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Mariah Mundi #1
A Caixa de Midas
O jovem Mariah Mundi termina seus estudos. Sem saber para onde ir, decide morar no hotel Prince Regent, construído na encosta de um penhasco. Trabalha ajudando o mágico Bizmillah nos shows apresentados aos hóspedes. Não demora muito tempo para que Mariah e sua amiga Sacha descubram que algo de muito macabro acontece ali, e tentam descobrir pistas que os levem a resolver enigmas e descobrir segredos. O hotel, acima do subsolo, oferece luxos de todo tipo, mas embaixo da terra, o sarcófago egípcio do mágico pode ser uma das chaves para que Mariah desvende o grande e decisivo enigma.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
38 people are currently reading
1205 people want to read
About the author
G.P. Taylor
80 books192 followers (born 1958 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire), pen-name G.P. Taylor, is the author of the best-selling novels Shadowmancer, Wormwood and Tersias. Before taking up writing full-time, he was an Anglican vicar in the village of Cloughton, North Yorkshire.
His works reflect his faith, carrying Christian messages like The Chronicles of Narnia of C.S. Lewis. He began to write his works to counter the increasing number of works, such as Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that he believed were encouraging children to investigate the occult. His works have also garnered some controversy however, because whilst Taylor has claimed to be "an authority on Wicca and paganism", his books have been considered offensive by some neopagans for describing them as being tricked by the Devil.
His works reflect his faith, carrying Christian messages like The Chronicles of Narnia of C.S. Lewis. He began to write his works to counter the increasing number of works, such as Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, that he believed were encouraging children to investigate the occult. His works have also garnered some controversy however, because whilst Taylor has claimed to be "an authority on Wicca and paganism", his books have been considered offensive by some neopagans for describing them as being tricked by the Devil.
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February 20, 2010I've suspended my reading of this book for the time-being, because I just can't get into the story. In fact, I can never get further than a chapter at most at any given time (and I normally devour books; I stopped reading this on a bus trip in favor of another story, which I finished within a day).
To be blunt, this book is boring. From the description, you'd think it sounded okay - at the point I've reached, there's been the finding of a key, a secret room, a mysteriously moving toy doll and a strange death - and yet it all seems to drag. Perhaps it's the prose, or the pacing, but there's just nothing to compel the story.
Another problem is the lack of well-defined characters. There are perhaps five characters of any note who have appeared so far (with a few minors here and there), and they all seem to be lacking in substance. The worst-suffering in this department are Mariah and Sacha, the two twelve-year-old leads; as the designated main protagonists, I would expect them to have more depth to them. There is never any motivation given for their actions, and they experience little to no emotion, which makes it very hard to connect to their journey. It's also grating that their actions seem so contradictory: for example, Mariah may be dutifully cleaning when Sacha pulls him away for an adventure, and he protests, and the next minute she is exclaiming they should return to their work to avoid trouble while he coaxes her on. It's as though the author didn't bother to decide which of them was courageous and which was meek and simply had them alternate performing the required action to drive the plot forward.
I'm having a hard time getting through what seems like it should be an easy read, so I'm not sure I'm going to finish this, although a stubborn part of me wants to try since I have never left a book unfinished before. However, Mariah Mundi may just defeat me.
To be blunt, this book is boring. From the description, you'd think it sounded okay - at the point I've reached, there's been the finding of a key, a secret room, a mysteriously moving toy doll and a strange death - and yet it all seems to drag. Perhaps it's the prose, or the pacing, but there's just nothing to compel the story.
Another problem is the lack of well-defined characters. There are perhaps five characters of any note who have appeared so far (with a few minors here and there), and they all seem to be lacking in substance. The worst-suffering in this department are Mariah and Sacha, the two twelve-year-old leads; as the designated main protagonists, I would expect them to have more depth to them. There is never any motivation given for their actions, and they experience little to no emotion, which makes it very hard to connect to their journey. It's also grating that their actions seem so contradictory: for example, Mariah may be dutifully cleaning when Sacha pulls him away for an adventure, and he protests, and the next minute she is exclaiming they should return to their work to avoid trouble while he coaxes her on. It's as though the author didn't bother to decide which of them was courageous and which was meek and simply had them alternate performing the required action to drive the plot forward.
