Magnus and The Jewelled Book of the Universe

Title: Magnus and the Jewelled Book of the Universe
Author: S.L Browne
Genre: Children's, Adventure, Fantasy
Source: Ebook - Netgalley
Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Magnus is a young boy who discovers he is actually from a tribe of Aliens known as Guardians of the Universe.  His mentor Marlo fears an evil wizard named Murdamond will try to destroy their planet after he has destroyed Earth.  Magnus discovers the evil wizard kidnapped his parents and is holding them hostage.  Now Magnus needs to not only save his parents, but also his planet and the whole universe from this evil man.    He utilizes all his power, his friendships with humans and dinosaurs as well as the Jewelled Book of the Universe (which decided it wanted to be a girl to make things interesting).  Will he be able to discover everything he needs to in time to save the world as he knows it?

Netgalley is one of my favorite places to find new books and new authors.  S.L. Browne is a new children's author and makes a name for herself with her debut novel.   While the title may be a mouth-full the story itself was very enjoyable to read and exciting for young readers.  The writing is simplistic, but again this is meant for children not adults.  It was very creative and descriptive that a child would love with characters a child would love as well. There isn't much depth to the characters or the story, but then again I am an adult reading from an adult POV.  It is a story of a young boy who discovers things about himself that he never knew, and comes to terms with those things as well as tries to save his parents. 


Brownes novel takes a look at some very adult themes such as greed and global awareness, and puts into a child-like perspective which is very well done and this book is a good way to introduce those things to young readers.  It doesn't seem like a lot happens in the story, but this is a part of series so it's common for the first book to sort of build things up for the next one, and to a child there may have been a lot of things happening.


As I was reading I thought to myself, would this have been a book I would have enjoyed as a kid of 7-9 years old and the answer is yes.  Children don't need long extensive books that delve deep into the woes of the world.  They need on that is appealing, easy to read and on their level, and that is exactly what Browne accomplished with her book.  I hope to see more from her (him?).