What an amazing book!An easy 5*!!! Adult or child, you'd love Echo McCool!!! The main characters are Echo and Jason, who I fell in love with, once I picked this book up I did not want to put it down!!! The writing is a very high standard, I loved the descriptions, I would love to have been there with them both (saving the day). The author is a very talented writer, and I can't wait for the next instalments or any books he writes in the future.
Fantasy 3's Review
This book is an absolute must have for 77p on the kindle. Having said that, it's worth £7.00 new!
The
description is of an unmatched quality and combined with a breath
taking story-line equates to quite literally the best book you have
ever read.
And you should see my collection of books...
Colesy999 Review on Amazon.co.uk
Big thanks to the lovely Thu Barton for this review on Goodreads:
The
character of Echo McCool reminds me very much of the Princess Merida
character in the Disney Pixar film BRAVE. Both are feisty and strong
and red-haired and grew up in a British folklore world. Echo McCool was
first published in January 2011 but Pixar must've been working on
Princess Merida for a long time so I'm not sure which came first - but
both are totally awesome!
Thu Barton's Review on Goodreads
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
Many authors have attempted to do what Mr Driscoll does with Echo McCool, but few have succeeded. It's a very traditional story but at the same time new. It feels like a timeless classic has been updated to appeal to kids today. I was watching Sherlock Holmes on BBC One the other day and it put me in mind of how the makers of that show have updated an old idea to make it appeal to viewers today. Mr Driscoll has done the same here with children's fiction.
The stars, Jason and Echo, complement each other very well. Mr Driscoll does not give in to temptation and just have Jason 'do a Pygmalion' on Echo - instead he has them learn from and help each other. Yes, Jason is resourceful and has modern knowledge, but Echo is uniquely skilled, sharp not to mention self-sufficient. "I know not ring the police" she says, but I think she is not just saying she does not know who the police are - I think she is intelligent enough to work that one out for herself - instead she is saying "I would not ever use the police." Echo's strength is reflected in other ways too: e.g. Jason derides Echo's medieval language and tries to teach her how people speak today ("All this perchance and thou art stuff - no one speaks like that any more. It's better to say perhaps and you are.") Echo then explains to him how "thee" differs from "you" and how modern language is actually a dumbed down version of what she speaks - it's less specific. I found this a joy to read as when I have read books like this before, the authors have tended to make the person from the past seem stupid when in fact they are just not educated about modern things. In many ways though they are cleverer.
I also like how Mr Driscoll combines Lord of the Rings-style mythology with modern day action. Going from a dryad netherworld to a couple of working class blokes cutting down a tree really underlines the differences between the main characters' worlds, and he makes each character seem believable.
The story ends on a high note and the promise of more adventures to come, and I am looking forward to reading more about Echo and Jason and their journey together.
As the father of a young baby girl, I've spent the past few months'
bedtimes trapped in the pages of picture books plucked from either my
own childhood or the current children's charts, dutifully trawling
through thinly-veiled allegories and sledgehammer-subtle moralising.
However, having recently met the author of this book, who really
enthused me about his work, I decided to shelve the likes of "Dinosaur
Sleepover" and "Nicky's Noisy Night" for the time being and instead
offer my daughter a serialised glimpse of what she's likely be reading
in a decade or so's time.
Aimed at what booksellers now label
"young adult readers", this novel strives to build a bridge between
classic children's literature and the vibrant, much more fantastic
adventures that generally see print or go before the movie cameras
today. Driscoll's story takes `Famous Five' sensibilities and injects
them into a fast-paced, magic-wielding, karate-kicking tale that plays
out before the mind's eye in definition far sharper than 1080p. There's
still an adventure around every corner, but if they involve Echo then
they're far more likely to sate the appetite of most twenty-first
century teens than anything in Blyton's arguably outmoded repertoire.
What
I think really sets "Echo McCool: Outlaw through Time" apart from its
peers though is the quality of Driscoll's world-building. Though some of
his finesse might be lost on the youngest of the book's readers, the
author is clearly well-versed in medieval philosophies, and that
familiarity really bleeds through in his eloquent prose. It's almost a
shame that we couldn't have spent longer in Echo's native time, so
evident is the author's ardour, but ultimately the book's humour - and,
indeed, drama - is borne of Echo being a girl out of time.
Reading
a book like this really highlights just how fickle the world of
publishing is, and how fine the line is between a Harry Potter or a Lara
Croft and an Echo McCool. Will queues of youngsters be camping out in
front of stores awaiting the release of "Echo McCool VII", or playing to
death the latest Echo McCool video game? I really couldn't say, but
based solely on the appeal of this first instalment in the series, the
potential is certainly there. Long may the legend continue.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004KAB9R4/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
I’ve
been keeping an eye on the pre-publicity for E.G. (“Eddy”) Wolverson’s novel
“The Tally” for a specific reason. Eddy hails from Hull, just a few miles up the road from me, and
I thought the least I could do was to mention The Tally on its launch day. So
without further ado here is the product description; I hope it grabs your
attention as much as it did mine:
"Welcome to the Student Bubble.