I'm having a hard time getting through what seems like it should be an easy read, so I'm not sure I'm going to finish this, although a stubborn part of me wants to try since I have never left a book unfinished before. However, Mariah Mundi may just defeat me.
March 30, 2014
I picked this book up because of a movie that came out recently called The Adventurer: the curse of the Midas Box it claimed to be based on this book but like most movies it was completely unlike the book. Surprisingly it was still an enjoyable movie and reading the book has not changed my opinion of it.
This book was full of great atmosphere and contained many mythological elements. More elements than were necessary, but they did all come into play during the climax of the plot and tied in believably.
This book is one of those that you need to really keep at it in order to get into. The first half is really just a random series of odd occurrences, and the character of Mariah is just reacting to everything. But about halfway things start tying together and Mariah finally earns his places as a Protagonist (the one who makes things happen).
So if you're looking for an adventure and you have the time to spend on it, then Mariah Mundi has plenty to tempt your imagination with.
This book was full of great atmosphere and contained many mythological elements. More elements than were necessary, but they did all come into play during the climax of the plot and tied in believably.
This book is one of those that you need to really keep at it in order to get into. The first half is really just a random series of odd occurrences, and the character of Mariah is just reacting to everything. But about halfway things start tying together and Mariah finally earns his places as a Protagonist (the one who makes things happen).
So if you're looking for an adventure and you have the time to spend on it, then Mariah Mundi has plenty to tempt your imagination with.
June 11, 2008
I am reasonably certain this is the only children's book in the world meant for boys and written by a British author that I was just unable to get through. I kept wishing something would happen. Honestly, ten-year-olds probably have more patience than I do, so it's possible I just gave up right before the author pulled out all the freaking awesome stuff, but no. It just didn't do it for me.
August 8, 2017
Gave up about page 200. The plot is a mess, 200 pages in and it's still skipping between scenes in different places, about different things, with different characters. I'm not sure what the actual story is.
The main character has no personality, and though there seem to be some interesting villains they are getting very little page time.
My biggest disappointment is that I can't get a feel for the hotel. It should be an exciting, vibrant place full of character, but it feels a bit odd and random, with new rooms dropped in when the author needs them and then never revisited.
It's not holding my interest, and I keep picking up other books to read instead.
The main character has no personality, and though there seem to be some interesting villains they are getting very little page time.
My biggest disappointment is that I can't get a feel for the hotel. It should be an exciting, vibrant place full of character, but it feels a bit odd and random, with new rooms dropped in when the author needs them and then never revisited.
It's not holding my interest, and I keep picking up other books to read instead.
May 23, 2020
Enough twists to not quite know what's happening most of the time but still stay interested
April 13, 2022
I got 10 chapters (about 100 pages) into this (roughly 360 page) book before I realised it wasn't really worth my time. It's got an intriguing premise, but the writing was driving me up the wall and also the plot itself was poorly executed.
Firstly, the problems I had with the plot:
The story begins with Mariah (an orphan boy who is on his way to start work at the Regent Hotel) being approached on the train platform by a man who gives him a mysterious pack of cards and requests that Mariah keep them safe and hidden, and when Mariah reaches wherever he's headed, to send a note to the man telling the man where he is so the man can come and pick the cards up.
It's a very good opening.
But after that everything falls apart. Because... Mariah doesn't seem to have a goal? Like, he's headed to the Regent Hotel to work because... the orphanage sent him? And that's it? The most we find out about Mariah as a person in these 100 pages is that his parents disappeared while they were overseas. That's it. Like we don't know anything about him or his emotions or anything that makes us care about him. He just exists so the story has a main character.
