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James Clyde and the Tomb of Salvation by Colm McElwain


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41588391-james-clyde-and-the-tomb-of-salvation

Even better than the first novel and ties up all the questions and loose ends nicely.

I had the privilege of reviewing the first book in this series a few years ago and was excited to find out that a sequel was finally coming out. This book starts off right where the last book left off, with the Abigail in possession of the three Diamonds of Orchestra and James alive and more confident in his abilities. Without giving too much of the novel away, James and Queen Abigail are in a race to the Tomb of Salvation, Abigail (along with Gilbert and Imorex) in search of immortality and the final power to rule all of Orchestra and James to stop her. James is joined by his friends Ben and Mary, along with Simon, Kila, Belle (James' mom), and the rest of the knights of Zara. We are greeted with two new characters, who join James on his journey, Professor Shaw and his daughter, Ella (James' potential love interest). They will not only face their rivals, but also face many other dangers along the way until the ultimate stand off towards the end. Who will win? Well read it yourself as I am not going to spoil it, but I think you will be in for a surprise.

I liked this book because it is a mix of fantasy and just a little bit of romance, which of course are my two favorite genres. The plot is quick and doesn't give you a moment of piece as you want to know what happens next. I can tell that the author has grown a lot since he published the first book as he was able to answer a lot of the questions that still hung in the air at the end of the first book. The characters have matured so much since the first book and we get to see a lot of growth in Abigail, Queen of Darken, this time around. He also provides a backstory to explain why Abigail was in Orchestra and how she came to be the despised Queen that she was. I am a huge fan of character growth so this made the story all the more enjoyable for me as the reader. You also get to know James' mother a bit better now that she is no longer a prisoner, and watch James learn what it is like to no longer be an orphan. And who knows ... if the sparks between Belle and Kila continue, James just might end up with a dad sometime in the future, which would be great considering just how much James looks up to him. Either way so many more angles to this story as compared to the first story, so great job on improving an already intriguing plot line. I also liked this story as it includes a character with an impairment, but that character's small action has a huge impact on the story.

As a teacher, I like this book because I believe that the students would enjoy it. Though written for a middle school age group, I can see the benefits to teaching the story to high schoolers as well. For example, the character growth I mentioned before is a great example when teaching characterization as the students can follow Abigail and James, look into their motivations, and infer why the two characters change. Another application for teaching could be the teaching of allusions such as the reference to the lochness monster at one point of the story, or the mirror ... that reminds me very much of the Mirror of Erised in Harry Potter (another great series). There are also so many creative projects you could do based of this book, like an essay on what power you would wish for if you held a diamond of Orchestra in your hand. Then there are teaching skills like making choices using a pros and cons chart such as would you want immortality or which side would you be on.

Either way, I don't want to say too much more as it is a relatively new book and I don't want to spoil it. However, I will say this, if you haven't read his first book, James Clyde and the Diamonds of Orchestra, then I recommend you read it soon as this sequel is even better. Enjoy!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2595593611

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