for centuries, and are never allowed to die unless the Witch is the one dealing the final blow. However, they keep the size of the children they once were when the first arrived on her world, so that the Witch can be certain that they will never forget her dominion over them and that they will never grow into rational beings into her eyes. Likewise, the punishments which the Witch comes out with to those who displease her also add an extremely dark element to the book. But it is this darkness that allows the novel to carry a sense of desperate hope against all evils, because that is the only thing that the inhabitants of this world have to cling onto. They are desperate for the Child-Hope to arrive because she is the only hope which they have. You can only know true hope, relief or fulfilment when you have first seen and known the worst which the world has to offer.
I have a nasty feeling that I have not been selling this book all too well, but strangely enough this 'children's story' of two children attempting to save a world with the help of a few resistance members is a truly gripping read. It is also very powerfully written by someone who understands just how easily children can be brain-washed and used for someone else's purposes. Even as a 23 year old reading a book which was bought for me 9 years ago, this book still had the ability to make me laugh and cry with the characters. It's been quite a while since a book has actually made me cry, but this one managed it. The characters are written in such a way that you can actually empathise with them, the children aren't so precocious as to be annoying and in total it is a fantastic read - both for teenagers, and for adults who still believe they are teenagers in some tiny portion of their mind!
===Boring Stuff===
Title: The Doomspell - Part One of the Doomspell Trilogy
Author: Cliff McNish
Publisher: Dolphin
Price: Amazon: from 1p plus £2.80 postage on Amazon at time of writing.
===Conclusion===
This is a fantastic book, don't hesitate to buy it for friends or family or for that matter yourself, and I've just realised it's part of a trilogy and am off to buy the rest of them.
This book really does remind me of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' by C.S. Lewis, except it doesn't have the religious references and metaphors and, if I can say this without being stoned to death or other such punishments, it's better written. It is almost a modern version of this literary classic with massive similarities such as an evil witch who rules the world, the children being brought into the world and forced to stay, the snowy frozen world that has been enforced by the Witch and the underground resistance that has grown up over the many, many years of her tyranny. However, the children were dragged into the world instead of coming of their own free will and there are only two children as main characters; Rachel and Eric. Children have been dragged into the World by the Witch for centuries upon end as she has tried to find the one who can end her exile, and Rachel and Eric are just the latest two who were dragged in while their father desperately tried to save them. At the beginning of the book their father is left looking at the hand which had let go of his daughter when she most needed him, cursing it and crying as he doesn't know whether he will ever see his children again.
This is the story of two children brought into a world so dark that it should be impossible to imagine. A world where a single Witch rules and has brought about eternal snow. A world where a series of resistance groups have tried to overthrow the Witch throughout many centuries but have always, and without fail been defeated and destroyed. But it's more than that, this Witch has always used children from earth to do her bidding, and for hundreds and hundreds of years has been looking for the one child she can use who has enough power to release her from her banishment on a world she can never call home. But above all, it's a story of magic. Every child from earth has magic in them, magic placed there by the Wizards of old to protect them from the Witch, and it is this magic which the Witch is trying to use to get back to her original home where the other Witches live. The basis of the story is that there is one child who can either be the people's saviour or the Witch's saviour, and both Rachel and Eric have quite amazing powers which the Witch wants to analyse and use. The inhabitants of the world who were brought there as children are desperately looking for the Child-Hope, whilst the Witch is looking for the Girl-Child. Overall, this probably doesn't sound like an enthralling or an original book, but somehow it seems to be. It is based around two verses; the verse of hope:
'Dark girl she will be,
Enemies to set free,
Sing in harmony,
From sleep and dawn-bright sea.
I will arise,
And behold your childish glee.'
And the verse of darkness:
'Dark girl she will be,
Fair hearts broken,
Ancient wrath awoken,
Children unborn,
Wizards under lawn,
Darkness without dawn.'
