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Jayben and the Golden Torch
Can one boy with no memories save the world?
In the Earth world, a boy dreams of faraway lands to escape life with his horrible aunt.
In the Elf world, he wakes up with a mysterious golden torch but without any clue who he is ...
except for the compass he pulls from his pocket, engraved with one name: JAYBEN
Jayben discovers that many moons ago, a giant put a dark spell on the golden torch, and the elves forgot everything that had come before. Now they hang precious memories in jars on trees, just to try to remember.
But a new darkness grows among them.
An evil villain called Null is burning down the forests, hellbent on finding the torch and becoming the most powerful being ever to live.
If Jayben can find his own magic and ignite the torch with its fierce violet flame, his power will be unstoppable ... Can Jayben save the world before the lights go out forever?
A story of courage, hope and friendship. Whatever pages are missing in your story, you can be the hero on the next page.
In the Earth world, a boy dreams of faraway lands to escape life with his horrible aunt.
In the Elf world, he wakes up with a mysterious golden torch but without any clue who he is ...
except for the compass he pulls from his pocket, engraved with one name: JAYBEN
Jayben discovers that many moons ago, a giant put a dark spell on the golden torch, and the elves forgot everything that had come before. Now they hang precious memories in jars on trees, just to try to remember.
But a new darkness grows among them.
An evil villain called Null is burning down the forests, hellbent on finding the torch and becoming the most powerful being ever to live.
If Jayben can find his own magic and ignite the torch with its fierce violet flame, his power will be unstoppable ... Can Jayben save the world before the lights go out forever?
A story of courage, hope and friendship. Whatever pages are missing in your story, you can be the hero on the next page.
360 pages, Paperback
Published February 2, 2023
1 person is currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 2, 2023
The moment I finished this book I had to sit quietly, as I was blown away by what I had just read. A modern classic of children’s fantasy with a necessary hero — a boy with seizures and memory loss. It’s a magical tale that explores family and friendship, collective hope and memory against hatred and greed, and bravery. I loved it.
Speaking as someone with a seizure disorder, it was truly revelatory to read my experiences through someone else’s words and how even if Jayben’s brain disconnects, the story still goes on, life still goes on. I think that is truly magical.
So often seizures in fiction are depicted as the end or a sign of someone worsening, we so rarely get to see people living with seizures and living through them. There are so many people, especially kids, dealing with this right now who need a hero like Jayben, to see themselves.
The story is rich and layered but we as the reader discover it along with Jayben, who has lost all his memories, but involves an elven world, magical powers, a cruel villain making everyone forget, and a race against time. It has all the trappings of a solid hero story.
Jayben and the Golden Torch is just the start of the story, with questions left teasingly
unanswered and more mysteries to solve, and I’m thoroughly excited to see what comes next from Thomas Leeds.
Speaking as someone with a seizure disorder, it was truly revelatory to read my experiences through someone else’s words and how even if Jayben’s brain disconnects, the story still goes on, life still goes on. I think that is truly magical.
So often seizures in fiction are depicted as the end or a sign of someone worsening, we so rarely get to see people living with seizures and living through them. There are so many people, especially kids, dealing with this right now who need a hero like Jayben, to see themselves.
The story is rich and layered but we as the reader discover it along with Jayben, who has lost all his memories, but involves an elven world, magical powers, a cruel villain making everyone forget, and a race against time. It has all the trappings of a solid hero story.
Jayben and the Golden Torch is just the start of the story, with questions left teasingly
unanswered and more mysteries to solve, and I’m thoroughly excited to see what comes next from Thomas Leeds.
December 14, 2022
Jayben and the Golden Torch
Digital ARC
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book 60/55 2022
The Good
🕯 This was a debut novel with some really interesting world building and characterisation.
🕯 The author clearly has a massive imagination, with the world he has created filled with unusual creatures, delicious sounding food and a 5 different realms. I particularly lived the sound of Dropcorn and Gribblenuts (these gave me the same cravings as Silky's popcakes did in the Enchanted Wood when I was a child!)
🕯 Jayben's seizures and memory loss added a different dynamic to the story which was a welcome change from all the action at times - it was about halfway through the book when he started experiencing absences that I became more invested in the character and the story.
🕯 Having researched the author on finishing the story I learned that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a young adult and suffers from seizures and memory loss himself. They say to write what you know, and I think that is why this aspect of the story read very realistically.
The Bad
🐈⬛️ I think there were just too many new names and plot ideas for the story to be easy to follow - every creature, place and food had a totally unfamiliar and unusual name, and whilst this was interesting it meant it interrupted the flow of my reading constantly trying to remember what was what!
🐈⬛️ I think this story could really do with a map at the beginning, laying out the world for the reader as it would be easier to visualise what we are reading.
🐈⬛️ There was a lot of action and at times I felt the story could do with a little slowing down. This was helped by the introduction of Jayben's medical condition which added another layer of interest to the story.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
Digital ARC
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book 60/55 2022
The Good
🕯 This was a debut novel with some really interesting world building and characterisation.
