Wednesday 7 March 2012

The Amulet of Kings. The Banned Underground


3/5

by Will Macmillan-Jones


Now this book is a fine example of how subjective reviews are – I hated it and was all ready to give a scathing review but as I threw it down in disgust my adult son picked it up and thoroughly enjoyed it! He read it almost in one evening, and I could hear him chuckling from behind his bedroom door. 

The story was a backdrop to all the jokes and puns blowing through the author’s mind at the time of writing it, and as a character-loving type of reader I found this frustrating as I couldn’t get to know any of the characters.

I’m not sure even which age-group to recommend this for: teens wouldn’t understand some of the references to “old” TV shows/stars. Adults could find following the teenage main characters (if there was a main character!) a put-off.

The footnotes were also cumbersome on my Kindle, and I found it impossible to read, in fact. The book (which I also had) was better. These footnotes were jokes/observations from the author and although they fell flat with me, my son found hilarious.


I'm giving it a three, but my son (who's lent the book to his friend) would have given it a much higher mark. 

Blurb: What could be worse? Having to take a holiday in the (rainy) Lake District in the North West of England with an aunt who turns people into frogs for a hobby? Or battling the local dark lord, whose attempt at world domination starts with the nearby underground dwarf mansion and its enormous collection of used pizza boxes? Or getting involved with a jazz-loving bog troll and his dwarfish R&B band? Or is it being miles from a McDonalds? Join the teenagers and find out in this comical adventure where jazz and magic make a tongue-in-cheek laugh riot!

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Remember my reviews are my opinion, and I am a VERY fussy reader.