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Taliesin's Mantle
Gawain has two assignments: one for his history teacher and one for his dad's scary boss. Sent as a spy to a summer camp for supernerds in the remote Australian outback, he's tasked with finding twins named Reece and Holly.
The thought of fitting in is a terrifying prospect. He's got no scientific ability, a little sister to babysit, a secret talent to keep hidden, and mysterious dream-visions of life in a medieval castle to untangle. To top off his troubles, even before leaving the Ohio airport, he becomes a viral internet sensation when he's gunned down by a holographic dragon.
The thought of fitting in is a terrifying prospect. He's got no scientific ability, a little sister to babysit, a secret talent to keep hidden, and mysterious dream-visions of life in a medieval castle to untangle. To top off his troubles, even before leaving the Ohio airport, he becomes a viral internet sensation when he's gunned down by a holographic dragon.
348 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
2 people want to read
About the author
Anne Hamilton
57 books184 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
For twenty years, I was the coordinator of an annual camp for children based around The Chronicles of Narnia. That experience shaped a lot of my thinking about how readers enjoy fantasy.
Like CS Lewis, my fantasy story Many-Coloured Realm began with a picture in my mind's eye: a boy without arms floating in a field of stars and faced with an impossible choice.
My non-fiction series beginning with God's Poetry can be traced back to the observation that Lewis comes from the Welsh word for lion. The discovery of name covenants led to the discovery of threshold covenants, as well as many other long-forgotten aspects of our Judeo-Christian heritage.
I love exploring words, mathematics and names. All of these combine in my books, whether they are fiction or non-fiction, or whether they're for adults or children, whether they're academic in tone or primarily devotional. I hope my readers always come away from my books with a renewed delight for the world around us and a child-like wonder for its awesome aspects.
For twenty years, I was the coordinator of an annual camp for children based around The Chronicles of Narnia. That experience shaped a lot of my thinking about how readers enjoy fantasy.
Like CS Lewis, my fantasy story Many-Coloured Realm began with a picture in my mind's eye: a boy without arms floating in a field of stars and faced with an impossible choice.
My non-fiction series beginning with God's Poetry can be traced back to the observation that Lewis comes from the Welsh word for lion. The discovery of name covenants led to the discovery of threshold covenants, as well as many other long-forgotten aspects of our Judeo-Christian heritage.
I love exploring words, mathematics and names. All of these combine in my books, whether they are fiction or non-fiction, or whether they're for adults or children, whether they're academic in tone or primarily devotional. I hope my readers always come away from my books with a renewed delight for the world around us and a child-like wonder for its awesome aspects.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 20, 2023
Taliesin's Mantle by Anne Hamilton weaves together a modern American teen with a central Australian setting, science fiction aliens, time travel and the mythological court of King Arthur.
Gawain has two great desires, to keep his musical compositions on the interwebs secret and avoid being sent to military school by his now stern father. Gawain thinks he's musical passion has been discovered when called by his father into an interview with a decidedly weird, almost alien, stranger who sends Gawain with his little sister Angie as spies in a camp for brilliant children in the middle of Australia. On arrival, they meet a strange guardian Uri and a grammar Nazi dog, Retro, plus a bunch of quirky brilliant kids. Gawain realises that something decidedly strange is going on and that he must decide where his loyalties lie.
Taliesin's Mantle is a sequel to Merlin's Wood with an overlap of characters (yes, Holly, Reece and Tamizel and the Sharva) and some delightful new characters. The action is fast paced, with a dual narrative of dreams of the Arthurian court and events in the present that forms a chiastic pattern becoming clearer as the story progresses. Gawain spends much of the time confused and often wounded, while Angie is a force of nature. One of my favourite characters was Jed. Patterns, word-play, names and covenants all play their part as do cyclotrons, myth and mystery all coming together in a breathtaking climactic scene.
I greatly enjoyed the richness and complexity of the story, the colourful characters and the dual settings of central Australian desert and the Arthurian court. While reading the first book, Merlin's Wood first would be desirable, I think Taliesin's Mantle could also be read as a standalone.
