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Journal Entry 1 by seethroughfaith from Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Monday, January 03, 2011
 (entry from my blog)
The Blue Umbrella is the intriguing name of the latest book I have been reading
And the plot was pretty intriguing too.
The book only arrived here late last week (some delay in the post I think) and as I’d promised to review it by October 13th I had to put my skates on.
It’s supposedly a book for children – but it’s definitely for very confident readers, as it’s 425 pages long, and there are no illustrations. I suspect adults will enjoy this book a lot as it’s in the genre of Harry Potter and Pullman’s Dark Materials trilogy, though probably not quite that calibre if I’m honest. At the back of the book Nelson has included a glossary of words. That’s pretty useful (though I’m not sure a younger reader will find it unless pointed there by an adult). I only stumbled on it by chance.
It’s clear the author, Mike Mason, has been influenced by e.g. CS Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia) and writers of his ilk -there’s a wardrobe in this book too and there are also similarities to Harry Potter too, in as far as this too is a book where the central character is a young boy caught up in a fight between good and evil, and his protagonist is an evil magician who is intent on stealing the ultimate treasure. But the book has a lot of twists and turns of its own and is definitely no copycat work of fiction.
Mike Mason is already a best-selling author, but this is his first novel. In some ways I felt that that showed. 425 pages was a bit too long and IMHO the book would have benefitted from better and a bit more ruthless editing. I was also a bit uncomfortable that Mason gave so much attention to the beatings in the book. They were a crucial part of the story, and to gloss over them would have been equally wrong, but I did feel the balance was a bit off.
At the end of the book there’s a short question answer section. There, when asked whether this book is an allegory, Nelson says
For years I’d written nonfiction books with a message, and I was tired of that. I had nothing more to tell anyone; instead I just wanted to tell a good story. I had just turned fifty and realised that fiction is what I’d really wanted to write all along.
Somehow I’d gotten away from that, and it was time to return to my original dream.
So with The Blue Umbrella I set out with no message in mind, no allegory, just a story. As I went along, I myself was very surprised at the spiritual depth that developed.
mmm. While the duel between good and evil is there I can’t say the spiritual depth was very obvious, at least to me.
Nelson has already planned books two and three of the series. The Blue Umbrella, the first, was written from the point of view of Zac, the second will be from Ches’ viewpoint and the third from Chelsea’s. She was definitely my favourite character in this book, so I think that it will be very interesting to see how the series develops.
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Journal Entry 2 by seethroughfaith at Turku, Varsinais-Suomi Finland on Monday, January 03, 2011
Finally getting around to registering this book - my seventh this year - 2011, when Turku is the European Capital of Culture.
This is joining my PC for now, as I'd like to read the sequel - but it IS available for loan to reliable bookcrossers
PS
I re-read my review when registering and then noticed that Luci Shaw quoted Madeleine L'Engle saying
"As L'Engle herself insisted, this kind of fiction is not just for children. It's for people. People like you!"
I like that. And can only think that authors Rowling, Lewis and perhaps even Tolkein would only agree :)
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The Blue Umbrella