When Mariah reaches the hotel he's greeted by a servant girl called Sacha, who tells him the servant boy who he has been sent to replace is missing (hence why Mariah is there in the first place). That, in itself, is intriguing, but then the book proceeds to move very fast through Mariah and Sacha discovering hidden things around the hotel.
Within the 100 pages I read, for some reason Mariah just starts sneaking around with Sacha (a girl he barely knows) (sneaking around that could literally get him fired). They start following this one dude who Mariah just "has a feeling" is up to something. And they discover a key (which Mariah for some reason just knows the missing servant boy touched??? idk if that's something that'll get explained by magic later on or not, but it's stupid as of now), a secret room, and a wax copy of the missing servant boy. Like that's a lot to discover in 100 pages. And I still don't know why Mariah is even doing any of this because his personality does not exist. Like... he doesn't seem to have any emotional motivation? He's just there. Like I guess he wants to help Sacha find the missing boy, but like it's not really clarified why beyond like vague statements like "he just felt like he had to." Like okay?? Thanks for giving the main character the personality of a grape.
Like there's no planned sneaking around. There's no planned "we're gonna investigate the disappearance of the servant boy" it all just happens because they were in the right place at the right time. it's very weird. And at this point Mariah hasn't been at the regent hotel more than a day??? So within less than a day he's discovered a key, found the secret room it goes to, found a wax figure of a missing person, overheard like two dodgy convos, seen Isambard black snooping around TWICE--like bro, slow the fuck down. no wonder mariah has no personal motivations, you're not giving him any time to be a person, the plot is in the damn way.
But that's all I have to say about the plot really. My main issue with this book is the writing. Because G P Taylor cannot write well and his editor must've forgotten to put on their reading glasses. To show you what I mean, I'm just gonna copy some sentences out of the book:
"the lift was thrust up the shaft and sped by at speed, too quickly for him to count the floors" idk why we needed to be told it "sped by at speed" but ok.
"Mariah looked up warily and greeted by the thin china smile of Old Scratty, dressed in her black velvet dress and green silk slippers, hanging limply by a long cord from a metal peg" why is there no "was" before "greeted"?
"Mariah squinted through thin narrow slit" why is there no "the" before "thin"?
This happens numerous more times in the book, but I'm moving on before I give myself a headache.
The language in this book is also highly repetitive, like the author just really likes to hammer things home for you in a way that is unneeded as hell.
I have a few examples, but I'm only going to show you one or else we'd be here all day.
page 82-83:
within the space of these two pages (although most of this takes place on page 82) we are told:
page 82: "Sacha now watched eagerly as he searched every seat, checking underneath each one with his hand whilst he looked about him as if he did not want to be discovered."
page 82: "He's searching the theatre," Sacha said.
page 82: "Black again began to search every seat, slowly and meticulously searching under each one as he made his way along the empty row."
page 82: "He peered out of the secret place and watched Isambard Black checking every row of seats."
page 83: "Black searched on, his head down, a sullen grimace upon his face as he slid his hand underneath each seat."
FRANKLY, i feel like those quotes speak for themselves. G P Taylor is not a good writer. Like. God. F*cking. Damn. It is so bad.
The other example I had is where we're told 2383+ times that Mariah is entranced (not a word GP used, that's my word because I know how to use a thesaurus) by some weird golden clock. That goes on for like three pages and I wanted to break the clock by the end of it.
The next issue is the fact the narrator is annoyingly omniscient.
For this next quote, we're not in Mariah's POV, we're in Sacha's as far as I could tell.
"Quickly," he said anxiously, as if he had something of great urgency to share with her. "We have to go back to the tower, to my room, there's something you must see."
This is annoy because we don't need to be told "as if he had something of great urgency to share with her" becayse not only can we infer that from context, but also we find out in the very next line that that is exactly why he's anxious, etc.
The book does this numerous times. Even with the first quote from page 82. "whilst he looked about him as if he did not want to be discovered."
like...?? idk how to describe why that's bad and boring writing, but it is. It's too convenient for the characters to know that. It's telling when you could just show him looking shifty or show Mariah looking anxious. It's boring. And you're babying your reader to an extent that you don't need to even if this is a middle grade book.
