Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson
Contemporary Books
Nonfiction, Paranormal/Unsolved
*****
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: PAST AND PRESENT
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of the Unsolved
Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson
Carroll & Graff
Nonfiction, Paranormal/Unexplained
****
DESCRIPTION: The Wilsons have written many books and articles on unsolved mysteries. This book compiles many of their articles on many subjects. Included are speculations on the identity of Jack the Ripper, theories on hauntings, and other investigations of unsolved mysteries, peculiar historic figures and events, and unexplained phenomena of all types.
REVIEW: I only trimmed this a point because most of the included articles are abridged, and I'm not fond of abridged articles. If it's worth reprinting, why not reprint the whole thing? I liked that they included updates, when new information had come to light about the subjects since the original article was written. Anyway, this book covers a wide range of unsolved mysteries, from never-caught serial killers to the Bermuda Triangle. If your library has a Paranormal Phenomena and Unexplained Mysteries section, you might want to add this book to the pile. If you would like an overview of these subjects, the abridged articles make a good starting point.
You might also enjoy:
Strange & Unexplained Phenomena (Jerome Clarke and Nancy Pear, Nonfiction - Cryptids, UFOs, and other odd experiences and encounters)
Cryptozoology A - Z (Loren Coleman & Jerome Clarke, Nonfiction - Mysterious animals past and present)
Monsters: An Investigator's Guide to Magical Beings (John Michael Greer, Nonfiction - An alternative approach to unexplainable phenomena)
A Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings (John Keel, Nonfiction - Many unexplained mysteries discussed)
Mysteries of the Unexplained and Reader's Digest Facts and Fallacies (Reader's Digest, Nonfiction - Unsolved mysteries, historical peculiarities, frauds and puzzlers from the ages)
The World's Most Incredible Stories: The Best of the Fortean Times (Adam Sisman, editor, Nonfiction - Articles from the long-running periodical about the unusual and unexplained)
Mysterious Places (Jennifer Westwood, editor, Nonfiction - Historic and prehistoric places that defy explanation)
Unsolved Mysteries: Past and Present
Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson
Contemporary Books
Nonfiction, Paranormal/Unsolved
*****
UNSOLVED MYSTERIES: PAST AND PRESENT
DESCRIPTION: From the disappearance of Glenn Miller to spirit possessions, from maps which suggest that civilization is far older than we think to sea monsters, a variety of unusual subjects are covered by these authors.
REVIEW: This is a thought-provoking collection, from the viewpoint of educated acceptance (or at least open-mindedness, in a few cases.) The Wilsons manage to present their ideas without going over the edge, like so many researchers of the unexplained. As one who considers hard-core skepticism to be just as ridiculous as hard-core belief, it's nice to have some sane company. I've read a few books, and seen some segments on TV, that almost make me ashamed to have an open mind on some of these same subjects. Apparently, Colin Wilson has other books out, which I have yet to locate. Considering the apparent dearth of worthwhile books on these subjects, this volume is a welcome addition to my less-than-complete library on the unexplained.
You might also enjoy:
Strange & Unexplained Phenomena (Jerome Clarke and Nancy Pear, Nonfiction - Cryptids, UFOs, and other odd experiences and encounters)
Cryptozoology A - Z (Loren Coleman & Jerome Clarke, Nonfiction - Mysterious animals past and present)
Monsters: An Investigator's Guide to Magical Beings (John Michael Greer, Nonfiction - An alternative approach to unexplainable phenomena)
A Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings (John Keel, Nonfiction - Many unexplained mysteries discussed)
Mysteries of the Unexplained and Reader's Digest Facts and Fallacies (Reader's Digest, Nonfiction - Unsolved mysteries, historical peculiarities, frauds and puzzlers from the ages)
The World's Most Incredible Stories: The Best of the Fortean Times (Adam Sisman, editor, Nonfiction - Articles from the long-running periodical about the unusual and unexplained)
Mysterious Places (Jennifer Westwood, editor, Nonfiction - Historic and prehistoric places that defy explanation)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
100 Cupboards
(The 100 Cupboards trilogy, Book 1)
N. D. Wilson
Yearling
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Henry York lived a sheltered, smothered life in Boston under the eyes of his parents - or, more often, his nanny. Their overprotectiveness seems ironic, as they make their living traveling all over the world... which is how they found themselves kidnapped in Columbia, and why Henry is on his way to Aunt Dotty and Uncle Frank's farm in rural Kansas. Their three girls - nosy young Anastasia, bossy Penelope, and bold Henrietta - take for granted the sort of liberties Henry never knew existed. First, Henry's afraid, then he's excited. A town so small that seat belts are optional... an eccentric uncle who buys him his first pocket knife... playing his first-ever game of baseball... it's almost an adventure. When Henry finds mysterious little cupboard-sized doors behind the plaster of his new attic room, doors that lead to strange places far beyond Kansas, he learns that not all adventures are child's play - especially adventures where magic is involved.
