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Alfie Brown: The Boy With Purple Eyes
What would you do if you discovered you could do real magic?
It’s a problem 15 year old Alfie Brown faces.
For years he has faced questions about his strange purple coloured eyes…
Called a freak by some, shunned by others, Alfie feels grateful for his best friend Tommy.
Enter Magic.
Finding a note of strange words on his doorstep, Alfie finds out that he can perform real magic!
And there are more magical mysteries and adventures than he could ever possibly imagine…
Things take a turn for the strange at the start of their last year of school that throws them headfirst into a world of magic, wizards and evil demons…
It only get worse for Alfie who finds himself in a race against an evil demon that is intent not just on killing him but on ending the entire world…
With the help of a charismatic wizard and his best friends, they must go far beyond their limits and beat this evil demon before it kills not only them, but the entire world!
With double crosses at every turn, Alfie struggles with who to trust.
With help from unexpected places, Alfie is going to accomplish more than he ever thought possible.
There is a whiff of destiny in the air as the mysteries about his purple eyes, the whereabouts of his parents and the existence of real magic are set to be revealed…
Will he find out where and why his parents disappeared when he was a baby?
Will he find out why he has those mysterious purple eyes?
Will Alfie live up to the pressure and save the magical world he’s just found?
If Alfie and his friends don’t work out the ancient magical mystery and defeat
the demon then everything he knows and loves could be lost forever.
Buy the book to start reading Jack Simmonds tale of magic, wizards and demons today!
“Alfie The Boy With Purple Eyes (Who Discovered He Could Do Magic)” is a standalone fantasy novel. If you like Harry Potter, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Sword in the Stone and The Magicians, then you’ll love a book that combines all of their best traits in a fast-paced, captivating, magical adventure.
It’s a problem 15 year old Alfie Brown faces.
For years he has faced questions about his strange purple coloured eyes…
Called a freak by some, shunned by others, Alfie feels grateful for his best friend Tommy.
Enter Magic.
Finding a note of strange words on his doorstep, Alfie finds out that he can perform real magic!
And there are more magical mysteries and adventures than he could ever possibly imagine…
Things take a turn for the strange at the start of their last year of school that throws them headfirst into a world of magic, wizards and evil demons…
It only get worse for Alfie who finds himself in a race against an evil demon that is intent not just on killing him but on ending the entire world…
With the help of a charismatic wizard and his best friends, they must go far beyond their limits and beat this evil demon before it kills not only them, but the entire world!
With double crosses at every turn, Alfie struggles with who to trust.
With help from unexpected places, Alfie is going to accomplish more than he ever thought possible.
There is a whiff of destiny in the air as the mysteries about his purple eyes, the whereabouts of his parents and the existence of real magic are set to be revealed…
Will he find out where and why his parents disappeared when he was a baby?
Will he find out why he has those mysterious purple eyes?
Will Alfie live up to the pressure and save the magical world he’s just found?
If Alfie and his friends don’t work out the ancient magical mystery and defeat
the demon then everything he knows and loves could be lost forever.
Buy the book to start reading Jack Simmonds tale of magic, wizards and demons today!
“Alfie The Boy With Purple Eyes (Who Discovered He Could Do Magic)” is a standalone fantasy novel. If you like Harry Potter, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, The Sword in the Stone and The Magicians, then you’ll love a book that combines all of their best traits in a fast-paced, captivating, magical adventure.
- GenresFantasyMagicYoung Adult
448 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 5, 2017
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 10, 2017
Very good! Looking over the characters, plot was cool. Now on to full length story. Okay have finished the full book, but I have a pet peeve. "as it began to rise of the ground a few inches and glide slowly around the lawn." (Should have read "to rise from the ground".) Well over a hundred of these jewels in the book.
The tale was well constructed overall, plenty of excitement with many touches of near death experiences. Great plot twists and a great lead in for a follow-up book.
The tale was well constructed overall, plenty of excitement with many touches of near death experiences. Great plot twists and a great lead in for a follow-up book.
September 25, 2017
Actual rating: 2.5 stars
Alfie Brown doesn’t really care that he has different colour eyes to everyone else, he feels normal in his normal school, normal town, normal grandparents and normal(ish) best friend Tommy.
We all miss Harry Potter. Sure, I heard there are people who didn’t like it but are they human at all? I believe they’re some alien race. Anyway, the market is quite saturated with books that aspire to gain a similar audience and keep you from doing anything else useful with your time. Not an easy task.
Goodreads reviews would suggest Alfie Brown may fit a bill. Also, the book participates in this year’s SPFBO and for me it’s a plus. I’m a fan of the initiative. Additionally I tend to enjoy reading YA books between more “serious” works of fiction. That’s why I bought the book.
Alfie leaves a normal life until magick (with k) happens. He’s rather brazen and self-confident (although not fully so when it comes to interacting with the girl he likes). His life gets more complicated when he makes an enemy of an evil demon that is intent not just on killing him but on ending the entire world. Happily he meets the charismatic wizard Nikolas Wiseman, who introduces Alfie to the magical world and helps him along the way. The stakes are high. Some mysteries from Alfie’s past are unveiled. Also Alfie will need to decide whom to really trust.