To wrap up, I'll just say I now understand why I always see G P Taylor's books in second hand bookshops--no mf wants to keep this garbage
Firstly, the problems I had with the plot:
The story begins with Mariah (an orphan boy who is on his way to start work at the Regent Hotel) being approached on the train platform by a man who gives him a mysterious pack of cards and requests that Mariah keep them safe and hidden, and when Mariah reaches wherever he's headed, to send a note to the man telling the man where he is so the man can come and pick the cards up.
It's a very good opening.
But after that everything falls apart. Because... Mariah doesn't seem to have a goal? Like, he's headed to the Regent Hotel to work because... the orphanage sent him? And that's it? The most we find out about Mariah as a person in these 100 pages is that his parents disappeared while they were overseas. That's it. Like we don't know anything about him or his emotions or anything that makes us care about him. He just exists so the story has a main character.
When Mariah reaches the hotel he's greeted by a servant girl called Sacha, who tells him the servant boy who he has been sent to replace is missing (hence why Mariah is there in the first place). That, in itself, is intriguing, but then the book proceeds to move very fast through Mariah and Sacha discovering hidden things around the hotel.
Within the 100 pages I read, for some reason Mariah just starts sneaking around with Sacha (a girl he barely knows) (sneaking around that could literally get him fired). They start following this one dude who Mariah just "has a feeling" is up to something. And they discover a key (which Mariah for some reason just knows the missing servant boy touched??? idk if that's something that'll get explained by magic later on or not, but it's stupid as of now), a secret room, and a wax copy of the missing servant boy. Like that's a lot to discover in 100 pages. And I still don't know why Mariah is even doing any of this because his personality does not exist. Like... he doesn't seem to have any emotional motivation? He's just there. Like I guess he wants to help Sacha find the missing boy, but like it's not really clarified why beyond like vague statements like "he just felt like he had to." Like okay?? Thanks for giving the main character the personality of a grape.
Like there's no planned sneaking around. There's no planned "we're gonna investigate the disappearance of the servant boy" it all just happens because they were in the right place at the right time. it's very weird. And at this point Mariah hasn't been at the regent hotel more than a day??? So within less than a day he's discovered a key, found the secret room it goes to, found a wax figure of a missing person, overheard like two dodgy convos, seen Isambard black snooping around TWICE--like bro, slow the fuck down. no wonder mariah has no personal motivations, you're not giving him any time to be a person, the plot is in the damn way.
But that's all I have to say about the plot really. My main issue with this book is the writing. Because G P Taylor cannot write well and his editor must've forgotten to put on their reading glasses. To show you what I mean, I'm just gonna copy some sentences out of the book:
"the lift was thrust up the shaft and sped by at speed, too quickly for him to count the floors" idk why we needed to be told it "sped by at speed" but ok.
"Mariah looked up warily and greeted by the thin china smile of Old Scratty, dressed in her black velvet dress and green silk slippers, hanging limply by a long cord from a metal peg" why is there no "was" before "greeted"?
"Mariah squinted through thin narrow slit" why is there no "the" before "thin"?
This happens numerous more times in the book, but I'm moving on before I give myself a headache.
The language in this book is also highly repetitive, like the author just really likes to hammer things home for you in a way that is unneeded as hell.
I have a few examples, but I'm only going to show you one or else we'd be here all day.
page 82-83:
within the space of these two pages (although most of this takes place on page 82) we are told:
page 82: "Sacha now watched eagerly as he searched every seat, checking underneath each one with his hand whilst he looked about him as if he did not want to be discovered."
page 82: "He's searching the theatre," Sacha said.
page 82: "Black again began to search every seat, slowly and meticulously searching under each one as he made his way along the empty row."
page 82: "He peered out of the secret place and watched Isambard Black checking every row of seats."
page 83: "Black searched on, his head down, a sullen grimace upon his face as he slid his hand underneath each seat."
