Review:
Endymion Spring by Matthew Skelton
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Puffin
2006 Age 10+. Matthew Skelton has made an impressive debut with
Endymion Spring, a richly researched and original historical fantasy
which weaves together two stories: one set in modern day Oxford and the
other set in Mainz in 1452, where Johannes Gutenberg is assembling the
first printing press. Blake Winters, a twelve year old boy who is
visiting Oxford with his mother and sister Duck, finds a mysterious
book with blank pages, titled Endymion Spring, and discovers that only
he can read the mysterious riddle printed in it. Helped by his
precocious sister Duck and a strange tramp he attempts to solve the
mystery of the book. In the parallel story the author takes the reader
back to the Middle Ages and tells the tale of the real Endymion Spring,
Gutenberg's young apprentice, who struggles to keep a book made of
dragon skin out of the hands of the greedy Johann Fust.
Skelton's vivid use of language make his locations come alive. The
descriptions of medieval Mainz, the way of life and customs such as the
Dance of Death, is fascinating, as is the insight the reader gets of
the remarkable libraries and scholarship in Oxford. The magic of
ancient books, their binding, clasps and illuminations, and the wonder
of the Bible being printed by the first printing press, is vividly
described.
Skelton's characters are not the overwhelming heroic or evil figures
often found in fantasy. Instead Blake, the main character, is an
ordinary boy who is overshadowed by his smarter sister, Duck; his
mother is obessed with scholarly work, and there is family disfunction.
Endymion Spring is an engrossing Middle Ages orphan. The evil character
Fust (Faust) is portrayed as a greedy manipulative merchant and the
present bad characters are every day scholars who would do anything for
books.
The open ending leaves room for a sequel and the film rights have been
bought for this book. Readers who have enjoyed the Harry Potter series
and His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman should find this engrossing
and thoughtful readers may want to do some research of their own about
Faust and the first printing press.
Pat Pledger
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© Pledger
Consulting, 2007