🕯 The author clearly has a massive imagination, with the world he has created filled with unusual creatures, delicious sounding food and a 5 different realms. I particularly lived the sound of Dropcorn and Gribblenuts (these gave me the same cravings as Silky's popcakes did in the Enchanted Wood when I was a child!)
🕯 Jayben's seizures and memory loss added a different dynamic to the story which was a welcome change from all the action at times - it was about halfway through the book when he started experiencing absences that I became more invested in the character and the story.
🕯 Having researched the author on finishing the story I learned that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a young adult and suffers from seizures and memory loss himself. They say to write what you know, and I think that is why this aspect of the story read very realistically.
The Bad
🐈⬛️ I think there were just too many new names and plot ideas for the story to be easy to follow - every creature, place and food had a totally unfamiliar and unusual name, and whilst this was interesting it meant it interrupted the flow of my reading constantly trying to remember what was what!
🐈⬛️ I think this story could really do with a map at the beginning, laying out the world for the reader as it would be easier to visualise what we are reading.
🐈⬛️ There was a lot of action and at times I felt the story could do with a little slowing down. This was helped by the introduction of Jayben's medical condition which added another layer of interest to the story.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.
December 21, 2022
A vividly drawn world, an adventure like no other + an immensely powerful depiction of memory loss, brain injury + seizures. A triumph of middle-grade fantasy.
December 28, 2022
This book starts with us meeting Ben, an unhappy boy who suffers from seizures. He is living with his aunt, who doesn't like him very much. After having a weird dream, Ben has a seizure and suddenly we find ourselves in another world. Here we meet Jayben, an elfling who wakes up with no memory of who he is or where he's from. Jayben goes on a journey to try to find his memories and on that journey he discovers that he is the Ninth Dreamer and the key to saving both the Earth and Elf world. He also makes friends with a group of beings who help him and each other to overcome their fears.
I really enjoyed the world building in this book. Sometimes in adventure stories the adventure takes precedent over finding out what world is like. What I enjoyed about this book is that there were lots of glimpses of what life would be like if there wasn't the constant threat of danger hanging over Jayben's head. I also really liked the relationships that developed between Jayben and his friends. In the book, Jayben has a number of absence seizures. They leave him confused and unclear about what he had been doing before they happened. Thomas Leeds creates a sense of the confusion and anxiety that must follow in real life when someone has a seizure. You can feel Jayben's worry about the loss of control and his concerns that he may have one that puts him in danger. I feel that this book would help children understand what it is like to have seizures and how vulnerable it can make someone feel.
I really enjoyed the world building in this book. Sometimes in adventure stories the adventure takes precedent over finding out what world is like. What I enjoyed about this book is that there were lots of glimpses of what life would be like if there wasn't the constant threat of danger hanging over Jayben's head. I also really liked the relationships that developed between Jayben and his friends. In the book, Jayben has a number of absence seizures. They leave him confused and unclear about what he had been doing before they happened. Thomas Leeds creates a sense of the confusion and anxiety that must follow in real life when someone has a seizure. You can feel Jayben's worry about the loss of control and his concerns that he may have one that puts him in danger. I feel that this book would help children understand what it is like to have seizures and how vulnerable it can make someone feel.
March 9, 2023
DNF at 20% - not that this is criminally bad at all, but I found it far too earnest, and could tell I could not guarantee the kind of MG read I wanted from it. Ben is stuck in a bad place with his evil teacher aunt lording over him, which is already too over-egged with his 'he doth protest too much' kind of attitude. But his neurodivergence, his seizures, his something, makes him zap to a world of fantasy, where he rescues a man who can train trees to be living, shapeshifting furniture – but discovers he has a whole world to save as well. And only a few days in which to do it.
This threw a lot in – the lad's hidden destiny, the swapping of things from our world to his, collective global amnesia in light of the end of the world, rescue from monsters, farting pets – and then had a humongous info-dump of exposition for the character known there as Jayben to learn what was what. It all just seemed too over-eager, doing too much, being breathless for unhealthy reasons and not the purely page-turning delights.
I note many reviewers have found this to be amazing, and loved Ben/Jayben for so much more than the mindwiping seizures part of his character, but already in the early readers are people not to have finished this, and thoughts in agreement with mine about having been rushed through an over-stuffed narrative. I don't wish this ill at all, but life is too short and the reading pile is too long.
This threw a lot in – the lad's hidden destiny, the swapping of things from our world to his, collective global amnesia in light of the end of the world, rescue from monsters, farting pets – and then had a humongous info-dump of exposition for the character known there as Jayben to learn what was what. It all just seemed too over-eager, doing too much, being breathless for unhealthy reasons and not the purely page-turning delights.
I note many reviewers have found this to be amazing, and loved Ben/Jayben for so much more than the mindwiping seizures part of his character, but already in the early readers are people not to have finished this, and thoughts in agreement with mine about having been rushed through an over-stuffed narrative. I don't wish this ill at all, but life is too short and the reading pile is too long.
