Saturday 31 March 2012

Echo McCool - Tom D Harris Review

Son to a missing father, son to a murdered mother, brother to a kidnapped sister, Jason Fleeting will have his vengeance in this life...not the next.

When twelve year old Jason falls out of a tree and into a coma in the grounds of the children's home where he lives, he finds himself on a beach at the edge of time; somewhere between the living and the afterlife.
Here, he meets a beautiful dryad, Fenella, who recites a tale of ancient conflicts, war, bravery and death. She also reveals that Jason and his sister, Lauren, are descendants of a human-dryad and tasks Jason to return to earth to save her daughter, Echo McCool. In turn Echo will help Jason to rescue his sister from her kidnappers.

With Echo rescued from Witch Wood, she uses the dryad gift of Gewita to look into the past to unravel the mysteries of Jason's past and his sister's kidnapping. Together they delve deeper and deeper into the sinister secrets of the Cobalt family and the eerie Ravenstone Manor.

With the help of a (rock) band of minstrels, as echoes of a female Robin Hood resonate through the pages, they encounter dodgy coppers, arson attacks, collapsing tunnels and other endless confrontations, but don't panic - Echo knows Kung Fu.

A pacey, page turner from Roger K Driscoll, packed with great characters and a great sense of fun. This action adventure flirts with crime and mystery as fantasy smashes headlong into reality.

Echo and Jason may not be able to predict their futures in the Gewita but in the words of a popular indie-rock band.

I predict a sequel...I predict a sequel...



Echo McCool - Imperatrix Review

I bought this for my 10 year old but because she loved it and kept going on about it I decided to have a read as well. Echo is half-blood Dryad girl who gets shot by this poison arrow in the dark ages and escapes by hiding in this hollow tree, but she doesnt realize that shell get stuck there and the poison will put her to sleep for something like 800 years. In the present a 12 year old boy called Jason is in this coma and having a near death experience where he meets Echos mother who says shell heal him and tell him how to find his kidnapped sister Lauren if he rescues Echo before lumberjacks cut her in half. He agrees and awakens Echo and they go off together to rescue his sister and restore an inheritance to a new friend. Overall this has good characters, its very readable and fast with loads of action and tension. Were both looking forward to the sequel already.

Echo McCool - Imperatrix Review