Christopher Mackie - CLOUDLANDERS - Book Review - Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books

 

Hello everybody. We hope you are ready for summer and are looking forward to some great new children's adventure stories. The first book we recommend is the debut book by author Christopher Mackie. This story was written in lockdown and shares the feeling at this time in an ingenious plot. The book will be published on the 17th of August 2023 with Scottish indie publisher Floris Books. I would also like to name-check the fabulous illustrator of the book cover who is Vietnamese-born illustrator Houang Giang. She has done a fabulous job of representing the characters of the book and the story. 

How do you save an unusual island floating in the sky?  Like this brilliant story, you need a bucket full of imagination and some help from great characters who come together to save the last county on EARTH. Bastion is the last island and is in need of saving from deadly enemies the WAVEWRECKER and the tricksy little TIDEKIN. The author introduces us to a wonderful pallet of great characters and an amazing setting to produce an adventure like no other. The characters in this book are cleverly crafted and made out of pure fantasy dreaming. There’s Lycan a shapeshifter, Flicker a gemstone faerie, One-zero the outsider, Kurt the Shroomling and finally Aliana & Garrett the wood nymph twins. They all have the potential to be heroes of this story providing they can work together to bring a happy and peaceful ending. However, other characters might just have other ideas!

Each character has a fantastic role to play in this fast-paced, rollercoaster dystopian read that will be a brilliant and memorable hit. You will skip through danger whilst also understanding the meaning of friendship and hope in a nostalgic way.  I wish more stories would embrace this concept. For me, reading for pleasure should be exciting and so different from our very own lives. It’s a chance to be transported from your armchair to a magical and amazing place - just like this one REALLY does.  

If you are ready for a madcap adventure that is thrilling and gloriously different then it’s time to wave your TENTACLES in the air. Join the brave gang of misfits in mayhem and madness as part of a thrilling and unpredictable new fantasy world just above the CLOUDS. I think we can look forward to the next instalment as there will be another book I feel sure.

Mr Ripley's Book Review: Key to Kashdune by Claudia White - MP Publishing

This might be a pocket size book but inside is a super sized adventure for younger readers. One year on and Key to Kashdune is the next installment to Aesop's Secret featuring the Hutton family. Melinda is still able to transform into any animal that she can think of - sometimes with comical and crazy consequences. However once she discovers four mysterious journals, in a cave in Turkey, that reveal the secret to travelling to the Earth's music; the adventure soon sets off once again....

“This is too freaky,” Felix sighed. “First, because I didn’t think that I believed that stuff about music in the air and second, because why would the music that supposedly identifies Paris be recorded in hieroglyphs found in journals written thousands of years ago in Turkey?”

The story is very imaginative, infact it floats off the page like a big dream as you suddenly find yourself fly off in the form of a kestrel to the fabled island of Kashdune. High above the clouds and, over the sparkling blue sea, the story establishes an adventure that no younger reader would be able to resist. Danger lurks around every corner through characters such as Professor Horace Stumpworthy. After learning about the Utopian Island, he soon attempts to use the ancient Athenite knowledge to exact his revenge upon the Hutton family. 

Augustina straightened up, a puzzled look on her face, “I didn’t mean change into other clothes…I was talking about changing into something like fur or even feathers…however you might be more comfortable.”

This is a thrilling little read with a big heart and lots of imagination. I really enjoyed reading this book as it transported me back to my 'carefree' childhood. I really think that Claudia has written a great story that allows the reader to explore the plot easily and comfortably. Elements of mythology, mystery and mayhem whip up a super story to ensure that we all love and enjoy it. 

“Augustina reads minds,” Melinda added while attempting handstands on the grass. “But she doesn’t do it all the time. She said that most people’s thoughts aren’t that interesting. All Athenites are supposed to be able to do it.”  Having failed at another handstand, Melinda lay crumpled on the grass. “Did you know that she can disappear too?”

This is a great entertaining read which has a hidden melody to lift you into the fantasy cloud for the duration of the story. A heartwarming, funny and charming family quest that will take you on a journey that you won't want to end. When it finally does, you'll definitely want to read the next installment very soon. This is Mr Ripley's Younger Read recommendation for all children but especially girls.

Published by MP Publishing (10 Jun 2014)

Guest Post: Claudia White - Aesop's Secret/ Keys to Kashdune - Published by MP Publishing

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Felix and Melinda Hutton are the main characters in my middle grade fantasy novels and have been with me for a very long time.  Not in their final form which can be found on the pages of Aesop’s Secret and Key to Kashdune but in their concept.  The idea of people who can take the shape of other creatures has held my fascination since childhood. 

For years I had dreamed about writing down my imagined worlds to share with young readers but instead of getting down to work to accomplish that, I used my magical thinking and told everyone that I wanted to write a book.  Sadly, just because I said it did not make it so.  Then something changed and I must credit the (now late) great actor Sir Nigel Hawthorn for the words he shared giving me the push I needed. 

I had never met Sir Nigel Hawthorn but in 2000 he played a very important role on my journey to becoming a published author.  I had just moved to the village of Warborough in England’s Thames valley and was driving home alone for the first time. I was lost…absolutely nothing looked familiar.  Athenites, the shape-shifting characters in my imagination, were usually with me as I conjured up exciting escapades for them using the passing landscape as the backdrop for their adventures, but not on that occasion.  Nervously I flipped through radio stations; it was close to dusk and I hadn’t a clue as to where I was or what “A” road to take and my mobile was dead.  I landed on BBC Radio 4 where an interview with Sir Nigel was just winding up.  It was at the same time that I saw a familiar landmark.  Heavy sigh…I was going in the right direction.

Calmer now, I continued to listen to the interview instead of shifting gears and finding some music to be used as the soundtrack for my Athenite musings.  Sir Nigel’s words held me.  He was talking about his struggles in the early days of his career and ended by saying that he didn’t go into acting because he wanted to but because he needed to.  It took a while to sink in.
 

Once I realized that my desire to write was a ‘need’ rather than a ‘want’ the rest was simply hard work and discipline, disappointment at rejections and perseverance that led to finally being published.

Hard work aside, the easiest part of writing for me is that my imagination is always on hyper drive.  I am constantly wondering “what if” about this or that:  What if there really were people, like the shape-shifters I held in my imagination?  What if these people looked just like us but their ancestors were actually mythological and fabled beings?   From there it didn’t take long to put all the pieces together and Aesop’s Secret was off to the races.

Everyplace I go I see scenes and scenarios that tickle my imagination.  In subsequent books the characters continue to learn about themselves and the talents that they possess as I let my imagination roam free. Driving in Seattle one summer I took note that the city had its own special music…that led to the realization that other places have unique musical sounds that we associate with them… which led to music in the air…which led to Athenites and animals being able to hear that music on the winds telling them where they are.  The next thing I knew, Melinda and Felix were off on their next adventure in Key to Kashdune. 

Contact details:

Published by MP Publishing  http://mppublishingusa.com/books/aesops-secret and http://mppublishingusa.com/books/key-kashdune

Website:  http://www.claudiawhitebooks.com/

Twitter:  @white_ca

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaWhiteBooks