Review: Talisman of El
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 20, 2012
14 year old Charlie Blake is an orphan who has just been placed in a foster home with Jacob Willoughby.  Charlie finds out that Jacob is a jewel thief and robs homes of deceased people and Jacob is trying to make Charlie help him steal.  Charlie has one real friend at his new school named Alex and they meet a boy named Richmond that is a runaway living in a shack. The three of them discover a man named Derkein Odessa who Charlie has been having dreams about.  Derkein is in his mid-twenties but looks to be in his fifties as he is aging at a rapid rate and will soon die. As a group they set out to find the gateway to Arcadia so they can reach the Tree of Life and save Derkein.  What they discover in Arcadia is way more than they bargained for as Charlie will learn his true identity and that he has a mission to save mankind.I would classify this as young adult fantasy.  The first half of the book moved very slowly for me but the second half was much better.  I didn't really become attached to any of these characters and wasn't rooting for anyone in particular.  I feel like the premise was great and just could have been a little more developed with maybe some more fleshed out lead characters.  I'd have to say my favorites were the Arcadians themselves.  I did like the descriptiveness of the scenery closer to the end and I also liked the surprises at the end of the story.  The author definitely left room for a sequel without making the first book feel totally unfinished.I won this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers.  It was provided to me from the publisher, Centrinian Publishing, through NetGalley. It was provided in a format that has to be read on my computer which wasn't convenient for me so I ended up purchasing a copy of this from amazon when it went on sale in the kindle book store.