Centre of Magic Pb (The Floramonde Books) [Paperback]

Pamela Freeman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin children's books (August 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1864488549
• ISBN-13: 978-1864488548
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,344,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pamela Freeman is an award-winning Australian author of books for both adults and children. Most of her work is fantasy but she has also written science fiction, mystery stories, family dramas and non-fiction. Her first adult series, the Castings Trilogy (Blood Ties, Deep Water and Full Circle) is published globally by Orbit books, and was followed by a stand alone from the same universe, Ember and Ash.

Pamela's best known children's books are the junior novels Victor's Quest and victor's Challenge and an associated series, the Floramonde books, and for The Black Dress: Mary MacKillop's Early Years, which won the NSW Premier's History Prize in 2006. Pamela's children's books have also been shortlisted for the NSW State Literary Awards, the Children's Book Council Book of the Year Awards, the Koala Awards and the Wilderness Society Environment Awards. Pamela is a Doctor of Creative Arts. Pamela's websites are: www.castingstrilogy.com (adults) and www.pamelafreemanbooks.com (kids).

Pamela started writing for kids as a scriptwriter at the Australian Broadcasting Commission's Children's Department - she wrote and researched over fifty shows for kids and young adults. While there she started writing short stories for children. Her first book, The Willow Tree's Daughter, was published in 1994.

Pamela relaxes by playing the drums very loudly and teaches (including online) at the Sydney Writers' Centre.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Third and Final in the Floramunde Trilogy, July 6, 2003

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Centre of Magic Pb (The Floramonde Books) (Paperback)

"The Centre of Magic" is the final in the three Floramunde books, beginning with "The Willow Tree's Daughter" which told of the love between King Max of Floramunde and Salixia, the dryad of the willow tree, their child Princess Betony and her romance with the gardener's boy Basil. In "Windrider" we learnt of the chance Betony was offered by the dragon Windrider to "put down roots" and become a dryad herself, and her friend's and family's efforts to bring her back into their world. Finally, in "The Centre of Magic" we are introduced to the wizard Colchis, who has been expelled from the Wizard's Guild in the next kingdom from Floramunde, and his search for power and revenge. Knowing that Floramunde is filled with Wild Magic rather than the less potent Human Magic, he crosses over in order to tap into its source and restrain it for himself.

To do so requires him to find the Centre of Magic in Floramunde - an ancient comet that crashed to the earth and became the founding of Floramunde's power. With this he adds two young dryad trees - mercilessly pulling them from their forest homes, and the power of necromancy to pull Wild Magic into his control. But the Centre of Magic is on the land of a farmer and his wife, and their children are quite curious as to what Colchis is getting up to - and so his experiment is interrupted at a crucial point, and the Wild Magic spills out over the land...

Meanwhile, the inhabitants of the palace are well aware of some of the mischief that Colchis has been up to. With the ability to hear and speak to the wind Betony, Salixia and their fairy godmother-and-gardener Rosie know that two dryads have been pulled from the soil and that trouble is brewing. Betony and her husband Basil set off to search for the uprooted trees, followed by Rosie's assistant Jo who has her own aspirations to conquer her fear and display heroics. But with the unleashing of Wild Magic upon the earth, there are some very unexpected side effects occuring - people are transforming into their true selves, whether it be a weasel, a centaur, a cat or a griffin. And most seem to be enjoying it - so what should the final decision of the three adventurers be? To reverse the magic, or to let people remain as they are? Perhaps Jo has the answer...

I will always be thankful I picked up "The Willow Tree's Daughter" at the library, as it swiftly became a favourite of mine with its clear, inventive stories, comic moments, and its ability to make astonishingly profound comments for what is considered 'children's books'. This trend continued into 'Windrider', but unfortunatly, though I still enjoyed it, I did not quite think 'The Centre of Magic' lived up to the first two books. Some characters did not appear as much as they did previously, such as Windrider, Ralph and Cassandra, and Clover did not appear at all! Furthermore, since the story was told from the point of view of Jo rather than Betony, the story seemed to be taking a different direction than normal.

However, the 'Floramunde' books are a rare treasure, and also they are not as sophisticated as Harry Potter, I loved their whimsey and the deep meanings to be found under the simplicity. Please, please, do yourself a favour and track these books down.