Review by KCWolf -- The Crystilleries of Echoland

[Karen Crumley]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Crystilleries of Echoland" by Dew Pellucid.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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I really enjoyed the audible edition of The Crystilleries of Echoland by Dew Pellucid. At times, I found myself smiling while listening to this marvelous story. The narration by B.J. Harrison really helped me to visualize the story in my mind as if I were watching a film. I rate it 4 out of 4 stars.

I believe that fantasy readers of all ages would enjoy this multifaceted tale; especially fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, and C.S. Lewis. It contains no profane language or graphic violence. Since this is a tale geared towards young readers, there are no erotic scenes.

To summarize this story, Will Cleary and his twin sister Emmy disappeared at the age of two. Will returns to his parents with the help of his two guardians, Damian and a De’a. But, Emmy remains missing. Ten years later, twelve-year-old Will returns to Echoland to free his sister and learns of his destiny—as well as his own personal link to the Prince of Echoland. Despite the ever-looming threat of the gruesome fate sealers, they must embark on a journey together to resolve the mystery of the King’s death.

What I liked most was the beautiful, descriptive passages of Echoland. Dew Pellucid’s world-building is on par with J.R.R. Tolkien. In addition to the excellent world-building, character development is fantastic and intriguing. I loved all the characters that Will encountered in Echoland. Each character seemed to be surrounded by mystery. The orphanage reminds me of Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. At first, I was thrown by the insertion of the author’s pen name for one of the characters, but then I began to understand Dew Pellucid’s vision and how that character fits into the world she created. I like the subtle touches of humor, for instance when the character Drinkwater is referred to as “Doctor Frankenstein.” I also liked the unique mythology and magic in the realm of Echoland.

What I disliked most was that it referred to spiders as insects, when they are actually arachnids. But maybe that’s just my own personal bugaboo (no pun intended).

As I listened to the audible edition of the story, I did not detect any grammatical errors in the narration. There was nothing that pulled me out of the story. In fact, it was intriguing from start to finish.

I recommend The Crystilleries of Echoland to fantasy readers of all ages, and I would love to read other books by this author.

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The Crystilleries of Echoland
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[Erin Painter Baker]

I also really enjoyed the audio version of this book. I thought Harrison did a really good job keeping the characters identifiable.

[writingShannon]

I reviewed this as well but had a difficult time following it. With all the glowing reviews, I am starting to think that it was just me! Maybe if I had listened to it, I would have fared a little better. This is a well-written review, bugaboo included!

[Mr Benj]

The Crystellies of Echoland has proved to be an interesting book.

Interestingly, it has been likened to the art of "watching a film." Although the book is in audio version, it has earned such an amazing 4 stars.

Thank you for this review.

[djr6090]

I reviewed this book too. And I found the print version had a serious plus in that the author teamed up with Andy Simmons, a digital artist of some renown, to portray some of the characters in the book. The illustrations gave it a really eerie tone.