Endymion Spring

I picked this book up in a second hand bookshop. I don't remember seeing it on a display anywhere before, which is odd considering how good it is. This is one of those young adult adventures that could be enjoyed by people older (and indeed, younger) than its intended readership.

Endymion Spring is a mute assistant to the great Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the movable type printing press (although the notes in the book give some additional background to that claim). However Gutenberg goes into business with Johann Fust, who has something more diabolical in mind - and thus causes a chain of events that leads to Oxford. Here there are two American children, Blake and Duck, visiting with their mother who is involved in research of the show more Faust of literature. When a strange book bites Blake in the library, events unfold that span the centuries and lead to a wonderful, mysterious and sometimes terrifying adventure.

This book is fast paced, with good prose and dialogue and a story that had me hooked more or less from the start. It is a book about books, which is always a good one for hooking avid readers. But it is also a book about a boy who is not so keen on books. Maybe that part of teh story does not quite work - but you do feel that Blake is pretty much your average 12 year old, albeit stuck in an odd academic background that he resents.

I liked the interplay in the family. Duck is the annoying perfect little sister. But she is also Blake's friend, and it becomes clear that they love each other despite their normal sibling rivalries. The adults also are not just piece players in this book, but have their own unfolding story.

But ultimately this book is about the mystery: who was Endymion Spring? And what was his legacy?

This is a book I would be happy to recommend to young adults and adults alike. A satisfyingly spooky read. show less

Endymion Spring is a cute novel with a dual-story about two boys both connected to a magical book that contains basically all the knowledge you could ever want to know.

Throughout most of the novel, I was more intrigued by the back story than I was by the present-day story with Blake and his sister Ducky. This turned itself around near the end, but I would have liked to see some more of the black magic stuff that was presented so nicely with Endymion in the past.

The climax of Endymion Spring was brilliant. It was exciting, suspenseful, and I found myself biting my nails with worry for the characters. The resolution left a lot to be desired. Everything is magically tied up into a bow too quickly for my liking. There should have been more show more development of the Blake's parents and his family situation for the ending to work out.

I thought Easton's narration was very good. He captured the characters' voices and did a great job in continually making the transition from Endymion's story to Blake's story, which could have been confusing in audiobook format. I'm not exactly sure how he makes it work, but he does.

Overall, I would recommend this as a good read. It's interesting, suspenseful, and what self-respecting book lover doesn't love a good book about a secret, magical book? It's enjoyable for all ages, not just young adults.

Also posted on Purple People Readers. show less

Disapointing to find a book with so much potential which lives up to that potential so poorly. Many inventive, fascinating ideas, but Skelton just isn't a good enough writer to bring his ideas to the page very well. Had Philip Pullman written the same story it could have been a classic.

Made from the skin of an ancient dragon and hidden deep in the labyrinth of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Endymion Spring—the mythical book of all knowledge—has finally chosen its keeper: an unsuspecting young American boy named Blake Winters. Protagonist Blake and his little sister Duck spend their days in the cavernous British library while their mother works on her latest paper. One fateful day, Blake is literally bitten by the enigmatic book, immersing him into the adventure of a lifetime. Skelton artfully creates an entertaining story chocked full of suspense, intrigue, historical fiction, and fantasy. Segmented into 26 moderate-length chapters, readers travel back and forth through time and place as the plights of Blake and show more Duck mirror those of Johannes Gutenberg’s young apprentice, Endymion, who’s body and soul were literally merged with the book over 500 years before. Descriptive language and eloquent literary conventions convey vivid impressions of sites, sounds, and smells throughout the well-developed plot. Though middle-level readers may struggle with the relatively advanced vocabulary, a preponderance of context clues coupled with clearly articulated dialog and a variety of organizational cues (table of contents, chapter titles with location information, brief summary when shifting among time eras) enhance comprehension. With its superb marriage of mystical power, fantastic responsibility, and the tribulations of a typical adolescent boy, this dramatic novel transcends age groups and may appeal to even the most reluctant readers. show less

It's an interesting read but somehow it just isn't enough, it could be a great book but it ends up only being a good book. The best part of the story is the typography and the way the older story in Mainz and the newer story in Oxford is treated.

Readable but nothing great, unfortunately. I would read more by this author in the hope that the author would improve with time.

I picked this book up, because, as a librarian, it is rather a prerequisite to enjoy metafiction, books about books. This has at times betrayed me (ex. The Grand Complication incident), but often works out in my favor, as with Endymion Spring. The weaving of the sections set in the past (1453 with Endymion Spring) and the present (Blake) is done expertly. The book conveys a true love of libraries and of books themselves. It does a marvelous job also of blending fantasy and historical fiction, weaving magic into a tale with a basis in truth. The characters are a bit one dimensional, but still likable (particularly Duck with her yellow raincoat and curiosity). I recommend this book to lovers of metafiction (people who liked Inkheart, I'm show more talking, or typing, to you). show less

Endymion Spring is first and foremost a book about a book. It follows two concurrent stories, one about the creation of a book hundreds of years ago, and the other a modern day mystery surrounding the location of the book. From a graphic designer's viewpoint, the book is visually well constructed, as each chapter deals with one or the other time period, and the pages of each chapter reflect a different look and feel; the change is subtle and you don't even realize that it is happening until about half way through the book, which I felt was a very clever technique.

The 2 stories themselves aren't much, but when you start to realize how one story is affecting the other, and they begin to weave together, you are left with a well constructed show more story that has a nice, tidy ending. This book follows a popular trend today, where actual historical facts are looked at from the new point of view of the author, and some adjustments are made to create an entirely new story. In this case, some unexplained mysteries concerning Gutenberg, and some legends concerning Fust/Faust are intermingled into the story to help create the mystery of the book. Sometimes, other authors do not handle these plot points very well, seeming more to force the connections to make the story move along, but Skelton uses them deftly in his plot, not forcing them on the reader, but keeping them more as the mystery/legend that they are to help the mystique of his story. Overall, a well crafted, neatly written book and an exceptional debut novel for Matthew Skelton. show less