Book reviews Part 3

The third book that I have finished reading is named "The Indigo King". It was written by James A Owen. It is quite an exciting book with many turns of events. Just when you think a problem is solved, you find out that there is more stuff to do. The book keeps you reading it so as to find out what will happen next. The main characters are John, Jack and Chaz.

The story begins with John and Jack meeting with Hugo to inform him that he would become a caretaker of the Imaginarium Geographica which is the great atlas of a world called the Archipelago Dreams. In this world, fantasies and myths are real. When they tell Hugo, he thinks that it must be a joke. They go for a walk in the park to let Hugo digest the information. Suddenly, a door drops out of the sky. Hugo goes through the door and disappears into the past. This starts to cause history to change. John and Jack try to follow but it does not work. Out of the blues, the Animal Rescue Squad, which is made up of badgers, appears to lend a hand. The leader, Uncus, and his son, Fred, closed the open door that Hugo walked through. In an attempt to stop them, Jack and John touch the door and are thrown into the past. After an uneventful encounter with giants, the gang hid from a Wicker Man. Chaz who is the Charles of that time line saves them. Chaz brings them back to his abode, and later, they set off to see the version of their mentor, Bert. After the reunion, the evil ruler of the land, Mordred appears having been informed by Chaz earlier. He performs a ritual and binds all of them. Fortunately, after he leaves to call his minions to take care of them, Uncus uses the silver from a coin to free them. Bert gives them a box that gives you what you need most, called the Serendipity Box. Bert stays behind to try to hold off the minions while the rest of the gang, including Chaz, set sail for Noble's Island, also known as the Sanctuary, the only place not subjected to Mordred's rule.

They are given a warm welcome by a fox called Reynard. They find a device called a Lanterna Magica left by the deceased Jules Verne as a means of going into the past to find Mordred's real name in order to bind him. They use the first of the five slides of the Lanterna Magica which opens a portal, for 24 hours, to ancient Greece. They find the younger version of Mordred telling stories. They meet his teacher and are invited to his house. They find out that "Mordred" has a twin brother. The real names of the twins being Mardoc (false name Mordred) and Myrddyn. Before they return to the Sanctuary, they find out that one of the brothers is the Cartographer of Lost Places. They use the next slide and travel to ancient Alexander. There, the meet Archimedes a mechanical owl made by Pythagoras. They find Ptolemy the king. They discover that Myrddyn tried to steal the Holy Grail but was caught. They free him and find out that he is the Cartographer of Lost Places and that it was actually his brother who tried to steal the Grail. Myrddyn repays them by binding his brother and exiling him. When the travellers return to the Sanctuary, only to find that nothing has changed. They use the third slide to travel to England to find a boy called Thorn and Archimedes. They help Thorn travel to Camelot to compete in the competitions to become king. In the mean time, Hugo meets Hank a time traveller. They become fast friends. Once the number of competitors is reduced to 7, Mordred come to compete. He defeats 6 of them leaving Merlin. After overhearing a discussion between Merlin and Taliesin, the Lawgiver, Hugo finds that Merlin is not all that good. As they are about to fight, Hugo throws a dagger and injures Mordred. Taliesin declares that Mordred lost as his blood was spilt first by Hugo who wears Merlin's colours. Merlin is disqualified for cheating as Hugo threw a dagger at Mordred. Merlin is also revealed to be Myrddyn. Thorn arrives, draws Caliburn and becomes king and in doing so, his name is changed the Arthur.

The gang, now reunited with Hugo, return to the Sanctuary only to find that again nothing had changed. They use the forth slide and travel back to England. They find Arthur and Mordred arguing while enemies are attacking the castle. Mordred accidentally kills Arthur and flees. Chaz discovers that the Holy Grail can resurrect Arthur. They journey to Avalon where Chaz stays behind and becomes the Green Knight to let the Holy Grail, a young lady called Rose, to follow John, Jack and Hugo back to the castle where Arthur died. He is resurrected and calls the dragons using a ritual at Stonehenge but not before meeting up with Merlin who orchestrated the rebellion but who later changes his mind and joins them. The dragons help restore order and Arthur is made king again. Arthur binds and exiles Merlin so Merlin can do some soul searching and find his way again. The gang return to find that the world outside the room with the Lanterna Magica is now an empty void. They use the 5th and last slide and meet a monk called Geoffrey. The new Green Knight shows up and bring the gang, Geoffrey not included, to the Keep of Time. They meet the Cartographer who answers their questions. Fred opens the Serendipty Box to find a key. John, Jack, Uncus and Fred use it to open a door back to their time. John, Jack, Charles and Bert have a talk with their enemy Burton. They discover that it was he who placed the door in the woods. Burton takes his leave and Bert answers Jack's and John's questions. The story ends there.

The character John is cautious and yet slightly overconfident at the start of the book. He is the Caretaker Principia. I find that the reason why this title is bestowed upon him is not clear. He is also a caring father. His daughter gave him a beautiful watch that hardly works and yet he only uses that watch as his daughter cried when she saw him carrying another watch. He has a somewhat inquisitive mind. He was also trusting toward Chaz despite his betrayal. He also keeps the group together. He is compassionate and level headed

Jack is quite inquisitive. But, he was not so trusting towards Chaz in the beginning. He is level headed. He is quite brave when he talks with the giants. He is protective towards his friends. He defended the badgers when Chaz wanted to cook them in a stew.

Chaz is quite rude at the beginning. He even betrays his companions to Mordred. Slowly but steadily, a change comes over him as the story unfolds. He becomes a trusted friend. He is apt at learning languages. In the end, He sacrifices himself and stays behind on Avalon so that Rose, the Holy Grail, can leave Avalon.