FRANKLY, i feel like those quotes speak for themselves. G P Taylor is not a good writer. Like. God. F*cking. Damn. It is so bad.
The other example I had is where we're told 2383+ times that Mariah is entranced (not a word GP used, that's my word because I know how to use a thesaurus) by some weird golden clock. That goes on for like three pages and I wanted to break the clock by the end of it.
The next issue is the fact the narrator is annoyingly omniscient.
For this next quote, we're not in Mariah's POV, we're in Sacha's as far as I could tell.
"Quickly," he said anxiously, as if he had something of great urgency to share with her. "We have to go back to the tower, to my room, there's something you must see."
This is annoy because we don't need to be told "as if he had something of great urgency to share with her" becayse not only can we infer that from context, but also we find out in the very next line that that is exactly why he's anxious, etc.
The book does this numerous times. Even with the first quote from page 82. "whilst he looked about him as if he did not want to be discovered."
like...?? idk how to describe why that's bad and boring writing, but it is. It's too convenient for the characters to know that. It's telling when you could just show him looking shifty or show Mariah looking anxious. It's boring. And you're babying your reader to an extent that you don't need to even if this is a middle grade book.
To wrap up, I'll just say I now understand why I always see G P Taylor's books in second hand bookshops--no mf wants to keep this garbage
November 1, 2015
I spent much of this book thinking that I must be very tired or inattentive, because I constantly had the feeling that I had missed a key plot point that would make the current paragraph more relevant. However, frequent rereadings of the paragraphs before eventually proved that I had not.
There are too many factors crammed in with little to no introduction: a key, a Kracken, a box, a sarcophagus, etc...and that is all within the first third of the book! (Because full disclosure, I did not finish it).
Character development is all over the place, with the main character alternately being unwilling to participate or believe in shenanigans, and dragging his friend away from her work to find more. I was particularly unsettled by Mariah's uncanny ability to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt and with no trepidation, that a character he had never met had touched a key he had never seen - in spite of there having been no indication g prescience or a predilection for the sixth sense in Mariah before then.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. It has all the factors I look for in a fun story about coming of age into magic (and then some!), but it does not make effective use of them.
There are too many factors crammed in with little to no introduction: a key, a Kracken, a box, a sarcophagus, etc...and that is all within the first third of the book! (Because full disclosure, I did not finish it).
Character development is all over the place, with the main character alternately being unwilling to participate or believe in shenanigans, and dragging his friend away from her work to find more. I was particularly unsettled by Mariah's uncanny ability to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt and with no trepidation, that a character he had never met had touched a key he had never seen - in spite of there having been no indication g prescience or a predilection for the sixth sense in Mariah before then.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. It has all the factors I look for in a fun story about coming of age into magic (and then some!), but it does not make effective use of them.
November 17, 2009
The thing that I found strange about this book is the pacing of the story: the book is quite thick, but everything that happens in it happens only in two or three days. And they all start to happen as soon as Mariah Mundi set his foot for the first time in the Prince Regent Hotel, fresh from the Colonial School, ready to be a helper to the great magician Bizmillah. So I'd say, Mariah's days and nights have been indeed very, very busy.
I like the dark overtone of the book, although, well, so many things are crammed into it sometimes I wonder "Did Taylor really need to put this all in?" I have to admit that those things eventually cross ways and become clear in the end, but the way there is a bit tiring and a bit too full for my liking.
As for Mariah, at the beginning I thought he's a rather boring, flat character - but when he finally showed his true colours, I laughed so hard and fell in love with the boy. (Yes, if you have been noticing, Mariah is a he.) Closet badass!
Now I feel sorry I didn't buy the second book while I was in Singapore.
I like the dark overtone of the book, although, well, so many things are crammed into it sometimes I wonder "Did Taylor really need to put this all in?" I have to admit that those things eventually cross ways and become clear in the end, but the way there is a bit tiring and a bit too full for my liking.