Welcome to a world where DJs play the same songs in the same order every single night, and the one (and only) hit wonder reigns supreme. Welcome to a world of crude cartoon and misplaced melodrama, a word free of all but the most trifling of consequences, where exaggerated sensitivity is rife and a semester's success or suicide hangs on the whim of a woman.
Young Tom-o wiles away his evenings in a purple drunken stupor, lost to the tender mercies of what he desperately wishes was a hopeless love affair, but in reality isn't even that. Gristle, meanwhile, is enraged when his weak-bladdered housemate Spadge moves out, only to be replaced by a neurotic freak named Jamal, who dares not only to bring books into his house, but to read them too.
And for poor Will, matters are even worse. Women are staying in of a night! How's he supposed to rack up his 'tally' of conquests if women daren't leave their digs? They're all terrified that they'll be next to fall prey to the invisible menace that has started stealing students away from the streets of Hull. Will has nothing to fear though - after all, he has his recently-arrived destitute father to watch his back. And the fearsome Gristle. And the zealously neurotic Jamal. And the dangerously depressed Tom...
The Student Bubble is about to burst, and when it does, the degenerated residents of 146 Worthington Street will find themselves in a reality that they're not equipped to comprehend, let alone survive in."
You can give Eddy the recognition he deserves by purchasing and reviewing The Tally in the Kindle Store. Here's the Amazon.co.uk link. Best of luck, Eddy!
The Tally - Amazon UK Link
From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryad
Dryads are mentioned in Milton’s Paradise Lost, in Coleridge, and in Thackeray’s work The Virginians.[12] Keats addresses the nightingale as ‘light-winged Dryad of the trees’, in his Ode to a Nightingale. In the poetry of Donald Davidson they illustrate the themes of tradition and the importance of the past to the present.[13] The poet Sylvia Plath uses them to symbolize nature in her poetry in “On the Difficulty of Conjuring up a Dryad”, and “On the Plethora of Dryads”.[14]
In the ballet Don Quixote Dryads appear in a vision with Dulcinea before Don Quixote, they also appear in the classical ballet Sylvia
Dryads are also featured extensively throughout The Chronicles of Narnia by British author C.S. Lewis and are shown to fight along side Aslan, son of the Emperor-Over-The-Sea, and the Pevensie Children.
The same characters recur in David Eddings’ The Belgariad,
where Dryads live in seclusion on the Wood of the Dryads within the
Tolnedran Empire and among the most prominent in the storyline is
Ce’Nedra.
In the animated show Monster School, the character Rose Greendae is a dryad who can turn into a tree at will.
In the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan, there is a dryad named Juniper who is the girlfriend of Grover Underwood.
____________
Other dryads in fiction:
Sue Maynard – Ebon Black and the Seven Dryads
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ebon-Black-Seven-Dryads-ebook/dp/B005HSPMUS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319464657&sr=8-1
Frank Stockton – The Lost Dryad
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Dryad-Stockton-Frank-Richard/dp/1110970137/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1319464733&sr=8-7
The Dryad Project – James Moy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dryad-Project-James-D-Moy/dp/1843866900/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319464820&sr=1-1
The Dryad by Justin Huntly McCarthy
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dryad-Novel-Justin-Huntly-McCarthy/dp/1103049151/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319464820&sr=1-3
The Oracle of the Missing Dryad – Kristin Groulx
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oracle-Missing-Dryad-Kristin-Groulx/dp/0981131522/ref=sr_1_56?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319465055&sr=1-56
Mr Griffin and the Dryad – Frank Stockton
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-Minor-Canon-Pipes-Dryad/dp/1425468659/ref=sr_1_100?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319465215&sr=1-100
This is a wonderful story. My 8 year old loved it but would suit 8-11+ years. The story of Echo and Jason is filled with the kind
of drama and emotions normally found in a crime thriller. In fact
in places it reminded me of "The Thirty-Nine Steps." The author
Roger K Driscoll is a great story-teller so if for some reason
you've yet to try this book, buy it and read it because you'll
definitely enjoy it!
Due to her appearance and heritage, Echo McCool is proving to be very
popular with mixed race kids in both the USA and Europe. I teach
middle-school and have many of the kids talking about this one. I think
it's nice to see a book with a character that offers diversity which I
believe to be quite rare. I'm glad the kids have an icon to look at with
inspiration. Since discussing this book in reading class, I've had a
handfull of students tell me that they hope to become authors. It
definitely puts a smile on my face to know that books out there like
this one can still inspire children to fulfill a dream.
I'm so happy I found a great book to read before the end of the year! I
was getting really upset having read one not so good book after another
and was losing hope that I'd find anything interesting *I'm a picky
reader*. I couldn't stop reading this book and finished it in 1 day! The
lore in it is just amazing!! I loved the dryad background of Echo and
the story that just went into so much depth.
There are too many
specifics in this book to name only a few that I loved. I think that
Echo and Jason make the best 'unlikely' team that just works so well
together. They balanced out each other to make a perfect pair. ^_^ I
liked how while reading I felt scared for Echo and Jason, and other
times I was cheering them on as they would battle it out. It was a great
story and I would pre-order a sequel in a heartbeat!!!!