REVIEW: This story starts fast, introducing eccentric characters who are rarely as flat or dense as they might seem at first blush. A farmhouse in a postage
stamp of a Kansas town may seem an unlikely setting for a world-hopping magical adventure, but it serves as an excellent, if unexpected, locale. Henry and Henrietta,
his chief sidekick, only scratch the surface of the cupboards' many worlds, but the little they see only made me more eager to explore further. If anything, the story
started moving too fast towards the end, building up the steam that will catapult it through to the second book... and which, despite the very sorry state of my
finances, I expect I'll have to obtain sooner rather than later. A fun story that reads fast, and if the ending leaves things a bit up in the air, well, I knew it was
a multipart series when I bought it.
And I have to give N. D. Wilson credit; despite the concept and the setting, he keeps the Wizard of Oz references to a very, very marginal minimum, and nobody
ever says "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."
You might also enjoy:
Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are transported to a world where elder-day gods still exist)
The Ancient One (T. A. Barron, YA Fiction - An ancient redwood transports a girl into the past)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - A boy who finds a faerie prince in his garden travels to other worlds)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys a magic kingdom from a catalog)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - Mysteriously transported from a subway to a magic world, a librarian is befriended by a dragon)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer ends up in a world of wizards and magic)
The Dragon and the George (George R. Dickson, Fiction - A man is transported to an alternate medieval era, into the body of a dragon)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - A boy discovers a hidden world just beneath the skin of everyday London)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Fuke, YA Fiction - The ability to read people out of and into books creates trouble for a bookbinder and his daughter)
The Chrestomanci books and The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - Magicians regularly travel between various worlds and times)
The Book of Story Beginnings (Kristin Kladstrup, YA Fiction - Writing in a special notebook makes stories come to life)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy discovers a strange knife, which allows him access to another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world travel to magical Narnia, ruled by the Lion Aslan)
The Pendragon series (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy finds himself travelling other dimensions to fight an evil, corruptive force)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend travel to the "abcity" mirror of London)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three English men, destined to be famed authors, travel to the magical Archipelago of Dreams, inspiration for myth and story since prehistory)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A modern boy's survival skills get the ultimate test when he finds himself suddenly in a strange and alien world)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - A mysterious artifact pulls two teens into a lost world of ancient cultures, living dinosaurs, and dark magic)
The Castle in the Attic (Elizabeth Winthrop, YA Fiction - A boy magically travels into an old toy castle)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Dandelion Fire
(The 100 Cupboards trilogy, Book 2)
N. D. Wilson
Yearling
Fiction, YA Fantasy
****
DESCRIPTION: In the short time he's lived with his aunt and uncle in rural Kansas, Henry York has changed in more ways than he could possibly have imagined, and learned secrets that perhaps should have been left unlearned. Thanks to the magical cupboards in his attic room and his late grandfather's diaries, Henry and his cousin Henrietta have walked on other worlds... and unwittingly released the undead witch Nimiane from her exile in Endor. He also discovered that he is not who he always thought he was. Like his uncle Frank before him, Henry was born in another place - but, with his parents (or the people he always called his parents) home from South America, he's due to be shipped back to Boston, where he'll be smothered by nannies and boarding schools again. He can't go back to being the sheltered boy he used to be, and he can't let go of the lure of the cupboards and the mystery of his origins, but his decision to search for his home world may lead to dire consequences. For Nimiane's power is returning, and she remembers well who bound her in the tomb of Endor... just as she recognizes that man's son, and the untapped power waiting to be awakened in him.
REVIEW: Just like the first book, Dandelion Fire moves fast and builds to a breakneck climax. Henry's powers, wakened by the titular weed, add a new dimension to his character, especially since magic in Wilson's universe doesn't come as easily as it does to some young mages. Its waking can be lethal, and learning to use it is a painful, slow process, known to drive some would-be mages mad. A few characters don't seem to have purposes yet, most notably the boy Richard (who followed Henry home from one of his first cupboard explorations, and has been little more than a tagalong since), but there's one more book to go, so maybe they'll come into their own then. (I'm also starting to wonder if Wilson should invest in a good book of names; Henry and Henrietta aren't the only recycled character names, so unless there's some plot relevence - alternate-world versions of the same soul or some such thing - I'd advise him to think outside the box the next time he needs to christen a character.) I don't know if I'll be able to wait for the paperback edition to find out how the story ends.