I enjoyed some of the ideas in the book. Some scenes were not only well written, but also visually stimulating. Some of the ideas were interesting or funny – I enjoyed letters that decided to take life of their own and leave the whiteboard during the class. I enjoyed shadow daemon that hunts our protagonist. I enjoyed magical city in which physics doesn’t work.
Story pacing was rather fast. There’s plenty of things that happen in short period of time. Sadly some of descriptions are too long and slow things down. Also I wasn’t really partial to forcefully funny way in which Alfie discovers spells. There’s for example a spell that makes clothes disappear and Alfie practices it on his teacher. Ha ha ha. Very funny. On the other hand, I guess, twenty years ago, in my high school times I could laugh at that. There’s nothing wrong in it per se, it’s just it’s not funny for me at this point. At all. There was more scenes like that, although it’s worth noting most jokes and banter exchanged between friends are rather lighthearted.
I’d like to tell few words about characters. Well, I didn’t particularly like any of the them. In my opinion they were a bit bland. I didn’t feel some developments / changes were done in a credible way. Even though some important things happen I still feel the characters remain underdeveloped.
And now my biggest issue. This book needs an editing, if just a copy-editing, in a bad way. There are spelling and grammar errors littered throughout – sadly, enough for me to admit it’s some of the worst I’ve seen in a finished novel. And I’m not native English speaker. This speaks volumes. In order to prove that my accusations aren’t groundless, I’ll quote some sentences from the book:
So how do I know that your not just some nutter?
One second he was there teaching his class, the second, the was gone
Alfie regretted promising Wiseman that he wouldn’t do any magick, because he sincerity wanted to use some now.
There’s even misspelling in a chapter name! Chapter 9 to be more precise. It’s called The Disapearing French Teacher.
The first line under the chapter name goes like this
Sunday morning was a gloriously sunny.
It’s as if the author doesn’t care about the details. I can see that if the story is brilliant, some typos won’t matter. Here however the story, characters and descriptions are far from brilliant.
Misspellings, heavy use of exclamation marks and tons of errors that jar the narrative.
I’m pretty sure an editor would have helped to fix most of these errors, sadly it’s clear the author did not use one (and if he did, he should find a different one).
Overall, this isn’t a bad story. There are some fun and creative ideas, to me though, it’s not well structured, it lacks tension at times and the spelling/grammar errors riddled throughout bring down the plot. Having said that, I think that YA fans who look for something with Potteresque vibe, don’t risk much in giving it a chance.
Alfie Brown doesn’t really care that he has different colour eyes to everyone else, he feels normal in his normal school, normal town, normal grandparents and normal(ish) best friend Tommy.
We all miss Harry Potter. Sure, I heard there are people who didn’t like it but are they human at all? I believe they’re some alien race. Anyway, the market is quite saturated with books that aspire to gain a similar audience and keep you from doing anything else useful with your time. Not an easy task.
Goodreads reviews would suggest Alfie Brown may fit a bill. Also, the book participates in this year’s SPFBO and for me it’s a plus. I’m a fan of the initiative. Additionally I tend to enjoy reading YA books between more “serious” works of fiction. That’s why I bought the book.
Alfie leaves a normal life until magick (with k) happens. He’s rather brazen and self-confident (although not fully so when it comes to interacting with the girl he likes). His life gets more complicated when he makes an enemy of an evil demon that is intent not just on killing him but on ending the entire world. Happily he meets the charismatic wizard Nikolas Wiseman, who introduces Alfie to the magical world and helps him along the way. The stakes are high. Some mysteries from Alfie’s past are unveiled. Also Alfie will need to decide whom to really trust.
I enjoyed some of the ideas in the book. Some scenes were not only well written, but also visually stimulating. Some of the ideas were interesting or funny – I enjoyed letters that decided to take life of their own and leave the whiteboard during the class. I enjoyed shadow daemon that hunts our protagonist. I enjoyed magical city in which physics doesn’t work.
Story pacing was rather fast. There’s plenty of things that happen in short period of time. Sadly some of descriptions are too long and slow things down. Also I wasn’t really partial to forcefully funny way in which Alfie discovers spells. There’s for example a spell that makes clothes disappear and Alfie practices it on his teacher. Ha ha ha. Very funny. On the other hand, I guess, twenty years ago, in my high school times I could laugh at that. There’s nothing wrong in it per se, it’s just it’s not funny for me at this point. At all. There was more scenes like that, although it’s worth noting most jokes and banter exchanged between friends are rather lighthearted.
I’d like to tell few words about characters. Well, I didn’t particularly like any of the them. In my opinion they were a bit bland. I didn’t feel some developments / changes were done in a credible way. Even though some important things happen I still feel the characters remain underdeveloped.
