Reviewed by Julia Jones
Deep Amber has pace, humour and
inventiveness. It's the first volume of a trilogy aimed at 8 – 11
year olds and is also a thoroughly relaxing and pleasurable read for
an adult. Things begin to go wrong in Roland Castle when first a pair
of swimming goggles, then a camera and finally a scarlet DS arrive
unexpectedly. The knights and ladies, servants, squires and student
witches are baffled by these unfamiliar objects. Only the Druid in
the cellar recognises that they are arrivals from another world and
knows that urgent action must be taken. Apprentice witch Dora and
kitchen-boy Jem are despatched into the Great Forest to seek advice
from the sinister Lord Ravenglass. Meanwhile Simon and Cat living in
their great-aunt Irene's house in a gently 21st century
world (with plumbing) begin to notice that things are going missing.
What I love about this book is that
it never takes itself too seriously. Yes, there are quests to be undertaken and evil to be defeated but there is nothing portentous or sub-Pullman about the rifts between the worlds. The first Forest Agent that we meet is not a giant spider or a High Elf but a bright blue flying caterpillar called Caractacus. This is
an adventure, the writer seems to say: here are runes and swords and
incredibly stupid knights in armour – enjoy! When the bold Sir
Bedwyr arrives in Sunset Court Home for the Elderly the first
resident he meets is already under the impression that she's Queen
Elizabeth I. The rest of the octogenarians take the view that it's "a lot
more exciting to prepare for battle than for hot milk and biscuits
before bed". They cut the phone wires and lock up the management
team with enthusiasm.
Deep Amber is not all farce: Lord
Ravenglass is ambitious and unscrupulous and his agents, Mr Smith and
Mr Jones, are dangerously creepy. The child characters are attractive
(especially the dopey but talented Dora Puddlefoot) and the adults
are variously eccentric, benevolent, protective and fallible. There's
a crackle of magic in the atmosphere and a rapidly thickening plot
which promises well for the subsequent volumes. I look forward to
them.
Deep Amber is published by Templar
Publishing at £6.99, currently in paperback only
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