Author: Tom Llewellyn
Genre: adventure
Similar books: The Eureka Key by Sarah L Thomson
Holes by Louis Sachar
Rating:
Summary (provided by publisher): When Eden Smith moves into the beautiful and bizarre old mansion housing her grandfather, she discovers a strange society of elderly metalworkers whose mastery verges on the magical. Deadly mechanical birds, a cavernous chamber full of dirty dishes, a highly dangerous game of Machinist BINGO–life at the guild is not only strange, it’s also dangerous.
Eden’s grandfather, Vulcan Smith, the most gifted of all the metalsmiths in the mansion, has just been sentenced to live out the rest of his days locked in a tiny basement room for rebelling against the guild. To save him, Eden will have to complete The Five Impossible Tasks, a series of deadly feats that have already killed off many of Eden and Vulcan’s ancestors. With the help of her new friend Nathaniel and a cast of eccentric old silversmiths, blacksmiths, and inventive machinists, Eden sets out to do the impossible before her newfound grandfather is lost to her forever.
My opinion: Take elements of curse and chosen one narratives. Add in secret societies and puzzles. It should be too much, too many directions. But Llewellyn makes it work. It draws the most compelling aspects of each of these types of stories. It helps that the cast of characters is quirky and vast but well distinguished. Each character has distinct elements and develops, at least a little, throughout the course of the novel. Pacing is tight and the stakes are high. The world of the smiths is introduced in a bit of an info dump but the details are parceled out through the rest of the novel in a way that is never overwhelming. While the beginning moves a little slowly this is by necessity. Once Eden takes on the Tasks, the action is constant and well interspersed with moments of reflection and growth. The ending falters a little but over all it's a solid read.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley
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