'A Hole in the Ice' provides adventure across foreign lands
McCallum J. Morgan’s “A Hole in the Ice” is a pleasant mix of adventure and fantasy with just a hint of steampunk. The globe trotting tale that goes from England to Russia at a time where airplanes are unknown features new inventions, tales of mermaids and a group called the Weather Casters. Powerful forces align to find and fight for The Compass, putting a boy in the middle of a battle that will lead to bloodshed and worse.
Morgan builds a world in the style of Jules Verne’s “Around the World in 80 Days” and just a touch of Philip Pullman’s “His Dark Materials.” When Parsifal discovers The Compass during his uncle’s dinner party, he resolves to give it back to the man who lost it -- easier said than done. The Compass has its own will and its own mysteries that he must solve while he is unexpectedly swept up in the plans of his uncle and his uncle’s new paramour. Not all is at it seems, and nothing less than the fate of the world is at stake as Parsifal allows the compass to take him away. A fitting first novel in the Weathercasters’ Saga, “A Hole in the Ice” is worth the journey. |
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