El amuleto de quilla ("talisman")

Talisman #3

by Allan Frewin Jones

Rare book

160 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2005

About the author

This author has published under several versions of his name, including Allan Jones, Frewin Jones, and A.F. Jones. He has also published under the pen names Sam Hutton and Steven Saunders.

Reviews

[Florence Joyce Dongael · Rating 3 out of 5]

So after months of reading this book chapter by chapter (or should I say part by part), I finally finished reading all of it -- while waiting for the rain to stop falling and waiting for the delivery guy to finally arrive with the plants that my mother ordered online -- again. Anyway, as I'm writing this down, I'm at the 4th floor of Maharlika Building in Baguio. And until now, it's still raining hard.

Anyway, I'll put that aside for now.

It took me a long time to actually finish reading the 3rd adventure of Olly and Josh in searching for the Talismans of the Moon. This time, they were in search for the Amulet of Quilla. If I'm going to be honest, I'm not that much knowledgeable when it comes to Inca mythology and legends. But I find it fascinating that there were authors who could incorporate such things on a children's story.

But if I'm going to be honest (again), it didn't capture my attention and fascination as I hoped it would. True, the tapestry's design and the starting tale of the legend was fascinating, but there were things left unexplained. Especially at the last part -- or near the last part. Josh said that the tunnel wasn't large enough for an adult to pass through. Why is that? Why did they deliberately build it as such? Who ordered it to be made like that? My questions may be silly to some, but this is how I view it.

The overall adventure was great, if you're going to ask me. And yet something feels like it's lacking of proper explanation. And the puma in the end... Why do I have a feeling that it was a spirit and not an actual one? But it's nice to know that the real location of the amulet inside the temple wasn't an obvious one. I'm still questioning the fact as to why does it have to be a puma, though.

I wonder what led Olly to believe strongly about the puma, though.

Okay, enough with the questions. I'm just glad I got to finish reading this after a long while. I can finally put this on my other books that I'm done reading. Even with the slight disappointment that I got after reading this story, I'd still like to read the other three books under this series. Of course, I still have to look for them. And I have this feeling that it's not going to be an easy task at all.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review is based on the entire series not this book in isolation. This series had great potential, interesting main characters, a 6th grade girl and boy, and an exciting adventure story, but Allan Frewin Jones' writing failed to fully develop the characters and create interesting or almost magical environments needed to compete with better known authors of children's action/adventure and fantasy books. The biggest problem was his ending or the lack of it which totally disappoints the reader after four books. Basically he just stopped and never finished the series failing to tie up even half of the on-going issues. It was very unrewarding and I would never recommend it as there are so many better books that will enthrall young readers. I hope that Allen Frewin Jones will continue to develop his writing style as his story line had potential.

[Dario Sepulveda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's very little about actual Anaconda Kings and more about a priced amulet that, when put together with other precious jewels, will reveal great secrets. The Anaconda King is the third story where Olly and Josh, not surprisingly, find yet another one of the precious stones, the Amulet of Quilla. This time in South America in some ancient Inca pyramid where their arch-nemesis Ethan Cain and his greed are already waiting for them.

It was a very predictable book with a mediocre ending, but the story is not over, so there's hope that the last book finally quenches my thirst for the solving of the mysterious amulets and its secrets.

[Cassidyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Legend of the Anaconda King” by Allen Frewin Jones is an exciting adventure novel. Two kids named Olivia [Olly] and Josh search for a lost amulet hidden in the Anaconda King’s Layer in the third book of this series. They are not the only ones looking for the amulet. Along the way, the two friends face dangerous situations deep inside of a rainforest. I love the descriptive words used in the story. “The Legend of the Anaconda King” is not as good as the other novels in the series though, so I gave it four out of five stars. It has the same idea as the other books in the series; Olly and Josh are looking for one of the talismans of the moon. Overall, I would recommend this book.

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This adventure book for preteens is enjoyable if not predictable. It includes the irritating topic of teens not being believed by their adults despite successfully doing what the adults cannot. This is book three in a series of which I have not yet read the first two. Allan Jones does a good job of filling in the gaps enough so that you don't need them to be read but it would certainly provide some detail.

[BENJI · Rating 2 out of 5]

En realidad para mí tiene una calificación de 2,5 ⭐ ¿Por qué? Bien, los libros anteriores venían bastante bien, pero no sé qué le pasó al autor con este libro, es como si hubiera escrito este libro por que tenía que hacerlo, es decir sin mucho interés. De por sí los libros anteriores tienen cierta complejidad al describir los lugares donde sucede lo importante, y este libro no se aleja. Espero que el último libro de la tetralogía rescate lo perdido en este.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

again not as great as the first book...

[Esperanza Olivares]

Excellent book, exciting since the beginning, can´t wait to read the last part of this story!!