Welcome to my tour stop for Tom Thorneval: Dream Merchant Extraordinaire by Cornelius Elmore Addison! This is a middle grade fantasy and the tour runs August 24 - 28 with reviews only. Check out the tour page for more information and be sure to stop by each tour stop as Tom Thorneval travels and you'll see him in a new stop (new graphic) on each blog!
About the Book:
The first paperback from the Addison's Tales musical storyworld is set to appear this summer with the release of "Tom Thorneval – Dream Merchant Extraordinaire". The rippingly entertaining anti-fairytale follows the misadventures of a very likable Dreammaker aiming to make it big in the world of men. Unfortunately, his great plan has drawn the ire of Fate, and Tom is robbed of all his dreams shortly after setting out on his grand adventure.With his loyal (if slightly insane) stoat Wix, a devastated Tom battles on through a series of horrifically funny misfortunes as he makes his way towards what he hopes is the Grand Goblin Fair, only to draw farther away from it in the process. Will the courageous half-fairy make it back to his true love Mary? Will she be waiting for him? Or will all the orcs, imps, witches, dwarves and mysterious creatures that line the forest paths ruin his one chance at happiness?The answer lies in the pages of this innovative literary event that races middle-schoolers through a Pythonesque world of music, color and wild adventure. Readers are invited to listen to the three songs from the tale with their smartphones and go on to learn the über-catchy, author-composed melodies at the Addison's Tales channel on MuseScore.com. With its philosophical turns and fable-like qualities, Tom Thorneval is a modern twist on what it's like to be a little different in a very big world.
"Tom is a down-to-earth narrator, and his dream making is as clever as Roald Dahl’s in The BFG (1982). His adventures are also reminiscent of traveling through Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, and the driving later subplot of the book ... (spoiler removed) ... ends well. Although the book is the first in a planned series, the story feels complete and self-contained. It also includes QR codes to play the music included in the book, which is a nice touch for readers with the proper technology."
- Kirkus Reviews
This book was like a blast from the past, it was fairy tales, adventure, misfortune, and a choose your own all wrapped into one beautiful package. Tom is not your normal adventurer - conquering bad guys going on his merry way - he is more like the Greek myths of old... bad things keep happening to him and he is trying to get out alive and make the best of the situations.
Tom Thorneval is a half-fairy trying to take his dreammaking business on the road to the Goblin Fair, only to get horribly lost and have SO many bad things happen to him. The story sets off with Tom as he starts his adventure and eventually the reader is able to see a lot of character growth in Tom through his misfortune.
When we began Tom is a headstrong dreammaking looking to make a quick buck on his wares, by the end - not so much and it is refreshing even though through most of the story you feel so sorry for him. But all of it is character building (quite literally since it is a book). The story talks a lot about choosing the right path and understanding the path you are on as well. It was a charming tale.
What made it even more exciting was that the ebook is also interactive! Ever read a book and the characters sings and you try to make a tune to fit but come up short? That won't happen here - there are links to the actual songs that you can listen to embedded in the appropriate places. There is even a choice the reader helps Tom make about 1/4 of the way through the book - choose his path, see what happens - all so much fun. I think that younger readers will definitely enjoy it especially because as an adult I found it new and different and a lot of fun.
This would also be a great book to read a a family and talk about why things may have happened to Tom and how he could have avoided some/ all of his troubles. A wonderful book!
To make it easy, think of the web as a canvas like the cinema screen or a book. Instead of just one film or story for the canvas, however, Addison's Tales is composed of multiple stories, animated videos and songs that can be discovered over ‘bridges’ (hyperlinks) leading from one part of the storyworld to the next like a colourful online garden expanding over time.
Users can enjoy sights, sounds and emotions waiting within the ebooks, apps, music, cartoons and paperbacks. It is a very new approach to storytelling that does not require you to start at any particular page or scene and draws on the unique crossmedia storytelling capabilities of the web. But if you REALLY need a beginning, head to www.addisonstales.com
Here you will meet the creator C. E. Addison in his cottage surrounded by the characters he has purchased from Mack the Character Merchant. Scroll around the cottage to learn about his characters and follow the links to their tales available in your preferred format. The first suggested tale is “The Dream”, where Mr Addison meets Mack.
One paperback of Tom Thorneval: Dream Merchant Extraordinaire by Cornelius Elmore Addison
Open Worldwide
Ends September 2nd
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible in any way.
This event was organized by CBB Book Promotions.
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