Jayben and the golden torch by Thomas Leeds

In a ripping fantasy tale Jayben finds himself in an alternative world, but all his memories have disappeared. A magical torch, some bizarre crystals in his hand and a compass engraved with his name are all hints at something significant. When Jayben meets the local fantasy elfin individuals in their fantasy world, unrecognisable to those of us in Earth-time and place, they are convinced that he is there to save them from the evil forces deliberately trying to block the connection between Earth and the Elf world. Many strange things are happening and there seems to be an urgent need for Jayben to rediscover some memory. Careless adults are being morphed into Null-heads, and with no cognisance of their former lives,  are becoming fantasy ‘zombies’. Jayben’s friends and the odd elf-world creatures, support him in an amazing quest. Can he discover his place in the fantasy world and save them all from evil agents by discovering his own powers and his memory before it is too late?

This has elements of the great fantasy tale – the unlikely hero, the quest, and the other-worldly magical creatures, in combination with the human dilemmas of finding one’s place in the world. Jayben (Ben) is both a ‘lost boy’ and someone wanting to find security in a strange world. The likely combination of ‘lost periods’ in his fantasy life, and the possibility of epilepsy as a cause of memory-loss are a parallel to this author’s own journey with a brain injury and epilepsy. The fantasy world Thomas Leeds has created is unique and unfamiliar, and the characters that Jayben meets and the friendships that are forged have their own intrigues. There is humour, tension, and some strange pathways through the journey to the last page, with the occasional ‘missing moments’. This is not a Harry Potter story, but it will appeal to some fantasy devotees, aged 10+, if they can cope with the occasional confusions or absences due to memory loss. I enjoyed this story, but I found that I had to read it in larger chunks in order not to lose track of the plot progress. This can certainly be recommended to readers of fantasy, and it seems that a second book involving Jayben may be coming in the future.

Themes: Memories, Fantasy, Friendship, Good vs evil, Courage, Disability, Epilepsy.

Carolyn Hull