And this kind of sums up the book, it is the story of a struggle between hope and darkness. And again, I hear you say, this is nothing new, we are treading on a road that has been travelled so many times before. But somehow Cliff McNish has made it new, somehow he has made this into a fantastic piece of writing and an almost magical journey into another world. What should be yet another rip off of a 'timeless classic', has instead been transformed into a marvellous piece of story telling all of his own. There is a darkness to it which many 'young adult' books don't fully grasp, like the fact that the servants of the Witch are forced to grow older in body for centuries, and are never allowed to die unless the Witch is the one dealing the final blow. However, they keep the size of the children they once were when the first arrived on her world, so that the Witch can be certain that they will never forget her dominion over them and that they will never grow into rational beings into her eyes. Likewise, the punishments which the Witch comes out with to those who displease her also add an extremely dark element to the book. But it is this darkness that allows the novel to carry a sense of desperate hope against all evils, because that is the only thing that the inhabitants of this world have to cling onto. They are desperate for the Child-Hope to arrive because she is the only hope which they have. You can only know true hope, relief or fulfilment when you have first seen and known the worst which the world has to offer.
I have a nasty feeling that I have not been selling this book all too well, but strangely enough this 'children's story' of two children attempting to save a world with the help of a few resistance members is a truly gripping read. It is also very powerfully written by someone who understands just how easily children can be brain-washed and used for someone else's purposes. Even as a 23 year old reading a book which was bought for me 9 years ago, this book still had the ability to make me laugh and cry with the characters. It's been quite a while since a book has actually made me cry, but this one managed it. The characters are written in such a way that you can actually empathise with them, the children aren't so precocious as to be annoying and in total it is a fantastic read - both for teenagers, and for adults who still believe they are teenagers in some tiny portion of their mind!
===Boring Stuff===
Title: The Doomspell - Part One of the Doomspell Trilogy
Author: Cliff McNish
Publisher: Dolphin
Price: Amazon: from 1p plus £2.80 postage on Amazon at time of writing.
===Conclusion===
This is a fantastic book, don't hesitate to buy it for friends or family or for that matter yourself, and I've just realised it's part of a trilogy and am off to buy the rest of them.
viiemzee's review
3.0
This review covers the entire trilogy:
I like to read children’s books, especially ones that are fantasy based. As a friend of mine put it once, “I have a thing for Portal fantasy”. And this is exactly that!
With a dash of other-world-fantasy too.
The Doomspell Trilogy has very clear influences coming from Tolkien and C S Lewis, with elements such as witches who love winter, animals that can talk, and children’s innocence being very prominent in the stories. The trilogy follows Rachel and Eric, siblings who are among the first of a new race of humans who can control magic. The main villains of the series are witches – beings coming from another planet who can control magic, beings who can change their shape and fly and control the elements and certain animals. Each book in the trilogy takes on a different witch, or race of witches, at a time. From a singular witch, to an entire planet of them, to the witches’ ex-slaves who have now risen up, Rachel and Eric are subject to battle after battle against forces that two pre-teens really shouldn’t be able to battle. But they do.
What I really want to discuss about this series, however, isn’t the plot or the characters, but its themes, which are very prevalent once you look a little deeper into the novels.
Theme One: Innocence
In this universe, adults cannot use magic, but anybody under a certain age (let’s assume 16, for the sake of argument) can. By the third book, magic is a widespread phenomenon across the world, with every single child and young teenager being able to use magic. Adults are left behind, sometimes terrorized in certain parts of the world. Children have free reign, flying everywhere, stealing whatever they want, and doing whatever they please. The world has changed and the kids are in control. But once they start to become adults, it’s over for them, and they lose their magic. Why? What could possibly lead to this?
If you read the header above, then you definitely can see that I think it’s because of innocence. Now whether this be innocence in the term of sex, or maybe cynicism, or maybe even just people starting to become more aware of the world around them. The fact is that children start to lose their powers once they become ‘young adults’, and suddenly they’re no longer allowed into this world that they used to inhabit and enjoy. I think that McNish here is trying to show how magical innocence is, with the magic that they use being pure and wonderful. While there are magical users who are evil (see: witches), their magic is significantly rougher and more dangerous; it is a different brand of magic. The wizards, who control magic that is much stronger and brighter than the children do, can be seen as adults who have retained their innocence and faith in the world, and never became jaded; they are the best magic users because they never let themselves become hardened by the world.
Theme Two: Diversity and Tolerance
There are a group of children within the series who cannot use magic. They have abnormally large ears, do not speak much, and have to be carried around by a faithful magic user at all times if they want to go anywhere. These children can be seen as a reference, name and all, to children on the autism spectrum, who are seen as not being as 100% capable as their peers (although this is definitely not a hard truth). There is also an element of preaching tolerance in the trilogy.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who wants to read something not-so-well-known and good. It does have it’s brilliant moments, and it also does fit in with what people who look for fantasy like. It’s a light, summer read that you can swallow in a week, and it’s also one of the only books I know of where magic is treated in a different way than in other literary universes, which can be a breath of fresh air!