As for Mariah, at the beginning I thought he's a rather boring, flat character - but when he finally showed his true colours, I laughed so hard and fell in love with the boy. (Yes, if you have been noticing, Mariah is a he.) Closet badass!
Now I feel sorry I didn't buy the second book while I was in Singapore.
Currently reading
August 12, 20088/12/08 it might be too early to make a judgment on this book because I have only finished the first chapter. But the character introduced here are not that interesting. I will keep on and then we will see.
October 5, 2009
Very good mystery and adventure book. Similar to books such as Echo Falls Mystery books and Harry Potter.
January 2, 2013
This book was a disappointment to me, the blurb sounded amazing and i started to read, the whole book just went downhill from there.
November 29, 2025
I can't speak as to other readers, but I was directed to this book via its credit in its modern cult-classic adaptation "The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box". Nothing could have prepared me for how different the two experiences would be. Similar to the scenario of the Eragon movie vs the Christopher Paolini original, the book is so much deeper and darker than the film, although I would argue that Mariah received an indisputably better adaptation than Eragon.
The primary difference is that G.P. Taylor obviously intended this to be a Harry Potter alternative for the Christian audience, whereas the film was a very Raiders of the Lost Ark infused MacGuffin quest. Both book and film remind me of the Young Sherlock Holmes movie, as a swashbuckling Victorian adventure.
This feels much darker emotionally and atmospherically than anything Harry Potter. Like Harry, Mariah is an orphan, whose parents are long gone (will this be explained? We shall see). He is essentially sold as a porter to the Prince Regent Hotel by his orphanage, but on discovering that something wrong is lurking in the hotel, he comes out of his shell and discovers his inner hero.
This may shock and offend some, to whom I apologize in advance, but I prefer Mariah to Harry. Why? Well, for one thing, Mariah has no magic wand to enchant himself out of every tight corner. Most of the time, he must rely on his wits. Furthermore, although Mariah is only fourteen, he comes across as far tougher than Harry, because he can actually try and succeed at things, whereas Harry is often rescued by plot armor. Finally, while Harry starts out as the misfit who is given identity by his wizard heritage, Mariah starts out as a nobody who must decide what he wants to be on his own. This makes his transformation more powerful.
Supporting characters? Oh, yes . . . of course, we have Captain Charity, as dashing, quirky, and adept an ally as he is in the film . . . and he owns a restaurant? I did not expect that, but apparently Charity is actually retired, and settled down to run his eatery "The Golden Kipper" near the Prince Regent. Is he spying on the villains? We shall see. Oh, and he owns a crocodile.
Sacha, the beautiful Irish maid with no surname but gallons of spunk, is night and day to Mella Carron's portrayal of the character in the movie. In the film, she is very subdued and quiet, but Mariah upsets her norms and launches her into the adventure. In the book, it is the opposite, and although it works both ways, I kind of enjoy a streetwise Sacha (who is also substantially less irritating than Hermoine Granger).
The Midas Box itself is one of the best fictional depictions of alchemy I have yet encountered (yes, I prefer it to the Sorcerer's Stone, mainly because we actually see the Box in action) and Mr. Taylor turns its power of transforming matter to gold to surprising effect . . .
There is action aplenty, and the author actually reverses multiple common tropes, including overpowering the opponent then sparing their life. That one goes in a very different direction from the cliche.
This book has the eccentricity and mystique that is the tone of originality, and I think it will appeal to many like myself who are nursing wounds sustained when the sequel to the film was canceled. If you have a chance, I recommend you try it. Book appetite!
The primary difference is that G.P. Taylor obviously intended this to be a Harry Potter alternative for the Christian audience, whereas the film was a very Raiders of the Lost Ark infused MacGuffin quest. Both book and film remind me of the Young Sherlock Holmes movie, as a swashbuckling Victorian adventure.
