Customer Reviews

The Cabinet of Curiosities

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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This is a historical adventure story based in the city of Prague during turbulent times where the terrors of the Inquisition were rife, and people jostled for favour at court, playing deadly games to keep in favour and not risk their necks in the torture chamber. The historical aspect of the book is well handled. The author brings the city of Prague to life vividly, and builds a beautifully tense atmosphere throughout the book. I found it slightly disappointing as far as the main character Lukas was concerned. His initial journey to the city, which he makes with a young, quick witted friend he meets under terrible circumstances kind of promise a lot for their relationship which really just tails off as soon as he gets to Prague. There was much more scope to develop the friendship and give Lukas more of a rounded character which the author didn't really do. The book felt like it might be the first in a series, although the adventure is a stand alone. I hope he does write more, because it felt at times like this book was a kind of warm up for the main event to come.

I wasn't sure if this book would be my kind of thing but it totally was and not for the reasons I would have expected.

This book follows the story of Lukas an orphaned boy who has moved to Prague to apprentice with his Uncle, the Emperor's physician. To start with I have to admit I was not gripped by the story. It starts following him as he makes his way to visit his uncle and I started to lose interest.

Once he met his Uncle however I was hooked. I teach the history of Medicin...moreI wasn't sure if this book would be my kind of thing but it totally was and not for the reasons I would have expected.

This book follows the story of Lukas an orphaned boy who has moved to Prague to apprentice with his Uncle, the Emperor's physician. To start with I have to admit I was not gripped by the story. It starts following him as he makes his way to visit his uncle and I started to lose interest.

Once he met his Uncle however I was hooked. I teach the history of Medicine and I have never read a YA book which looks at medical practices from the past. I loved seeing how Lukas's Uncle used the medicine of the day to treat the Emperor. It really brought home the fact that despite the great discoveries and break throughs in medicine that were going on during the Renaissance, not a lot actually changed day to day in the practice of medicine. People were still treated using high supersitious and flawed methods dating back to Ancint times. This is the main reason why I will be recommending this book in the future to people as I found this side of it fascinating.

Once I got this far into the book I started to find it a lot more engaging and the pace of it picked up. By the end of it, it began unputdownable and I had to know how tings were going to turn out and it started to throw up all kinds of twists and turns.

All in all definitely one to stick with. A nice little book with a nice sense of historical period and an engaging storyline.

Historical fiction is a tough gig for a young adult writer and an even tougher one to get right. After all you have to get a lot of detail right and back it up with enough of a plotline to get away without major info dumps to the reader. What Paul Dowswell does extremely well in this book is hook the reader in the first few pages and manages to bring a familiarity alongside a principle hero to the fore that the reader cannot help but like and enjoy his exploits as the world (as well as timeline) in which he lives is explored with eyes of wonderment.

It is was written, the characters crisp and above all else it's a tale that will only hook more readers in with its friendly writing style, great prose and a wonderful almost magical style that allows some authorly slight of hand that the reader won't believe they've missed by the titles conclusion. A great read and a book that will definitely have me seeking out more by this author.

I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. It's an exciting thriller based in the magical city of Prague. It evokes this period in history very vividly. Hard to put down until you've finished it.