Two stars for awesome book design.A rainy night in London, 1917 – Three young strangers, who all happen to be Oxford men, meet in police custody. They were all rumored to be students of the ancient-languages professor who was found murdered in his study earlier that night. Our POV character for most of the book goes by John. He is home from the War at the moment, but suffers debilitating flashbacks of the trenches. John was married recently, but thinks about his wife exactly once in the entire b...

I am very disappointed in this audiobook. I loved the beginning – so much. James Langton was charming as a reader. No, really – charming. He read in a neutral, British-flavored voice, which perfectly set off the tones and accents he used for the characters, each distinctive and enjoyable. I didn't realize that the physical book is illustrated; perhaps the characterizations balance that loss. (I hate discovering that books I've gotten in audio are illustrated. It's such a cheat.) I enjoyed the he...

Even before I begin to write this review, I know right away that no matter what I say, I'll never be able to do this book justice. I'll try, though.First, a little background :"An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica -- an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and...

The intention of this book is really interesting, to base a story on stories and literary authors and characters, and then thrust them into an imaginary world where fiction meets reality. The ideas and references are fun, and definitely add to the enjoyment for a reader who's read widely, and there are fantastically fun illustrations done by the author too. Although I think the concept of this one is solid, I didn't think the plot or characters were developed enough. This felt like a very simpli...

There's a quote by C.S. Lewis which says “A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.” I like this quote. I like this quote a lot. What it says to me is that just because you're writing for a child doesn't mean you have to "dumb" the story down or condescend to your readers. Unfortunately, that's exactly what James A. Owen does here. Now, that isn't to say if you have a 12 year old who is interested in fantasy and you want to get them ...

Well I've decided: having read far too many reviews of this that simply pointed out the flat characterisation and the unoriginal nature of this book that it needs a bit of a lift from yours truly. So here is my attempt.Now as I mentioned before (once upon a time) I love fairytales, mythology and legends. That is why I appreciated the magical sparkle of this book. Some might state that this book is unoriginal and flat however I personally found it to contain an original premise and interesting en...

Library edition...to the head of the line it goes!This book started out well and I was immediately interested. The characters are interesting and the story begins to roll along laying out the basic idea and the overriding theme. Unfortunately it's not long before the book bogs down...I suppose overwhelmed by it's own "wonder".I know that some love this (these) books. I can even see why, I know there are readers who will be totally enamored by the very things that finally caused the book to fall ...

James A. Owen took the words "What If", and created a wonderful series and how! He said what if the some of the world's greatest authors and playwrights such as William Shakespeare, Jules Vern, James Barrie, H.G. Wells, J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams came up with their stories and plays not purely from imagination, but from very real events. Well he did just that in what is one of the hands-down best fantasy series out there. From the first page i was utterly captivated, John Jac...

Can I give above a 5-star? Because if I could, I would. This book was fantastic! It has a twist at the end, and once you read it, you go "Omigosh, are you serious? How did I not pick up on that?!" and suddenly you love this book all the more. The idea of a sort of parallel universe has been done before, but Owen has done an excellent job with originality. Read it, you will love it, I'm positive!

Took a wonderful premise, and made a complete mess of it by making shallow characters, shirking on detail, and leaving it as took much of four piece puzzle plot.

The only positive point, is Trummler, the badger, who had more character in his left footpaw than the entire rest of the cast. Otherwise, amazing disappointment, though the art is sorta good. Do Not Buy. Check from the library at the most...if even that.