Official Review: The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper

[Mary WhiteFace]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper" by Chris McTrustry.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper by Chris McTrustry is set in Purley, England, in the year 1346. It is an exciting and humorous tale of a young boy who leaves home to begin training for his destiny, as a Monk at the Otford Abbey.

The night before Edward sets out, a mysterious stranger appears in the moonlit yard. He reveals himself to be a wizard named Dragonheath. He is there to deliver a message to Edward's father, William.

His son, being the seventh son of a seventh son, is destined to become an extraordinary, powerful wizard in his thirteenth summer.

The wizard glances up to see Edward at the window, as William argues with Dragonheath that his son, Marlin, is too simpleminded for such a destiny.

Once again turning his gaze upon Edward, he tells William that he will return for his seventh son "when the magic within him begins to ripen."

"The Choice has been made." With a flash of lightning, Dragonheath disappears.

The next day, Edward leaves home, marveling at how fate chose two sons of a small town barrel-maker to have such different destinies. One son to be a monk, the other to be a wizard. Looking forward to his quiet future, he wasn't prepared for the excitement waiting just up the road.

I truly enjoyed following Edward as he traveled to meet his destiny. Along the way he learned about loyalty, as well as betrayal. He found strength within himself that he never realized was there.

I found it interesting that Edward and his brother, Marlin, were so young. The story related that Marlin was three years away from becoming thirteen, making him ten. Edward was two years from thirteen, making him eleven. Was it really common in 1346 for boys to decide their life destiny at such a young age? Did they actually leave home at ten to begin living life as a young adult?

The characters were colorful, and had well rounded personalities. It was easy to imagine them as real people. The personalities were so well established, that I was taken by surprise when one of them did a complete turnaround, and turned out to be the opposite of what I thought he was. There was a different character that I was very suspicious of right from the start, who also surprised me by turning out to be one of his most loyal supporters.

The magical battles were described in such detail, without being gross, that I caught my breath a couple of times. The author did a nice job of changing the pace of the narrative to suit the scene. The chase scenes, and battle scenes, had me reading quickly. Then suddenly, the scenario would change to a slower pace. I would release the breath that I didn't realize I was holding, and my reading speed would slow down as well.

As much as I enjoyed the story, I will have to give the book a 3 out of 4 star rating. There were multiple missing and misplaced commas, missing words, doubled words, and a couple of paragraphs that were duplicated. In addition, the paragraph indentation was very inconsistent. The beginning of the book started out with uniform indentations, but by the fourth chapter, the indentation length was so varied, as well as non-existent in some places, that it became a slight distraction.

I believe that once a round of editing is done, this could easily be a four star book. I recommend this book to adults, and young teen readers alike, who enjoy coming-of-age tales filled with learning about loyalty, forgiveness, finding inner strength, adventure, and magic, lots and lots of magic. It was a fun read.

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The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper
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[AmySmiles]

Books involving magic don't interest me. I've never even been tempted to read Harry Potter. I enjoyed your review and am glad you enjoyed the book other than the problems with grammar. Thanks for the review.

[melissy370]

The cover is so unassuming that I would have never guessed that such an entertaining story was inside. It is a shame on the errors, but this sounds like a fun read. Thank you for your detailed review.

[Bianka Walter]

This story sounds like it has it all. Including the errors. I hope the author heeds your advice and sends it through another round of editing.
Great review!

[Mary WhiteFace]

Books involving magic don't interest me. I've never even been tempted to read Harry Potter. I enjoyed your review and am glad you enjoyed the book other than the problems with grammar. Thanks for the review.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. For me, I find it fascinating when an author can do a good job of creating a scenario where magic is feasible. It opens up the realm of possibility. There are so many things in our daily lives that we take for granted that our ancestors would have called magic. Video chatting is one.

I truly did enjoy the story. I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

[Mary WhiteFace]

The cover is so unassuming that I would have never guessed that such an entertaining story was inside. It is a shame on the errors, but this sounds like a fun read. Thank you for your detailed review.

It really was a fun read. It would be nice if they revamped the cover along with a round of editing. It would probably draw a larger group of readers if the cover was more colorful and reflected the storyline better.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

[Mary WhiteFace]

This story sounds like it has it all. Including the errors. I hope the author heeds your advice and sends it through another round of editing.
Great review!

Thanks. I appreciate your comments.

[topdan30]

Thanks for the review. The reediting should be at high priority.

[Mary WhiteFace]

Thanks for the review. The reediting should be at high priority.

I agree, yet even so it was a fun read. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

[kfwilson6]

Back in "ye old days" kids got married and had their own children before 15, so why not 13 to determine you will be a monk or a wizard? Must start training early

Although I like teen fiction, this one sounds a little too "young teen" for me. Nice review. I love the "seventh son of the seventh son" stuff.

[Mary WhiteFace]

Back in "ye old days" kids got married and had their own children before 15, so why not 13 to determine you will be a monk or a wizard? Must start training early

Although I like teen fiction, this one sounds a little too "young teen" for me. Nice review. I love the "seventh son of the seventh son" stuff.

That is true. Children grew up a lot faster back-in-the-day.

The seventh son of the seventh son was kinda cool.

[Bigmama76]

I think it a good book I love magic and ferry tale it remind me of harry potter or Pete the dragon can wait for the book

[Mary WhiteFace]

I think it a good book I love magic and ferry tale it remind me of harry potter or Pete the dragon can wait for the book

If you love magic and fairy tales, then you should enjoy The Miraculous Destiny of Edward Cooper. I hope you check it out.

Thank you for your comments.