Gawain has two great desires, to keep his musical compositions on the interwebs secret and avoid being sent to military school by his now stern father. Gawain thinks he's musical passion has been discovered when called by his father into an interview with a decidedly weird, almost alien, stranger who sends Gawain with his little sister Angie as spies in a camp for brilliant children in the middle of Australia. On arrival, they meet a strange guardian Uri and a grammar Nazi dog, Retro, plus a bunch of quirky brilliant kids. Gawain realises that something decidedly strange is going on and that he must decide where his loyalties lie.
Taliesin's Mantle is a sequel to Merlin's Wood with an overlap of characters (yes, Holly, Reece and Tamizel and the Sharva) and some delightful new characters. The action is fast paced, with a dual narrative of dreams of the Arthurian court and events in the present that forms a chiastic pattern becoming clearer as the story progresses. Gawain spends much of the time confused and often wounded, while Angie is a force of nature. One of my favourite characters was Jed. Patterns, word-play, names and covenants all play their part as do cyclotrons, myth and mystery all coming together in a breathtaking climactic scene.
I greatly enjoyed the richness and complexity of the story, the colourful characters and the dual settings of central Australian desert and the Arthurian court. While reading the first book, Merlin's Wood first would be desirable, I think Taliesin's Mantle could also be read as a standalone.
September 8, 2023
Taliesin’s Mantle is a fascinating and intricately woven story with complex narrative layers that spiral across eras through the column of a mythical tree that transcends time and space. When Gawain and little sister, Angie, are sent with a “guardian” as spies to a secret supernerd camp in central Australia, seeking twins Reece and Holly, things swiftly go south—and not in the context of hemispheres. Gawain is a likeable teenage hero and protective of his often demanding little sister, Angie, but he’s also guarding a secret when it comes to his musical exploits (of which his parents disapprove) under his pseudonym “Taliesin’s Mantle”. Gawain’s first introduction to the slimy “alien-looking” military official requiring his services, leaves him with a constant pain in his hand, and before he and Angie even leave the country, Gawain is shot by a holographic dragon at Ohio airport. This sees him and his sister internet sensations, leading them to being personally escorted from America to Australia on Airforce One—so much for flying under the radar, especially when all he wants to do is hide his popular musical creations. Uncertain who he can trust, Gawain begins to make friends and discovers a local Australian fan of his music, Jed. There he's introduced to the idea of "songs that heal trauma and abuse and suffering". But when he and Jed, who is also a musician, hold a spontaneous jam session while trapped underground with a sword that spontaneously bursts into flames in Gawain's hands, they awaken the ancient frequencies of the land and time, accidentally falling into ”the tree”, through the skin of time. Historical, supernatural and modern narratives intersect in a way that draws the reader further into this gripping plot. Will Gawain ever remember who he is? Will he ever regain his voice? Will he and his new friends be able to close the portal through which they have fallen and return through time? Will they survive the maddened courts of a brutally ambitious King Arthur?
A skilfully crafted and engaging read. My only mild criticism is I would have liked a little more interaction from Gawain’s point of view in the closing scenes. :)
Disclaimer: I read a pre-publication version of Taliesin’s Mantle. However, what I missed during my initial reading was the specific formatting that enhances this novel and directs the reader, which didn't display well on the device on which I was reading the pre-publication draft. (A device issue, not a formatting issue.) This was definitely a benefit of the print copy for me, when reading second time around.
A skilfully crafted and engaging read. My only mild criticism is I would have liked a little more interaction from Gawain’s point of view in the closing scenes. :)
Disclaimer: I read a pre-publication version of Taliesin’s Mantle. However, what I missed during my initial reading was the specific formatting that enhances this novel and directs the reader, which didn't display well on the device on which I was reading the pre-publication draft. (A device issue, not a formatting issue.) This was definitely a benefit of the print copy for me, when reading second time around.
April 6, 2023
Maybe it's just me, but I found (even on second reading) some parts a bit hard to follow. Anne, though, has a wonderful imagination and has created an amazing universe with time slip and interplanetary travel done in a most imaginative way. Even so, I did enjoy this second book in the series as I did the first.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews