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Jon Berkeley

Author of The Palace of Laughter

10 Works 638 Members 21 Reviews 1 Favorited

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Works by Jon Berkeley

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Gorgeous art, though lunar new year is barely relevant here (despite getting mentioned on the flap- I wonder if the publisher was like, "if it's a Chinese story you need to mention a significant holiday!" versus just like... the full moon).
 
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Daumari | 1 other review | Dec 28, 2023 |
Tigers, and Angels, and Lightning, OH MY!
Jon Berkeley has an amazing imagination (yeah, maybe a little demented but fun.)
The Lightning Key, the third in The Wednesday Tales series was a fun read.
I have enjoyed this dark series, about a young boy, Miles who in previous books was orphaned, on the streets, in a circus, befriended a tiger, and adopted an angel for a sister (yes a real angel.) This one wasn't quite as scary, which I liked. Probably for the 9 crowd. Many crazy things have happened in Miles' short life, and believe me many more happen in this book. I especially loved the characters in this book more than in previous ones. Little, the song angel who fell to earth for Miles, is sweet and strong. Baltinglass of Arabe, the eccentric old adventurer is a hoot. The angels stalking Miles for his soul are even interesting. And, not to spoil anything, but there is a happy ending finally for sweet Miles.… (more)
 
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panamamama | 2 other reviews | Aug 2, 2022 |
Miles Wednesday, orphaned, has escaped the orphanage for the 7th time & is living in a barrel when the Circus Obscuro comes to town. Meeting up w/ a very hungry magical Tiger, Miles goes down to the circus w/ a gift of bones for the Tiger, but the tiger is nowhere to be found.

Sneaking inside to see the show, Miles watches as a little girl, Little, balances up high then falls, miraculously using her wings to safely alight. When Little is finished, Miles watches as she is tied up & locked up. Little is a prisoner of the Circus Obscuro & will remain so as long as they have Silverpoint (an angel of sort) performing for them. Without Little, Silverpoint would desert the Circus Obscuro.

After Miles releases Little, they set off on the long journey w/ the Tiger to find & Silverpoint & set him free.

This was a very well written & for-the-most-part (some parts I skimmed) interesting book. Magic, Fantasy, Tigers, Faeries (of a sort), Angels, good people & bad people all in one story.

I enjoyed the book & read in it 1 day... I'm not sure as I am up to reading book two, as this was a long story, and I skimmed a small portion of it.
… (more)
½
 
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Auntie-Nanuuq | 10 other reviews | Aug 7, 2018 |
The main characters are Miles, an orphan and Little, a Song Angel. Miles lives in a barrel just outside the town of Larde. He awakes one morning to find that a circus has set up in a large field below the hill where he lives in his barrel. He goes to investigate and finds himself rescuing a little girl with wings (Little) from the ominous circus. Together they set off to find her friend Silverpoint and the story takes many encounters and plots from here.
I like this book, it has a lot of different characters (some fantastical like the NULL while others have human personas) with their own dilemmas and yet it doesn’t become too complex that you cannot follow and enjoy it.
Miles’ character is that of a kind, hardworking, honest boy who survives the best way he can so that he does not have to return to Pinchbucket’s orphanage. Until Miles rescued Little, his only companion was Tangerine, an orangey (dirty), little teddy bear that was given to him as a baby; Tangerine is always tucked inside Miles’ jacket and gave Miles the feeling of comfort.
Little’s character is that of a song angel (from a higher place than Earth), a song angel that can feel the song (inner spirit) of any creature, through this sense she can feel their pain or joy and she has a calming effect upon those around her. Little also has the ability to heal through singing the song of the beings spirit, however if she sings her own song she will lose the ability to be an angel and become a human trapped on Earth.
Little is also a little naïve about Earth and how the populace live and act, as she came to earth by accident when following Silverpoint (unbeknown to him), who is now missing.
Along the journey to find Silverpoint, Miles & Little encounter a large tiger (somewhat arrogant) who helps them get to the Palace of Laughter where Silverpoint has been abducted and supposedly entranced.
It is your typical journey plot, where they know the destination, but travel is hindered by various interactions that test, but develop the travellers to become more ready for the encounter at the final destination. Miles & Little complement each other and by the time they reach the Palace of Laughter they are firm allies to take on the evil Cortado – ringmaster of the circus, the main villainous character.
Cortado, the evil ringmaster is seeking to abolish laughter and harvest its power for his own devious means, essentially he wants to destroy happiness. As the circus travels through each little town, townspeople are offered free tickets to the Palace of Laughter (a giant clown like statue – tent venue – hard to create imagery) for the show of their lives. Cortado and his right hand man, Genghis (yes he is huge and unfriendly) has developed a tonic that entrances people and frees them from laughing. It is at the Palace of Laughter that the audience are given the tonic and leave none the wiser that they are free from laughter.
It ends with the usual resolution where good triumphs over evil, however Miles and Little’s lives have changed; Miles learns about his beginning and Little has to make a new beginning on Earth as she can never return to her higher world.

The Palace of Laughter was enjoyable, it allowed me to make connections throughout with other storylines. It has engaging concepts such as friendship, kindness, evil vs good, a talking tiger, circus characters, a kindly lady and a scary, hairy being (the NULL) who needs kindness.
I will definitely be reading the next 2 books in the trilogy
… (more)
½
 
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rata | 10 other reviews | Feb 6, 2016 |

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Works
10
Members
638
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Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
21
ISBNs
46
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