February 14, 2023
Ben lives with his aunt who isn't especially nice to live with. He's not too sure what happened to his parents.
His aunt is busy berating him when he sees something in the room that shouldn't be there and then....stars
This happens sometimes to him & he doesn't remember what happens in the time before he comes to again...but this time he can't remember who he is or where he is...also there are weird things in his pocket...
In Elfworld he finds a land under attack. The trees warn him of danger & he quickly comes to the rescue of a man who can help.
Finding a world of clans that descend from old magic & someone who is draining their memories by taking magic away.
Jayben finds friends along the way as he finds himself centre of a prophecy to help both humanworld & Elfworld get a balance of magic back & help keep their memories.
I found this fascinating as Jayben's seizures happen suddenly & he doesn't know what occurred in that time, his new friends help him though & I feel this is the start of something very special. Looking forward to what powers & people he finds next.
His aunt is busy berating him when he sees something in the room that shouldn't be there and then....stars
This happens sometimes to him & he doesn't remember what happens in the time before he comes to again...but this time he can't remember who he is or where he is...also there are weird things in his pocket...
In Elfworld he finds a land under attack. The trees warn him of danger & he quickly comes to the rescue of a man who can help.
Finding a world of clans that descend from old magic & someone who is draining their memories by taking magic away.
Jayben finds friends along the way as he finds himself centre of a prophecy to help both humanworld & Elfworld get a balance of magic back & help keep their memories.
I found this fascinating as Jayben's seizures happen suddenly & he doesn't know what occurred in that time, his new friends help him though & I feel this is the start of something very special. Looking forward to what powers & people he finds next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2023
A wonderful, joy filled adventure, with friendships you can really believe in, and a building tension leading to a tantalising end. Can’t wait to read the next instalment and see what Jayben achieves in the sequel. Huge congratulations to the author, I’ve never read a novel where the hero has a disability, and I hope we’ll see much more representation of this in the future.
May 18, 2023
A wonderful fantasy adventure that oozes with imagination and heart. I bought this book for my 10- year- old son and he loved it, as did I! The author creates a truly engaging world with fantastic characters but what struck me most was the way he handled the topic of memory loss and brain injury. He does this in such a sensitive, gentle way. A natural storyteller. Loved, loved, loved it!
April 20, 2024
This was really fun and I loved the rep - I just wasn't fully engaged with the audiobook and the screeching sounds used during the seizures were both a sensory issue for my autistic self and a migraine trigger.
August 17, 2024
This is a lovely adventure story about Jayben's quest to regain his memory and learn how to use the power of the Golden Torch. The Elf world he visits is full of wonder and danger. The plot has pace but enough time to spend on Jayben's emotional journey too. Great set-up for book two in the series.
January 30, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up
What a fun magical adventure! I'm really looking forward to the next installment as I can't wait to see what happens next :)
What a fun magical adventure! I'm really looking forward to the next installment as I can't wait to see what happens next :)
January 31, 2023
Magical & Mysterious, I Enjoyed this Book to the Absolute Fullest, Highly Recommened for fans of The Peter Jackson Series.
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).
February 10, 2023
I found the story of the author more interesting than the book itself. I didn't finish the book.
Read
September 7, 2023I'm not the target audience, so would be unfair to rate this. I read it because of the authors circumstances really , circumstances that are resources for the story of JayBen.
August 9, 2024
This was a fantastic start to a series which has been so cleverly constructed. You have a boy with no memory who somehow can go to another world and back again and this really caught my interest. I also loved the way Thomas introduced epilepsy intwined with the story which I have not seen before. I also loved the many twists in the story and this really made me want to read and read to find out what happens next.
But what I am dying to find out just what part the awful Samantha plays in the story and I am hoping for her downfall fingers crossed.
For all the above reasons Jayben and the Golden Torch receives 4 stars and yes I will be continuing on with the series
But what I am dying to find out just what part the awful Samantha plays in the story and I am hoping for her downfall fingers crossed.
For all the above reasons Jayben and the Golden Torch receives 4 stars and yes I will be continuing on with the series
June 8, 2023
A beautiful modern fantasy, sure to become a classic.
We find ourselves in our world and also in the world of the elves.
When Jayben wakes up one day in the Elf world with the only clue as to who he is a compass engraved with his name we are as curious as he is and we are all drawn into a thrilling adventure as Jayben tries to find his magic, magic that will allow him to light a torch and save the elf world.
A story of courage, friendship and adventure that stays with you long after you finish.
We find ourselves in our world and also in the world of the elves.
When Jayben wakes up one day in the Elf world with the only clue as to who he is a compass engraved with his name we are as curious as he is and we are all drawn into a thrilling adventure as Jayben tries to find his magic, magic that will allow him to light a torch and save the elf world.
A story of courage, friendship and adventure that stays with you long after you finish.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews