Book Review: The Riddles of Epsilon (Christine Morton-Shaw)

August 1, 2010 by Josh 6 Comments

Essendon won 😀

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Book Review: The Riddles of Epsilon (Christine Morton-Shaw)

The Riddles of Epsilon

Inside an abandoned cottage on the remote island of Lume, Jess encounters an eerie ghost-like presence.  She also finds three locked boxes and, as she earns the right to unlock each, the contents send her mind spinning.

As Jess unravels the mysteries of her new home, she discovers the writings of Sebastian – a boy who lived over a century before and whose life contains unsettling parallels and reflections of her own.  Both their mothers are plagued with a madness which has sent them searching for a relic that holds the key to an ancient curse.

Throughout, Jess is guided by Epsilon – but is he a guide from the bright side or the dark?

Jess and her artist mother and photographer father have just moved out of civilisation to the remote island of Lume, much to Jess’s disgust.  So what if she got a nose ring and got up to trouble with Avril?  Moving to Lume was dreadful!

However, she discovers an abandoned cottage with a strange presence.  This strange man, Epsilon, appears to her in chat rooms, but Jess is the only one who can see him.  What does he want?

It turns out the strange…man has a huge plan for Jess and her mother, who is going insane.  Through confounding clues and diary entries she discovers from a boy called Sebastian who lived over 100 years ago, Jess is sucked into a massive adventure in which there is no escape.

I’m going to say to outright – I loved this book.  I finished it in just five days – I couldn’t put it down.  It has page-turning, suspenseful, exciting, it kept me guessing right till the end.  Christine has done an exceptional job of blending fantasy and mystery, with a touch of thriller into a wonderful book.

The characters are deep, the pages are full of action and this book kept me guessing right until the end.  The unique way in which this book is set out – partly diary entries written by Jessica and partly chat room print-outs – is very effective in telling the story.

I adored the characters, especially old Mrs Shilling and Epsilon himself.  The symbolism used with the Ourorborus and The One, as well as with eagles and swans representing the Bright and Dark Beings respectively was very smart and well thought out.

All in all I adored this book from start to finish.  It was utterly captivating with its unique and gripping plot and loveable characters.  My only criticism is that I would liked to have known what became of Dr Parker and Ely.

Rating: 5/5

~*_*~

Josh