Isle of Winds (The Changeling Series Book 1)
Enter the Netherworlde…
Become the Changeling.
Robin Fellows lives with his grandmother and lives what appears to be a rather ordinary life for a normal twelve year old boy.
But when Robin’s Gran dies, quite suddenly and a bit mysteriously, his world is turned upside down. A long lost relative comes out of the woodwork and whisks him away to a mysterious new home, Erlking Hall, a quiet estate in the solitary countryside of Lancashire.
Suddenly Robin must adjust to his new reality. But reality is no longer what he thought it was…
Erlking has many secrets – as do his newly found Great-Aunt Irene and her servants. After a strange encounter on the train and meeting a cold, eerie man on the platform, Robin begins to notice odd happenings at Erlking.
There is more than meets the eye to this old, rambling mansion.
Little does he know that there is more than meets the eye to himself.
Robin is the world’s last Changeling. He is descended from a mystic race of Fae-people, whose homeland, the Netherworlde, is caught in the throes of a terrible civil war.
Not only this, but in this new world there is a magical force that has infiltrated the human realm.
Before he can wrench power from the malevolent hands of the Netherworlde’s fearsome tyrant leader, Lady Eris, he must first search for the truth about himself and the ethereal Towers of Arcania.
The first instalment of The Changeling Series, Isle of Winds is an engrossing tale written in the traditions of high fantasy story-telling while carving out a magical new realm. It is perfect for fans of The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series.
James lives in the North of England, close to wild moors and adjacent to a haunted wind farm, with his extremely patient and long-suffering family and a very old cat named Gargoyle. When the cat dies, James plans to buy a raven and name it Quoth. He is the author of the Changeling fantasy series, following the adventures of Robin, a seemingly unremarkable boy who is swept up into a war between our world, and the Netherworlde, a shadowy realm which lies beyond our own. In addition to fantasy, James also writes Science Fiction, Urban Gothic and Steampunk, for people old enough to know better.
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Spellbinding!,
There are, perhaps inevitably, shades of Harry Potter here, as Robin learns he’s not who or what he thought he was, learns how to cast spells and encounters strange creatures and people… There are also echoes of Narnia, with its other-world accessed through magical portals, and reminders of Tolkien in the mythology that author James Fahy weaves to give his Netherworlde its backstory. Above all though, this book is in keeping with the grand tradition of children’s adventure. What distinguishes it from the rest is the writer’s lively and wryly humorous style, imbuing the narrative with wit. Action sequences are vividly depicted and the writer himself is no mean caster of spells, conjuring up both creatures and moments that are scary and engaging.
A wildly enjoyable read that cracks along at a fair pace building to a special-effects climax in a cinematic way and, of course, sowing seeds for the sequels. I am very much looking forward to Book Two.
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|Thrilling- A great new fantasy series suitable for children, young adults, and adults alike,
Happily, James Fahy has managed to conjure up a new world that is both comfortingly familiar, and magically strange. Robin is transported from mundane to suburbia to a world of mystery, before taking a full on tumble into a magical landscape, and it’s a very clever way of easing the reader in to the environment, meaning they are there with Robin every step of the way.
There’s no shortage of likeable characters to meet either, with Henry, Phorbas the Tutor, Aunt Irene, Woad the Faun and the mysterious Karya all coming together and facing such evil characters as the grotesque Moros and Strife, working for the evil Lady Eris… There is a traditional element to the plot, but it’s balanced well – I was happily reminded of the books of my childhood, but still found the plot exciting and unpredictable, with Fahy weaving a twisting plot that takes the reader on quite the adventure. Magic is used well too – it’s got limits and a system of use that I found fascinating, and hope will be expanded on in future books
It’s great to see a new series that reminds me of the “Narnia” series by CS Lewis (without the overt religious preaching, thankfully), “The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper, and “The Weirdstone of Brisingamen” by Alan Garner – all childhood favourites of mine. Fast moving and thrilling, there is magic and mystery at every corner, accompanied by compelling characters. I’d recommend from anyone from the age of 10 or so – this is a book that manages to be suitable for both children and adults, and I imagine they’d have to be made of stone not to enjoy it…
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|James Fahy has created a wonderful world of make believe…,
Robin, orphaned as a baby and apparently a perfectly normal child, lives in a small village with his Gran. Gran is slightly quirky and surrounds herself with horseshoes, but apart from that Robin feels he lives a fairly ordinary life. Until one day Gran dies quite unexpectedly and Robin is left alone and sent to live with a Great Aunt in a large estate belonging to Erlking Hall.
Suddenly Robin is thrust into a whole new world as he discovers that he is not the ordinary boy he thought he was, but the last Changeling of the Netherworlde and a descendant of the Fae. Furthermore, he is the object of a search by the evil Lady Eris, conqueror and tyrannical ruler of the Netherworlde, and enemy of the Fae.
James Fahy has created a wonderful world of make believe, full of magical characters and fantasy adventure; and creating the wonderful and mythical Isle of Winds, risen by magic out of the warring Netherworlde and into the clouds to escape from the conflict.
It took me a while to warm to the tale, but once gripped, I loved it.
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