Sam Llewellyn (1) (1948–)

The Worst Journey in the Midlands: One man, His Boat and the Weather, by Sam Llewellyn (pp 224). This book is a delightful waterborne solo romp from Wales to London aboard a barely seaworthy (canal worthy?) row boat that the author inexplicably salvaged expressly for this trip. The humorous description of his journey is quite humorous, and no less so because I have no knowledge of lock-infested canal travel, row boat etiquette, much of his English vocabulary, canal-side customs, small village mores, Wales and English geography, local history, and so much more. The book was fun to read, and possibly would have more so if I’d drunk either the beer or hard spirits the author purportedly downed along the way. This is a very fun travelogue of an unconventional sort.… (meer)

The land of Lyonesse is sinking. The poisonous water beneath is rising up through the wells, bringing monsters up with it. As a result of *not* drowning after accidentally falling from a great height into the sea, twelve-year-old Idris of Westgate is condemned to death by the Town Captain, accused of being a "Cross" -- part human, part monster. Thrown into a watery cavern and left for dead, Idris is rescued just in the nick of time and whisked covertly away by a mysterious stranger into an unknown future.

This is a fresh, quirky twist on Arthurian legend, recommended for middle-school-aged readers who may wish to try some light fantasy. I would have liked to learn more about the nature of the world within the wells, its beastly inhabitants and their perception of this "upper" world where humans reside. Perhaps this will be explored more deeply in the second book.… (meer)