Review of The City of The Golden Sun

By Laurie Wood, Black Ice Reviews www.fmam.biz

THE CITY OF THE GOLDEN SUN is the second book in THE FISHERMAN’S SON Trilogy, by Marilyn Peake.  The story follows immediately upon the ending of the first book, in which the hero, Wiley O’Mara, had just rescued six boys from an underwater city with the help of his friend Elden, a talking dolphin. Arthur, Calder, Nevin, his little brother Neil, Kingston, and Keegan, the son of the King of the City of the Golden Sun, have been returned to Earth for a time.

Marilyn Peake pours together her same lyrical mix of fantasy, fairy tale metaphors, and mythology to bring along this tale of six boys from another culture under the sea. Their city had been hit by a falling meteor thousands of years ago and fallen deep into the ocean. They are lost in time, and after an encounter with the magic Lucinda at the magic lake deep in the Forest, they retreat back to the ocean and descend again through the deep, black waters on the backs of Elden and his friends.  Elden leaves Wiley with a cryptic comment, “Wiley, you are a servant within Keegan’s household…You were taken in when your father, a fisherman, lost his life at sea.”

Book Two is more complex than its predecessor. The premise of moving all seven of the boys through time, their relationships with each other, and their relationships with the marine life are all developed and brought to life by an author who’s grown much more comfortable with her storytelling. It’s a pleasure to see Wiley make friends and to find out more of his story, as well as discover the fantasy world that he lives in.  Peake is developing this world more fully and naturally, so much so that we can look forward to Book Three with anticipation.

These books are recommended for the age 9-12 crowd who will be mesmerized by the vivid imagery, and introduced to beautiful symbolism and structure.

Copyright (c) 2010 Marilyn Peake