James Clyde - a fantasy involving other worlds, kingdoms, forests, betrayals and magic diamonds!

My kids (grades 5 and 7) and I had the privilege of receiving a review copy of this book.  Our first impression was that this would be a typical grade school fantasy book - the cover seemed to indicate that this was a story for young children, since the illustrated boy looked like a 9-yr old in his pajama robe.  However, the positive reviews seemed to imply otherwise.  Upon reading it in full, we conclude that it is an age appropriate middle school book for 10-12 year old kids.  It had a few violent scenes (think of knight battles vs. forces of evil) but there were none of the tricky romantic innuendos.

This is a well narrated fantasy story which involves other worlds, kingdoms, forests, betrayals and magic diamonds.  The story moves quite fast, and there are questions that popped up in our minds as we read along.  Some of these questions are addressed later on due to the way the story timeline is structured.  However, there are a few that almost seem to refer to a basic understanding of the history behind the other worlds.  These are mentioned as myths or stories passed on through time, but we are unfamiliar with them.  The questions didn’t really impede the flow and excitement of the story, so we were able to read at a fairly fast pace.  There are elements of wonder and delight which are rare in most books nowadays.  The courage and bravado of James is impressive and believable.  We cannot disclose much since it may spoil the plot, but for those fond of comparisons, we felt a little bit of LOTR here, escape to witch mountain, knights of the round table and peter pan.  He he he - did I confuse you with this mash up - well, you will understand when you read it yourself.

Be advised beforehand that this is meant to be a series, given the open-ended conclusion.  There is an initial victory won, but it is far from being the end of the war between James and his family’s enemies.  Given the excellent writing style and clean content, we look forward to the rest of the story unfold.

Recommended for parents and kids who enjoy reading books together as part of family time.  

Available in Amazon.