The Golden Acorn - The Adventures of Jack Brenin by Catherine Cooper

The Golden Acorn - The Adventures of Jack Brenin by Catherine Cooper
Buy The Golden Acorn - The Adventures of Jack Brenin by Catherine Cooper at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Nigethan Sathiyalingam
Summary: A light hearted magical fantasy set in quaint countryside, describes the coming-of-age of the young protagonist Jack Brenin as he takes on a huge responsibility, in the first book of a new series.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 384	Date: August 2010
Publisher: Infinite Ideas Ltd
ISBN: 978-1906821654
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Determined as 'The One' when he insouciantly picks up a golden acorn, Jack Brenin is thrust into a world of adventure and magic as he is given the heavy responsibility of saving the diminishing magical population of the village of Glasruhen, along with Camelin, the talking raven who provides welcome flair through his humorous dialogue.

Generally, I tend to be quite wary when picking out chunky fantasy novels due to the difficulty of embracing a whole new world with its own particular rules. However, when it came to The Golden Acorn, the author managed to blend the fantasy in almost seamlessly, helped by the fact that the story is told through Jack's eyes, with the boy feeling as foreign to the magic as readers initially are. Nevertheless, Jack embraces this new world quickly and willingly takes on the mission, a trip to the past, which will help recover the three cauldron plates that are required to complete the portal that will allow magical creatures to return to Annwn, their home world.

The majority of the story is taken up by Jack's earnest preparations towards the mission under the tutelage of wise and powerful Nora, her niece Elan, and the mischievous, always hungry, Camelin. The various different magical creatures are imaginatively envisioned, and the setting in quaint countryside has an inherent charm about it. However, it is the development of the bond of friendship between Jack and Camelin, initially distrustful of each other, that is particularly enjoyable to read. Jack is not a particularly inspiring protagonist at first, being particular prone to tears, but it is his transition from overwhelming timidity to confidence, determination and a growing maturity that makes the otherwise slow-paced middle section engaging.

That brings me onto my main complaint, which is the fact that after the long middle section that painstakingly built up to the climax, the mission to the past seems noticeably short and rushed. This was all the more disappointing as the final two chapters turn out to be particularly thrilling in comparison to some of the middle parts which proceed at more of a light canter, with too many food breaks! Some of the dialogue also seemed to be written with too much of an eye on making it accessible to a younger audience, which limited the ability of conversations to draw in readers. Authors should not underestimate younger readers who, more often than not, enjoy stretching themselves when they are reading.

The prose is flowing and easy to read, with plenty of wit compensating for the lack of action till the last quarter of the story and although the various heroes and villains may not be the most original of characters, the strong character development and tightly woven plot, with a few twists thrown in for good measure, make for enjoyable reading. I'm intrigued to see how the next few books in the series shape up.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

For young lovers of fantasy who enjoyed this novel, The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien is guaranteed to appeal with its fluid lyrical prose and brilliant narrative.

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