Bruce's Reads

Warning: this review contains spoilers.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Goldenwealth Light is a children’s story about two siblings who entered another world, soon setting out on a quest to help the kingdom they landed in. Theo is a type of preordained hero in charge of setting things right in the world, or at least to bring it into balance. His sister Marie comes along for the ride and develops some abilities of her own along the way.

The story brings numerous fantasy characters that I remember in The Neverending Story movies. In fact, it almost seems to copy characters, settings, and various events from those movies and plants them into this story. I found this troublesome, often wondering why there was so much stereotypical plot and characterization, and why so many elements from the other stories seemed to be used. But perhaps the younger generation who reads this won’t be bothered in the least. However, the Reflectia Woods section felt imaginative and original, like the author was taking on a new course.

The story’s strengths were in the relationships between the characters. Most of them seemed at least somewhat supportive of Theo. Others reacted to his lack of knowledge and skill in a realistic manner, given their preconceived expectations of him that were not realized.

The biggest problem I had with The Goldenwealth Light was its overuse of passive writing style. In an action adventure such as this, I felt the pace slogging. Tightening up the sentences and including action verbs would certainly help to move the story along.

Editing was good overall, though there were a few places where quote marks were missing.

This is a first of a series. By the end, Theo is alive—for now. He was beaten to a pulp, left for dead, apart from all help and resource. This gives the story a sense of mystery of what would happen to him. Will he survive and escape, or is he doomed to die?