Magic is real, Thomas. No matter what happens, always remember that magic is real.
Seven years have passed, and Thomas hasn’t forgotten. He hasn’t forgotten the blue of his dad’s eyes either, or the tickle of beard on his cheek as they hugged goodbye. Last moments with a parent are memorable, even if you don’t know that’s what you’re having at the time.
Now, with his 13th birthday rapidly approaching, Thomas’s search for magic is about to take a radical and unexpected turn. At an out-of-the-way shop filled with dusty leather books, a strange little man with gold-flecked eyes offers him an ancient text called The Book of Sorrows. The price is high and the rules are strict, but there’s no way Thomas can resist the chance to look inside.
With the mysterious book guiding the way, a strange new world is revealed – a world in which Thomas has a name and destiny far more extraordinary than he ever imagined. But time is short. Even as Thomas uncovers his secret family history, enemies emerge, threatening to end his rise to power and destroy everything he holds dear.
Jan’s Review
This is a great middle grade fantasy that has great backbone in believe what your family believes or teaches. Thomas dad disappeared 7 years ago but on the day he disappears his parting words to Thomas are Magic is real Thomas. No matter what happens, always remember that magic is real. So starts a thirst for magic deep inside Thomas that one day leads him to old book store. Now if you don’t fall in love with a book that has an old bookstore, magic and lost parent then maybe this might not be your kind of book.
This book is the right length for this age group sitting at just over 300 pages, with plenty of action to keep a reader interested. The first part of the book follows Thomas discovering the book of sorrows and reading through it. He finds out all kind of information but i did feel that slowed the story down some.
Once your past the background information then you get into the real fun of the story where Thomas learns all about his powers and how he can use them in a fight against evil cause of course their an evil magician.
The finale of the story sets you up for the next book in the series by giving you some background information about another evil character and also has a lot of discussion about how solving the worlds problems of war and pollution with an all or nothing plan really may not solve the worlds problems. That does open up classroom discussion topics if a teacher where using this book in a classroom setting. All in all i really did enjoy this book and look forward to seeing what next for Thomas.
