Although the spells involved are different, Sybil's predicament in The Book Without Words reminds me of that of Stephen, the orphan taken in by his cousin, Mr. Abney. Like Mr. Abney, the wizard Thorston who took in the orphaned Sybil has a sinister plan in mind for his young charge. Sybil and the wizard's talking crow, Odo need someone with green eyes to be able to read the Book Without Words.

Two boys turn up. One is Damian Perbeck, apprentice to local apothecary Mistress Weebly. He's a jerk. The other is brought by the Reeve [local magistrate]. Alfric is a timid orphan whom the Reeve bought for two pennies. Unlike Sybil, the boys can read.

Sybil learns more about the book from an elderly monk, Brother Wilfrid. Her elderly wizard stole the book from said monk when he was thirteen years old. The monk also tells her what will happen to her and Odo should Thorston succeed in swallowing all four of the magic stones he made. Good thing Thorston can swallow only one a day. The author makes Thorston's motive understandable, but I don't pity him.

The children are in a life-or-death situation. The Reeve plans to hang them if he doesn't get the secret of making gold. Well, he also plans to hang Thorston, but the wizard isn't worried about the threat.

The book is claustrophobic. The action mostly takes place inside Thorston's old stone house or its courtyard. John Curless' narration is effective, making me want to shout at Sybil and the boys while they're trying to figure out what to do to escape. It is set in Anglo-Saxon England, twenty years before the Norman Conquest. The village where it takes place, Fulworth, is a real village in Northumberland, about 20 miles south of York. The climax had me in considerable suspense, but the ending was quite satisfying. ( )

I love this man's works. I am glad he is still writing. ( )

An interesting tale for children about a book of magic that only certain people with green eyes can read the words.
A story about greed and selfishness.
You get out of life what you put into it. ( )

It rather seemed like half the story was missing. None of the characters were that interesting, nothing much happened, and the end kind of fizzled. It was my first try for a book by this author, but I'm not sure I'm going to try any others given this let down. ( )

This was certainly an easy book to read, but I admit, it wasn't all that quick for me. I was not drawn into the story; I didn't much care for the main character of Sybil. I didn't feel any compassion toward her or her plight, and therefore, I was not pushed to turn pages as I often am in children's novels. There was very little heart in this story. ( )