This feels much darker emotionally and atmospherically than anything Harry Potter. Like Harry, Mariah is an orphan, whose parents are long gone (will this be explained? We shall see). He is essentially sold as a porter to the Prince Regent Hotel by his orphanage, but on discovering that something wrong is lurking in the hotel, he comes out of his shell and discovers his inner hero.
This may shock and offend some, to whom I apologize in advance, but I prefer Mariah to Harry. Why? Well, for one thing, Mariah has no magic wand to enchant himself out of every tight corner. Most of the time, he must rely on his wits. Furthermore, although Mariah is only fourteen, he comes across as far tougher than Harry, because he can actually try and succeed at things, whereas Harry is often rescued by plot armor. Finally, while Harry starts out as the misfit who is given identity by his wizard heritage, Mariah starts out as a nobody who must decide what he wants to be on his own. This makes his transformation more powerful.
Supporting characters? Oh, yes . . . of course, we have Captain Charity, as dashing, quirky, and adept an ally as he is in the film . . . and he owns a restaurant? I did not expect that, but apparently Charity is actually retired, and settled down to run his eatery "The Golden Kipper" near the Prince Regent. Is he spying on the villains? We shall see. Oh, and he owns a crocodile.
Sacha, the beautiful Irish maid with no surname but gallons of spunk, is night and day to Mella Carron's portrayal of the character in the movie. In the film, she is very subdued and quiet, but Mariah upsets her norms and launches her into the adventure. In the book, it is the opposite, and although it works both ways, I kind of enjoy a streetwise Sacha (who is also substantially less irritating than Hermoine Granger).
The Midas Box itself is one of the best fictional depictions of alchemy I have yet encountered (yes, I prefer it to the Sorcerer's Stone, mainly because we actually see the Box in action) and Mr. Taylor turns its power of transforming matter to gold to surprising effect . . .
There is action aplenty, and the author actually reverses multiple common tropes, including overpowering the opponent then sparing their life. That one goes in a very different direction from the cliche.
This book has the eccentricity and mystique that is the tone of originality, and I think it will appeal to many like myself who are nursing wounds sustained when the sequel to the film was canceled. If you have a chance, I recommend you try it. Book appetite!
December 30, 2020
I'm most defenitly to old for this book.
The plot was good but I never got to know the main character Mariah Mundi even though the story is told mostly from his POV. In the beginning we are quite a bit in his mind but once the story starts rolling he shuts us out completely. This makes for a rather uninvested reading experience.
Like I mentioned the plot is good and fast paced - sometimes a bit too much so because there are no quiet moments to emphasize the dramatic ones. Characters are introduced and thrown to the wayside only to be picked up again at the authors whim. I was never invested in any of the characters or their goals which sometimes seemed to change quickly in a scene ayways.
The steam hotel setting was unique and I wished we had gotten to explore it more and spent some time with it but alas the plot got in the way of it. Just imagine visiting Hogwarts and never spending time just looking around and enjoying the place.
Anyways, in total the book was ok-ish. It's supposed to be for kids... but without a conection to the main character I don't know how anybody of any age is supposed to root for him.
The plot was good but I never got to know the main character Mariah Mundi even though the story is told mostly from his POV. In the beginning we are quite a bit in his mind but once the story starts rolling he shuts us out completely. This makes for a rather uninvested reading experience.
Like I mentioned the plot is good and fast paced - sometimes a bit too much so because there are no quiet moments to emphasize the dramatic ones. Characters are introduced and thrown to the wayside only to be picked up again at the authors whim. I was never invested in any of the characters or their goals which sometimes seemed to change quickly in a scene ayways.
The steam hotel setting was unique and I wished we had gotten to explore it more and spent some time with it but alas the plot got in the way of it. Just imagine visiting Hogwarts and never spending time just looking around and enjoying the place.
Anyways, in total the book was ok-ish. It's supposed to be for kids... but without a conection to the main character I don't know how anybody of any age is supposed to root for him.
June 23, 2022
If you like giant crabs, sea witches and villains that pull hair from their noses with tweezers, this book is for you!