You might also enjoy:
Everworld series (K. A. Applegate, YA Fiction - Four Chicago teens are transported to a world where elder-day gods still exist)
The Ancient One (T. A. Barron, YA Fiction - An ancient redwood transports a girl into the past)
Faerie Wars (Herbie Brennan, YA Fiction - A boy who finds a faerie prince in his garden travels to other worlds)
Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold! (Terry Brooks, Fiction - A burned-out lawyer buys a magic kingdom from a catalog)
Dragon Companion (Don Callander, Fiction - Mysteriously transported from a subway to a magic world, a librarian is befriended by a dragon)
The Wiz Biz books (Rich Cook, Fiction - A Silicon Valley programmer ends up in a world of wizards and magic)
The Dragon and the George (George R. Dickson, Fiction - A man is transported to an alternate medieval era, into the body of a dragon)
The Stoneheart trilogy (Charlie Fletcher, YA Fiction - A boy discovers a hidden world just beneath the skin of everyday London)
The Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Fuke, YA Fiction - The ability to read people out of and into books creates trouble for a bookbinder and his daughter)
The Chrestomanci books and The Merlin Conspiracy (Diana Wynne Jones, YA Fiction - Magicians regularly travel between various worlds and times)
The Book of Story Beginnings (Kristin Kladstrup, YA Fiction - Writing in a special notebook makes stories come to life)
Beyond the Open Door (Andrew Lansdown, YA Fiction - A boy discovers a strange knife, which allows him access to another world)
The Chronicles of Narnia (C. S. Lewis, YA Fiction - Children from our world travel to magical Narnia, ruled by the Lion Aslan)
The Pendragon series (D. J. MacHale, YA Fiction - A boy finds himself travelling other dimensions to fight an evil, corruptive force)
Un Lun Dun (China Miéville, YA Fiction - A girl and her best friend travel to the "abcity" mirror of London)
The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica (James A. Owen, YA Fiction - Three English men, destined to be famed authors, travel to the magical Archipelago of Dreams, inspiration for myth and story since prehistory)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A modern boy's survival skills get the ultimate test when he finds himself suddenly in a strange and alien world)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - A mysterious artifact pulls two teens into a lost world of ancient cultures, living dinosaurs, and dark magic)
The Castle in the Attic (Elizabeth Winthrop, YA Fiction - A boy magically travels into an old toy castle)
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Leepike Ridge
N. D. Wilson
Yearling
Fiction, YA Adventure
***+
DESCRIPTION: Fourteen-year-old Thomas Hammond lives on the outskirts of town with his mother, in an old house chained to the top of a giant boulder. He has never thought to question it, never thought to wonder about the occasional rumor of tunnels through the nearby mountains and treasure hunters disappearing; he's more concerned with the willows and the frogs in the creek... and, more recently, with the unsavory man courting his widowed mom. One night, too full of anger to sleep, he slips out of the house and drifts on a piece of packing foam in the water to clear his head - and finds himself grabbed by the current and pulled into a mysterious cavern next to a dead body. Thus begins Tom's adventure under the mountain, an adventure that careens from raw survival through impossible discoveries and the unearthing of long-buried secrets. Meanwhile, above ground, Tom's mother Elizabeth begins her own journey, beginning with her conviction that her son is still alive in the face of all evidence and leading down paths nearly as deadly as those faced by Tom.
REVIEW: I read and enjoyed the first two books of Wilson's 100 Cupboards trilogy (reviewed above), so I thought I'd try this, his first young adult book. I wasn't as impressed as I'd hoped to be. Tom's adventures strain credibility more than once, and I couldn't help thinking that part of the story had been trimmed in the speed and neatness of its wrap-up. The premise that ancient civilizations might have made their mark on North America long before Columbus sailed in 1492 isn't as radical as the characters seem to think, though the level of conspiracy involved and cover-ups executed by one small town's treasure-hunting society pushes the very limits of one's suspension of disbelief. Wilson has some nicely descriptive prose, however, and presents several neat scenes for the mind's eye to contemplate. I didn't hate it, but I definitely preferred the 100 Cupboards trilogy (what I've read of it, at least.)
You might also enjoy:
The Alexander Cold books (Isabel Allende, YA Fiction - An American teen finds danger and mysteries in the world's far corners)
Cat-a-Lyst (Alan Dean Foster, Fiction - An actor and his cat, on vacation in South America, discover a hidden artifact leading to a world of modern-day Incas)
The Dinotopia series (James Gurney, YA Fiction - The illustrated notebooks of a 19th-century adventurer and his son who find themselves shipwrecked on the shores of a lost world, where humans and dinosaurs peacefully coexist)
The Watchers series (Peter Lerangis, YA Fiction - Six stories of ordinary kids who find themselves in extraordinary situations)
The Brian Robeson series (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A city boy, lost in the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash, must learn survival skills from scratch)
Guts (Gary Paulsen, YA Nonfiction - The author of "Hatchet" and the other Brian Robeson books discusses the true-life inspirations for his fictional boy hero's survival tales)
The Transall Saga (Gary Paulsen, YA Fiction - A modern boy finds himself suddenly transported to a hostile alien wilderness)
Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow (James Rollins, YA Fiction - A mysterious artifact pulls two teens into a lost world)
A Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne, Fiction - An artifact leads a geology professor and his young assistant through the heart of an extinct volcano and into a hidden world beneath the Earth's crust
Return to Top of Page - Return to Book Review List
Return to Brightdreamer Books Home
Brightdreamer Books is created and maintained by TBW, a.k.a. "Brightdreamer."
E-mail: tbweber AT comcast DOT net. (Remove spaces, replace AT with "@" and DOT with "." - please put "Brightdreamer Books" in the subject line, or your e-mail may be deleted as
spam! Thank you!