Between Angst and Boredom

From StarMag, 2nd July 2006
Byline: Review by DAPHNE LEE

ENDYMION SPRING

By Matthew Skelton

Publisher: Puffin Books, 352 pages

(ISBN: 0-141-32035-4)

WHILE browsing the shelves in an Oxford University college library, 12-year-old Blake Winters is “bitten” by a book. It is an old volume, with an unusual silver clasp shaped like a snake’s fang – it draws blood! Etched on the cracked leather cover is the name Endymion Spring, but inside, the book is completely blank.

However, as Blake gazes at its finely-veined pages, a verse appears on the paper before him. Intrigued, he decides to find out all he can about the book and soon realises that there are others who are also interested in it and who will stop at nothing to possess it.

Just who or what is Endymion Spring?

Well, in the beginning of the book, we learn that it is the name of a boy who lived in 15th century Germany and was apprentice to Johannes Gutenberg, the man credited with inventing moveable type. In this book Skelton suggests that it is Gutenberg’s patron, Johann Fust, who inspired the story of Faust, the man who sold his soul to the devil.

Historically, Fust sued Gutenberg, effectively bankrupting him. Opinions vary as to whether Fust’s actions were justified. Skelton simply adds supernatural elements to the bare facts, turning Fust into a power-hungry tyrant who has stumbled upon a book that contains the secrets of the universe. Trouble is, not only does the book choose to whom it wants to reveal these secrets, without the blood of a child to feed on, its pages will remain blank.

Endymion Spring unwittingly causes writing to appear in the book and hundreds of years later, Blake finds himself in the same powerful and dangerous position. At first the book is a welcome distraction: His parents aren’t getting on and his mother, an American academic, has “escaped” to Oxford (with Blake and sister, Duck, in tow) to do some research. Blake misses his dad and is angry as hell and bored to tears.

Blake’s first encounter with the book piques the reader’s interest, no thanks to the cheesy bit of doggerel that magically appears on one of its pages. But once he starts actively looking for clues, the whole exercise starts reading and feeling like a chore. Maybe it's because the reader is never ever convinced of Blake’s interest in the book. He’s intrigued, yes, but he’s snooping mainly out of boredom and, partly, to spite his mum.

The subplot, which deals with Blake’s relationship with his mother and the way he copes with separation from his father, is really quite tedious. Did Skelton decide that his hero needed to deal with some personal crisis to make him more believable and sympathetic? The way Blake handles his family problems simply makes him look like a resentful, unreasonable kid who has no intention of trying to understand what’s going on with his parents.

This is probably an accurate portrayal of a typical tween stuck in a place like Oxford University (“What? You mean the Bodleian doesn’t have a Playstation?!”), but it left me really disliking the brat. After all, children’s fiction is full of bratty individuals (Lyra Silvertongue for choice) who still manage to inspire affection and admiration. Not Blake though. His sister, Duck, is even more annoying, and most of the adult characters, who appear in the present-day parts of the book, are no better.

In fact, halfway through Endymion Spring I found myself thinking, “If only Skelton had stayed put in the 15th century.” The story of how the book comes to be and Endymion Spring’s escape from Fust is much more compelling than Blake’s adventures.

Certainly, Fust is a considerably more convincing (even fascinating) villain than the character who is finally revealed as Blake’s arch nemesis. Her transformation from merely slightly sinister to downright devilish is so abrupt and extreme that she might as well have been given cloven hooves, horns and a pitchfork.

By the time Blake’s quest comes to a contrived and hurried end, I was no longer interested in the lad. However, I did want to know more about young Endymion. What secrets did the dragon skin reveal to him and how did he resist the temptation to use the knowledge selfishly? Skelton needs to write another book and, this time, focus on the right boy.