An Interesting Read

The Hound of Rowan

Book One of The Tapestry
Henry Neff

Good news for all you Harry Potter fans lamenting the last of that series. Here is a book/series with a similar slant that promises to be exciting and fascinating. Max McDaniels visits an art museum frequented by his missing mother and discovers an ancient Celtic tapestry in a mysterious side room. The threads of the tapestry come alive and play a haunting song, releasing strange stirrings and powers within Max. But encountering the tapestry also puts Max on the radar screen for teachers and wizards from Rowan Academy, who wish him to become a student, and for kidnappers from ''the other side'' who want these ''Potentials'' for their own devious plans.

If you don't mind the obvious similarities to Harry Potter in this book (a school for magic/wizardry and a boy wanted by both the good and evil masters of sorcery), this is a great read. I liked Rowan Academy, set in a little township on the Atlantic seaboard, with its own set of quirks and eccentricities, different from Hogwarts. Max and his fellow students have really interesting classes and adventures, and the suspense and excitement of the story is strong enough to keep you engaged and guessing until the end. I couldn't put it down, and found myself wishing the second book was available, which is always a good recommendation for a new series. May this story find its own rightful place in the hall of good books and adventures!

I am a few books behind from our growing library - finishing "Prince Caspian" later today or tomorrow, finished "Once Upon a Time in the North" couple of nights ago. The above just arrived but 'someone else' has already started this one. Herbie Brennen, maybe?