Review: Lewis Carroll Meets Rudyard Kipling
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 20, 2013
`Switch' by Karen Prince is a fine example of how writers will often take their own familiar environment and transform it into a wonderland inhabited by beings of myth and imagination. Whether it's vampires in New York or London, ghosts in Glen Laragain, or here, as in this case, witches, shape shifters and magic pools in the jungle of Zimbabwe.What begins as a camping trip in the Zimbabwean jungle soon degenerates into a frantic search for a lost boy. While diving into a waterfall Joe suddenly vanishes, to be replaced by Gogo Maya, a dishevelled and apologetic witch.Gogo Maya has 'switched' with Joe whilst fleeing from her own land, leaving the unfortunate lad to materialise in Karibu, where his bad day is about to get a whole lot worse,His friends set off into the jungle intent on rescue. En route they meet shape shifting hyenas, a talking leopard, vampire insects, the Tokoloshe - little hairy jungle dwellers - and a whole host of other weird and wonderful beings.Under Karen's deft touch the unbelievable becomes believable. Talking cats, magic pools, vampire insects; all seem perfectly plausible. I enjoyed the clever use in the story of something as mundane and everyday as a tin of chocolates and toffees. I also enjoyed the way the main characters grew and developed as the tale unfolded. Ethan especially evolved from being a neurotic hypochondriac into a little jungle warrior.All in all 'Switch' is an enjoyable and fun read from a talented author.Now, where did I leave that bar of Cadbury's?