Midas box keeps you guessing with t it's twists and turns. It's difficult to know who Mariah can trust as he tries to figure out what is really going on at the Regent Hotel. The book definitely has a gothic steampunk vibe about it, but still manages to stay YA safe.
After all of the plot twists, I did wonder if I was going to guess the ending and I did. I enjoyed this book and I learnt a lot about descriptions from it. I have the other two in the series, but I think I'll wait a bit before diving in again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Midas box keeps you guessing with t it's twists and turns. It's difficult to know who Mariah can trust as he tries to figure out what is really going on at the Regent Hotel. The book definitely has a gothic steampunk vibe about it, but still manages to stay YA safe.
After all of the plot twists, I did wonder if I was going to guess the ending and I did. I enjoyed this book and I learnt a lot about descriptions from it. I have the other two in the series, but I think I'll wait a bit before diving in again. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
May 10, 2019
This is technically a reread, though I haven't actually read this book since before I had Goodreads, which is kind of a while. It's not exactly amazing in terms of writing quality, but it's still pretty enjoyable in a creepy sort of way. (All of this author's books are kind of creepy and weird, though, usually in a good way, so that's to be expected.)
September 5, 2024
Este livro é um misto de desaventuras em série, com terror escrito sobre o efeito de Zolpidem. Ele começa em lugar nenhum e termina em lugar algum. Os acontecimentos são tão mornos que parece que o clímax foi embrulhado em papel bolha pra que ninguém levasse um baque muito forte. Sei lá, achei bem blasé.
January 8, 2018
This book felt long-winded at times, especially when Sacha and Mariah were exploring the subterranean passages and tunnels under the Prince Regent and the town. I enjoyed it but won't be returning to the series.
December 20, 2018
I was unable to finish this book. It was too slow, and the plot was all over the place. I was only able to get through a chapter or two before having to take a break.
I'll give it another go in a month or so. Hopefully, it will go better the second time around.
I'll give it another go in a month or so. Hopefully, it will go better the second time around.
January 26, 2019
Mariah Mundi is sent away from home to work in The Prince Regent, a hotel. His job is to assist the magician in the magic show. Unfortunately, the previous assistants have all disappeared and it takes Mariah and Sacha, a co-worker to find out what happened in this sinister and magical tale.
June 27, 2019
Fascinatingly different from the movie (which inspired me to read the book). Although I enjoyed the story, it did feel like all they do is wander around tunnels for the majority of the book (-1 star). Also found the writing style difficult to read for younger audiences (-1 star).
October 30, 2019
It took me a while to get into this book as a lot of time was spent setting up the characters and the setting. However, after the initial build up, the action came quick and fast. I really enjoyed it and the unpredictability of the story line.
July 6, 2022
I remember my teacher gave me this book when I was 10 years old and I loved it! I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it now a decade later, but 10 year old me was obsessed and couldn't but this book down. The suspense!!!
January 16, 2025
I remember buying the book many years ago with my limited budget and was so excited to read it.
I was so disappointed and was lost the whole time I was reading this book. I love the mansion, but the story was all over the place. May have been the first bought book that I DNFed.
I was so disappointed and was lost the whole time I was reading this book. I love the mansion, but the story was all over the place. May have been the first bought book that I DNFed.
September 1, 2025
I picked this up because I really enjoyed the dopple ganger chronicles. Unfortunately I struggled to get into this book from start to finish. There was just too much going on with characters running all over the place constantly.
December 29, 2017
This book was just too long winded - it goes on forever. The ending was good, but the entire thing was a slog.
May 17, 2018
Two stars looks bad, but it wasn't really. Just didn't like it as much as I wanted to.
July 9, 2018
This book took a chapter or two to get into it, then I couldn't put it down. I found it in a box of books my son left and knew we both loved similar tales. The Midas box of books!
July 30, 2019
My...did the film ever take creative liberties with this story. I can see why; the plot is very convoluted and takes very little time to establish characters or general settings.
March 26, 2020
1.5 really. Review coming up soon.
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