3 out of 4 stars
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The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper by Chris McTrustry is set in Purley, England, in the year 1346. It is an exciting and humorous tale of a young boy who leaves home to begin training for his destiny, as a Monk at the Otford Abbey.
The night before Edward sets out, a mysterious stranger appears in the moonlit yard. He reveals himself to be a wizard named Dragonheath. He is there to deliver a message to Edward's father, William.
His son, being the seventh son of a seventh son, is destined to become an extraordinary, powerful wizard in his thirteenth summer.
The wizard glances up to see Edward at the window, as William argues with Dragonheath that his son, Marlin, is too simpleminded for such a destiny.
Once again turning his gaze upon Edward, he tells William that he will return for his seventh son "when the magic within him begins to ripen."
"The Choice has been made." With a flash of lightning, Dragonheath disappears.
The next day, Edward leaves home, marveling at how fate chose two sons of a small town barrel-maker to have such different destinies. One son to be a monk, the other to be a wizard. Looking forward to his quiet future, he wasn't prepared for the excitement waiting just up the road.
I truly enjoyed following Edward as he traveled to meet his destiny. Along the way he learned about loyalty, as well as betrayal. He found strength within himself that he never realized was there.
I found it interesting that Edward and his brother, Marlin, were so young. The story related that Marlin was three years away from becoming thirteen, making him ten. Edward was two years from thirteen, making him eleven. Was it really common in 1346 for boys to decide their life destiny at such a young age? Did they actually leave home at ten to begin living life as a young adult?
The characters were colorful, and had well rounded personalities. It was easy to imagine them as real people. The personalities were so well established, that I was taken by surprise when one of them did a complete turnaround, and turned out to be the opposite of what I thought he was. There was a different character that I was very suspicious of right from the start, who also surprised me by turning out to be one of his most loyal supporters.
The magical battles were described in such detail, without being gross, that I caught my breath a couple of times. The author did a nice job of changing the pace of the narrative to suit the scene. The chase scenes, and battle scenes, had me reading quickly. Then suddenly, the scenario would change to a slower pace. I would release the breath that I didn't realize I was holding, and my reading speed would slow down as well.
As much as I enjoyed the story, I will have to give the book a 3 out of 4 star rating. There were multiple missing and misplaced commas, missing words, doubled words, and a couple of paragraphs that were duplicated. In addition, the paragraph indentation was very inconsistent. The beginning of the book started out with uniform indentations, but by the fourth chapter, the indentation length was so varied, as well as non-existent in some places, that it became a slight distraction.
I believe that once a round of editing is done, this could easily be a four star book. I recommend this book to adults, and young teen readers alike, who enjoy coming-of-age tales filled with learning about loyalty, forgiveness, finding inner strength, adventure, and magic, lots and lots of magic. It was a fun read.
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The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper
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