Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box [Hardcover]

G. P. Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2008

A new spine-tingling adventure by the author of Shadowmancer

The Prince Regent is no ordinary hotel—powered entirely by steam, run by an eccentric inventor who doesn’t believe in sleep, it’s a place full of shadowy characters and dangerous secrets. Mariah has just started working there as a magician’s assistant, and when he and his coworker Sacha unwittingly learn more than they were meant to know, they suddenly find themselves pawns in an evil plot so full of twists and turns that even the labyrinth of hidden tunnels and caverns beneath the hotel can’t contain it.

As they struggle to unravel the mystery and stay alive in the process, encountering secret rooms, enchanted objects and vicious mythical creatures, they question whom to trust. All the adults—even the ones offering help—seem to be hiding something. After all, Mariah only got his job because his predecessor vanished one night—and, as Mariah is fast realizing, not all magic tricks are illusions.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up—At 15, Mariah Mundi leaves the Chiswick Colonial School, where he has been since his parents' failure to return from the Sudan, to begin a job as a magician's apprentice at the Prince Regent, a colossal hotel built into a cliff side in the north of England. While the hotel's guests experience luxury aboveground, the slimy, below-sea-level basements abound in magic, murders, and devilish doings. Mariah is befriended by a servant girl, Sacha, and together they try to find Felix, the last in a line of boys sent from the Colonial School who has mysteriously vanished. In an Egyptian sarcophagus deep in the basement, the two find a clue that leads Mariah to fear for his life. The hotel's owner is an evil, narcoleptic man intent on amassing riches and finding the magic box that will turn anything put in it into gold. A kracken, a sea witch, a magic porcelain doll, a crocogon (a dragon/crocodile mix), a crab the size of a grand piano, wax figures, cadavers, and skeletons add to this open-ended story of good versus evil. With a Dickensian feel and an Edward Gorey-like cover illustration, this dark and dense fantasy quest is inviting and highly imaginative. Yet, the plot is overly complicated and difficult to follow, the shifting characters hard to keep straight. Rich descriptions tend to overwhelm the story. This is a book that will appeal to those young people who like to be challenged and who enjoy re-reading in order to uncover new levels of meaning.—Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, ME
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From Booklist

Taylor, author of the Shadowmancer series, begins a new series set in Victorian England. Mariah Mundi is a lad sent from his school in London to work at the Regency Hotel perched atop a cliff in a small coastal town. The hotel itself is a wonder of steam-powered marvels and murky subterranean passageways, but something odd is afoot. The boys who previously held Mariah’s job have all mysteriously disappeared, and to keep from sharing their fate Mariah must uncover an intricately tangled plot hatched by any number of sinister villains. Taylor piles on enough eccentric characters, magic artifacts, and bizarre creatures to keep even the wildest young imaginations churning as Mariah finds himself transported into an increasingly fantastical world. While a good many of the complicated plot devices are not fully developed or resolved and most of the personality is given to the large cast of adults, this remains an atmospheric, diabolically inventive thriller that will keep readers guessing to the last word—even if they don’t know exactly what the mystery is until it’s solved. Grades 6-9. --Ian Chipman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 292 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (May 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039924347X
• ISBN-13: 978-0399243479
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #741,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A motorcyclist and former rock band roadie turned Anglican minister, Graham Peter (G. P.) Taylor has been hailed as "hotter than Potter" and "the new C. S. Lewis" in the United Kingdom. His first novel, "Shadowmancer," reached #1 on the "New York Times" Best Sellers List in 2004 and has been translated into 48 languages. His other novels include "Wormwood" (another "New York Times" best seller which was nominated for a Quill Book Award), "The Shadowmancer Returns: The Curse of Salamander Street," "Tersias the Oracle," and "Mariah Mundi." Taylor currently resides in North Yorkshire with his wife and three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Young adult action story set in Britain, June 17, 2008

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box (Hardcover)

Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box by G.P. Taylor is a young adult novel set in rather dark and gloomy England. Mariah Mundi, the hero of the story, is a Colonial Boy-a graduate of the Chiswick Colonial School. He is sent off with a first-class suit and a third-class ticket to work at the Prince Regent, the world's finest hotel and the brainchild of inventor Otto Luger. It isn't long before Mariah meets a mysterious stranger who gives him a magical deck of cards for safekeeping. He meets people on the train who make him wonder what dangers working at the Prince Regent will bring.

Soon after he arrives at the hotel and is set to helping the Great Bizmillah, a magician who wants to do more than just stage magic. His new friend Sacha is a mischievous girl who knows the hotel well. She is worried about her friend Felix who disappeared abruptly like the boys before him. Mariah realizes quickly that all is not what it seems at the luxury hotel, or in the little town below it.

The Midas Box has a lot going for it. While the beginning is a bit slow, once the action starts it is relentless. It is full of people who may be friends, or perhaps enemies. There is magic and monsters and a puzzle to be figured out. The book is written in a straightforward style that allows the story to come through. The characters are likable though there is plenty left to learn about them. This is a good thing since I suspect that this is the first in a series.

Armchair Interview says: Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box is a fun read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best G. P. Taylor Book I've Read, March 4, 2011

By 

Cson "hornspoon .com" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box (Hardcover)

Mariah Mundi, fresh out of Chiswick Colonial School, is on his way to work at the Prince Regent Hotel. That was his first mistake. Second was not realizing that the hotel's many dark secrets weren't content to stay that way...

First and foremost, this book is ridiculously creepy. The impossibly sinister villains, mixed with the darkest of magic, all set in a dreary 1800's England makes for very interesting, and fast paced, gothic horror. In his previous novels, G. P. Taylor's pacing was severely hindered by his lengthy descriptions of the not-so-interesting scenery. No longer. Somewhere between writing Shadowmancer and Mariah Mundi, Mr. Taylor must have discovered how to make his descriptions advance the plot, keeping the pacing at a breakneck speed.

I only have two complaints. First is the fact that I didn't feel like I really knew the two main characters as much as I would've liked. Through all the creepiness and horror, I think I kind of missed most of the character development. Second is Mariah's name. It kept making me think of Mariah Carey. But I suppose this is a horror novel, after all.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book for Everyone, September 27, 2008

By 

Ty Falco (Fort Wayne, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mariah Mundi: The Midas Box (Hardcover)

I noticed an ad for this book in Realms of Fantasy magazine. The cover caught my eye and the Amazon preview hooked me. I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and the action was fast-paced. Readers of all ages will enjoy the adventures of Mariah Mundi. I look forward to reading more books from this author.