Silent Mountain by Michelle Briscombe

Silent Mountain by Michelle Briscombe
Buy Silent Mountain by Michelle Briscombe at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Gina Garnett
Summary: While keen to show you adventure, this book also carries a strong moral message.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 149	Date: May 2013
Publisher: Candy Jar
ISBN: 9780957154810
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Silent Mountain introduces us to the world of Jack Jupiter and his adventures. An ordinary boy with an interest in wildlife, Jack is bullied in school and still grieving the death of his father when, ignoring his Grandmother’s warning, he heads to the frozen lake and gets drawn into a life changing adventure in another world.

He must make his way through forests and deserts, across chasms and up mountains aided by mysterious peoples here and there, all the while never knowing how or if he will get home to his family.

It’s got some fairly good ideas and competent storytelling, so I’ll get the only gripe out of the way: The ending. Turn away now if you don’t want it spoiled! There isn’t an ending. The whole book is leading up to the top of the mountain being heaven and the twist being that Jack died in the lake when the ice broke. While this is by no means the only satisfactory ending that could have happened, it really would have fit the book. What we actually get is a short lecture on The Environment, patted on the head and gently but firmly ushered back to real life. This is a real shame as it lets down an otherwise good book.

Okay, it’s safe to look back now. The adventure is dangerous, Jack is likable and the whole book is suffused with that Hushabye Mountain melancholy – much like The Last Battle of the Chronicles of Narnia. Briscombe seems to have put a lot of thought into the other world and into the route that Jack must take and into the mysterious people and Alice (presumably not her name from birth as she is a waterbaby from another plane of existence). All the signs are there for the big ending, it just seems a little like she changed her mind at the last minute, possibly in favour of a sequel.

There’s the feel of a series in the air and I’d be interested to see how that would work out based on what we know from the first book. Jack and Alice could certainly carry it and the villains are raring to go, having only had a cameo appearance so far.

The idea of 'saving the world' in the way we all can and need to, instead of from, say, a comic book villain is a really interesting one. The former is certainly more of a challenge than the latter as it requires not only the consent, but the participation of the rest of the population. It’s certainly got legs and the foundations of some good stuff, and Briscombe gets extra points for never mentioning dodos when talking about extinct creatures.

If this book appeals then you might also enjoy Out Of This World by Ali Sparkes

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You can read more book reviews or buy Silent Mountain by Michelle Briscombe at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.

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