Final rating: 3/5. It is for children after all, so the writing style isn’t the best. But it is a good read for the summer!
I like to read children’s books, especially ones that are fantasy based. As a friend of mine put it once, “I have a thing for Portal fantasy”. And this is exactly that!
With a dash of other-world-fantasy too.
The Doomspell Trilogy has very clear influences coming from Tolkien and C S Lewis, with elements such as witches who love winter, animals that can talk, and children’s innocence being very prominent in the stories. The trilogy follows Rachel and Eric, siblings who are among the first of a new race of humans who can control magic. The main villains of the series are witches – beings coming from another planet who can control magic, beings who can change their shape and fly and control the elements and certain animals. Each book in the trilogy takes on a different witch, or race of witches, at a time. From a singular witch, to an entire planet of them, to the witches’ ex-slaves who have now risen up, Rachel and Eric are subject to battle after battle against forces that two pre-teens really shouldn’t be able to battle. But they do.
What I really want to discuss about this series, however, isn’t the plot or the characters, but its themes, which are very prevalent once you look a little deeper into the novels.
Theme One: Innocence
In this universe, adults cannot use magic, but anybody under a certain age (let’s assume 16, for the sake of argument) can. By the third book, magic is a widespread phenomenon across the world, with every single child and young teenager being able to use magic. Adults are left behind, sometimes terrorized in certain parts of the world. Children have free reign, flying everywhere, stealing whatever they want, and doing whatever they please. The world has changed and the kids are in control. But once they start to become adults, it’s over for them, and they lose their magic. Why? What could possibly lead to this?
If you read the header above, then you definitely can see that I think it’s because of innocence. Now whether this be innocence in the term of sex, or maybe cynicism, or maybe even just people starting to become more aware of the world around them. The fact is that children start to lose their powers once they become ‘young adults’, and suddenly they’re no longer allowed into this world that they used to inhabit and enjoy. I think that McNish here is trying to show how magical innocence is, with the magic that they use being pure and wonderful. While there are magical users who are evil (see: witches), their magic is significantly rougher and more dangerous; it is a different brand of magic. The wizards, who control magic that is much stronger and brighter than the children do, can be seen as adults who have retained their innocence and faith in the world, and never became jaded; they are the best magic users because they never let themselves become hardened by the world.
Theme Two: Diversity and Tolerance
There are a group of children within the series who cannot use magic. They have abnormally large ears, do not speak much, and have to be carried around by a faithful magic user at all times if they want to go anywhere. These children can be seen as a reference, name and all, to children on the autism spectrum, who are seen as not being as 100% capable as their peers (although this is definitely not a hard truth). There is also an element of preaching tolerance in the trilogy.
All in all, I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who wants to read something not-so-well-known and good. It does have it’s brilliant moments, and it also does fit in with what people who look for fantasy like. It’s a light, summer read that you can swallow in a week, and it’s also one of the only books I know of where magic is treated in a different way than in other literary universes, which can be a breath of fresh air!
Final rating: 3/5. It is for children after all, so the writing style isn’t the best. But it is a good read for the summer!
merseymermaid's review against another edition
5.0
I remember reading this over and over when I was about twelve, I think because it was slightly disturbing? Can't vouch for how true that would be now, but I think the witch in this terrified me more than any other book character ever when I was a pre-teen so I can't give it anything less than five stars.
atiaijaz's review against another edition
5.0
I read this as a child and I absolutely loved it. Read it again and again and again and again, but unfortunately, at that time I did not know it was a part of a trilogy. I hope I'll get the chance to read the rest of the series.
The book was a perfect mix of fantasy, magic and adventure, and could also scare me from time to time. I haven't read it again since all those years ago, because I recently found it from the loft. Brought back many memories.
I might update this review if I ever read it again though.
The book was a perfect mix of fantasy, magic and adventure, and could also scare me from time to time. I haven't read it again since all those years ago, because I recently found it from the loft. Brought back many memories.
I might update this review if I ever read it again though.