The lost history by Melanie La'Brooy

The lost history: Talismans of fate offers high interest level to Middle School fantasy readers. It is the sequel to the multi-award-winning The Wintrish girl which represented the best of fantasy adventure writing. The lost history: Talismans of fate is more of a convoluted story which juggles many elements which could be confusing for the reader. Australian author La’Brooy takes the reader again into a fantasy world of mysterious talismans and strange realms in the Empire of Arylia. A map is conveniently supplied in the front pages!

In addition to the magical strangeness of the characters, settings and events is an obvious joy in the use of language. La’Brooy's writing plays out, in its energy and vitality, as a celebration of things that count for something - like libraries, clever kids, sharp thinking, courage in the face of fear, precision in the use of language and a celebration of history.  Clever word play dances through much of the action and dialogue. As in The Wintrish girl,  “Malevolence” and “Malevolents” and “Marvelance” and “Marvellous” play out. There is much wisdom scattered throughout that could well be quoted more widely e.g. Thaddeus states, (p.42)..."Unlimited, unfiltered information without proper context or the means to understand it can be a very dangerous thing."

The core message of the book may be found in chapter twenty where Penn meets her mysterious aunt at her spinning wheel in a hidden place somewhere off "Betwixt and Between" which is reminiscent of princesses in towers and magic spinning wheels. Penn is allowed twenty questions. Wise words guide her including "...lifting a curse will not eradicate the hatred that brought it into being in the first place" and "...the Arylians cling to their power in the present because doing so enables them to rewrite the past. The past, the present and the future are merely one continuous thread jumbled together..." The focus of the book is on reading history correctly, finding reliable sources and reading the footnotes in order to understand the past and thereby tackle the future.

Evil has to be overcome. Our heroes: Penn, Seraphine, Juniper and Arthur (thoroughly likeable and courageous heroes) form a tight friendship group as they overcome danger and discover their separate abilities. The settings and action sequences, being cinematic and  imaginative, would be a screen-writer's paradise. 

The lost history: Talismans of fate is a complicated read. Multiple strands of settings, characters, storylines, and magical aspects have to be held simultaneously by the reader. Because of its complications, the book has to be read carefully and in close sittings. Therefore it is recommended for young people who are both adept readers and lovers of the fantasy genre. Whilst the energy and authorial voice is the same and the theme is very important, The lost history: Talismans of fate is not as readable as The Wintrish girl. Many overlays are threaded into the story with possible resultant confusion for the reader which reduces the flow of the story and reading pleasure.

The lost history: Talismans of fate ends abruptly with another book to follow. There is so much silliness and seriousness and so much happening in The lost history: Talismans of fate that one hopes that further adventures of Penn and her friends could be toned down to support readers. The action sequences and creative settings definitely lend themselves to a screen version of the story which could work better than the written version.

There is much that is very, very good offered by The lost history:Talismans of fate but it is not a book for those who do not enjoy juggling multiple elements.

Themes: Fantasy, Adventure, Magic, History, Identity, Friendship.

Wendy Jeffrey