I'm very impressed with this one! As an older dad of 2 I can honestly
say that I really enjoyed this book. I think that readers of all ages
will fall for Echo. Don't let the genre being in middle grade steer you
wrong if you're an adult. It's a really good story!
The writing
is FAR from "childish" and is composed in a way that adults and "tweens"
can both enjoy. If you're an adventure or fantasy fan, it's definitely
work checking out.
I love Echo! She is probably one of the coolest female leads I've ever
read about. I think girls and women around the world are going to fall
for her. Shes rough and tough and doesn't let anyone mess with her, yet
she is a great friend and loyal to those she cares for...a real hero! I
loved her abilities and that she isn't fully a human at all. The
storyline was epic and I enjoyed how she was introduced right in the
beginning so that you really get to know her throughout the book. I'm a
permanent fan of Echo McCool!!! More please :)
I'm a 34 year old mother of 2 and loved this book. I don't think it's
only for children and young teens. It definitely has an appeal and
literary "goodness" that adults can fall for as well. I'm proud to admit
that I'm a fan of Echo McCool. For me personally, my favorite genres
are MG and YA. I think that no matter what age you are you can relate at
some point in your life to the emotion in these genres.
I like Echo McCool, my oldest son loves it, it's an amazing story that is worth the time to read!
The writing is smart and swift. An Adolecent and Young Teen Masterpiece
as I headed above. As a fifty-year-old adult, I enjoyed this
tremendously. It's because of the Author, Roger K. Driscoll's technique
of holding the reader's attention and he does so with conviction. This
story is a definite page turner of fantasy. Buy this today if not for
your son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter.
Echo McCool Outlaw Through Time is one of those cross-over books:the storytelling seems to be aimed at children, and the two maincharacters are twelve years old, but the story can be enjoyed by adults too. I think the optimum age would be slightly older
children, say 11 or 12. Echo McCool is a slightly Lara Croft-ish
character because she can do Ninja type fighting, and so on.
The story is mainly about Echo who, at the age of 12, escapes her
foe in medieval time and sleeps inside a hollow tree for hundreds
of years. She awakes in modern times and meets Jason Fleeting and has loads of adventures with him.
I think that the end was a little too abrupt: most people would want to keep reading! However, this didn't spoil the book for me at all. Overall, this book is quality and you should go out and buy it!
I picked up this book after seeing some recommendations that fans of
Stig of the Dump would enjoy it. So, being the Stig fanatic that I am, I
decided to give it a try. Echo McCool (a twelve-year-old half dryad
girl from the 13th Century) gets chased through a forest and shot by a
poisoned arrow. But she has a magical card to play, she hides inside a
hollow tree that, in time, will cure her of the poison. But the spell
lasts a lot longer than she thought and she finds herself in the 21st
century, when she is awakened by a boy called Jason Fleeting. Then the
story becomes an enchanting tale of a unique friendship. Although Echo
and Jason have had very different lives they learn a lot from each
other. They have many adventures, some funny and some exciting. I
would recommend this book to readers of all ages.
I don't usually write reviews but the setting for Echo McCool, Outlaw
Through Time is inspired by the area where I live so I decided to go
ahead and give it a read. The author starts out in Medieval times when
the half-dryad girl Echo McCool escapes death from a poison arrow and
hides inside a magical hollow oak tree. Then there is a clever time
twist when Echo awakes in the present day and teams up with Jason
Fleeting, a boy with plenty of problems that Echo helps him to solve.
The story builds up to a spectacular and heart-stopping climax. I don't
want to give away the ending but this book will have you glued to the
pages and will keep you thinking about it long after you've finished.
I purchased this book for my 11 year old niece, and she absolutely loved
it! It was one of her books that she wouldn't stop talking about. The
other day I was sorting through my kindle library and started reading
this book on a whim and I actually ended up reading the entire thing
myself.
It's a great read for kids, with lots of action and very descriptive
writing. And if you happen to be an adult who appreciates a
well-written story, then I'd recommend it to you also. 5 stars!
To me "Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time" by Roger K. Driscoll, while
listed as a YA, has equal appeal to both the YA and adult reader.
Echo McCool is a half-blooded dryad. At the beginning of the book,
she is shot by a poisoned arrow and, to escape the villian and survive,
she jumps into an old, large, hollow oak. Too tall for her to get out,
she enters the big sleep--better labeled the long sleep.
Enter 12-year-old Jason Fleeting who is dying in a hospital. He
meets Echo's mother, a guardian of the gateway. She tells him she can
heal Jason if he will rescue Echo from her tree before some loggers saw
her in half. Jason works his own bargain, he wants to find his
sister--who was kidnapped by their mother's killer.
Bargain stuck, Jason runs away from a children's home. Together, he
and Echo set out to solve the murder of Jason's mother, rescue his
kidnapped sister Lauren, and restore an inheritance to a new friend.
This is a fast read and I look forward to Echo's, Jason's, and Lauren's next adventure.
