The Goblin's Puzzle Being the Adventures of a Boy With No Name and Two...

Reviewed by: Ann Marie Townsend - South Berwickk public Library, South Berwick, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: December 7, 2016

Review

This first novel, The Goblin's Puzzle being the the adventures of a boy with no name and two girls called Alice, begins as tree separate stories that entwine as pieces of a puzzle as they come together. A well written fantasy adventure that begins slowly but the pace quickens as you meet the characters including the boy, a nameless slave, a goblin, a princess, another Alice, just plain, meaning not the princess but studying to be a sage, an ogre, a dragon, (who kidnaps the wrong Alice), politicians, a king, an evil man who wants to be king and others. This has a great adventure but includes humor, logic, moral issues, honor, brains over brawn, and slavery. The three main characters all grow, are likable, there is excitement, reasoning,and an examination of honor and truth. The boy, who is a nameless slave, evolves with thinking through the morality of slavery clearly evolving from a worthless, nameless boy to a person with self-esteem becoming a hero because of his sense of honor clearly being superior to the slave master, and has saved a kingdom from evil. There is a violent murder in the beginning, but is a catalyst as to why the boy must go on. This book is much more then an adventure, good for a middle grade book group discussion, and one that can be reread because there is so much to discover and think about.

Overall Book Score: very good