And now my biggest issue. This book needs an editing, if just a copy-editing, in a bad way. There are spelling and grammar errors littered throughout – sadly, enough for me to admit it’s some of the worst I’ve seen in a finished novel. And I’m not native English speaker. This speaks volumes. In order to prove that my accusations aren’t groundless, I’ll quote some sentences from the book:
So how do I know that your not just some nutter?
One second he was there teaching his class, the second, the was gone
Alfie regretted promising Wiseman that he wouldn’t do any magick, because he sincerity wanted to use some now.
There’s even misspelling in a chapter name! Chapter 9 to be more precise. It’s called The Disapearing French Teacher.
The first line under the chapter name goes like this
Sunday morning was a gloriously sunny.
It’s as if the author doesn’t care about the details. I can see that if the story is brilliant, some typos won’t matter. Here however the story, characters and descriptions are far from brilliant.
Misspellings, heavy use of exclamation marks and tons of errors that jar the narrative.
I’m pretty sure an editor would have helped to fix most of these errors, sadly it’s clear the author did not use one (and if he did, he should find a different one).
Overall, this isn’t a bad story. There are some fun and creative ideas, to me though, it’s not well structured, it lacks tension at times and the spelling/grammar errors riddled throughout bring down the plot. Having said that, I think that YA fans who look for something with Potteresque vibe, don’t risk much in giving it a chance.
May 11, 2017
Kindle unlimited for this one; the other one is free period, permafree? They both seem to have the same content. Alfie Brown: The Boy With Purple Eyes (Who Discovered He Can Do Magic) is the ku {this one}, whereas the other one is titled Alfie Brown: The Boy With Purple Eyes (Who Discovered He Can Do Magic) [Part One] {see the bracket and the part one part, that indicated the 2/differences}
Thought maybe there was already a part 2 but not seeing it listed. Have read all the Avis Blackthorn ones. This one, there were a couple of time got mixed up on who was talking and there was at least a couple of places {such as the main character not knowing about fairie when he had been told by the girl earlier about there being one} where it wasn't quite right, but enjoyed it overall. Did notice a couple of reviews talking about it needed an editor for certain spelling and other errors but my machine reads to me so that was not an issue. Some of the things in the plot I say coming, but do read a LOT so not sure if others would as well.
Sort of Harry Potter, of course that would come to mind, but different enough that didn't feel it was reminiscent too much. Did like the different magical houses/rooms, and of course mirrors oh and the few spells, although still a bit confused in parts as to who gave him what exactly, but again nice story overall.
Thought maybe there was already a part 2 but not seeing it listed. Have read all the Avis Blackthorn ones. This one, there were a couple of time got mixed up on who was talking and there was at least a couple of places {such as the main character not knowing about fairie when he had been told by the girl earlier about there being one} where it wasn't quite right, but enjoyed it overall. Did notice a couple of reviews talking about it needed an editor for certain spelling and other errors but my machine reads to me so that was not an issue. Some of the things in the plot I say coming, but do read a LOT so not sure if others would as well.
Sort of Harry Potter, of course that would come to mind, but different enough that didn't feel it was reminiscent too much. Did like the different magical houses/rooms, and of course mirrors oh and the few spells, although still a bit confused in parts as to who gave him what exactly, but again nice story overall.
May 11, 2017
I received an ARC in exchange for proofing and leaving an honest review.
The book opens with yet another prophecy coming to be and the "boy wizard" has a protection spell placed.
Chapter 1 has him in school with his best bud and I was so upset that the book would be too young for me, but would definitely appeal to youngsters.
Chapter 2 turned me totally around! Yes, this is a middle-grade adventure, but no, it is not just for kids. From Chapter 2 on, I could not put the book down - or should I say I didn't want to.
I just love Mr Simmond's writing but it takes some getting used to the "King's English Colloquialisms" but well worth it!
I believe we have another winning series here! Thank you for the ARC Mr Simmonds!
The book opens with yet another prophecy coming to be and the "boy wizard" has a protection spell placed.
Chapter 1 has him in school with his best bud and I was so upset that the book would be too young for me, but would definitely appeal to youngsters.
Chapter 2 turned me totally around! Yes, this is a middle-grade adventure, but no, it is not just for kids. From Chapter 2 on, I could not put the book down - or should I say I didn't want to.
I just love Mr Simmond's writing but it takes some getting used to the "King's English Colloquialisms" but well worth it!
I believe we have another winning series here! Thank you for the ARC Mr Simmonds!
May 11, 2017
I loved this book! Great YA friendly read that focuses on a boy with purple eyes that has always lead a 'normal' life, but ends up being unexpectedly thrust into the magical realm. This book is a great option for those that have already finished reading the J,K. Rowling series that deals with the boy wizard with the lightning bolt scar, but is craving a new but similar adventure. Pick up this book and enjoy!
May 12, 2017
Do you enjoy Harry Potter books? If so, you'll enjoy Alfie Brown. Not to worry, it's not any kind of a redo on the Potter books! It's just along the same genre. This is a really great story. And it's a nice and long one, too. You can settle in for an adventure that will keep you entertained the whole way. I highly recommend this book to a wide age range from young teen to adult.
February 20, 2018
Great read!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews