Acoustic Alchemy by Richard GradnerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this contemporary fantasy story because of the strong characterisation of the main protagonist, Tracy Barnes. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story and its emphasis upon the secrets of the ancient civilisation and culture of Turkey reminded me a little of a Dan Brown’s book, Inferno, which I read last year. Tracy discovers on her 17th birthday that she has the powers of an oracle, like her grandmother, who is also well-written by the author. When she goes to Turkey with her archaeologist father they discover an ancient flute, which has magical properties. From this point in the story Tracy’s adventures begin at an ever increasing pace. She has an evil adversary called Sabine, with equal powers to herself and who is intent upon murder. The plot holds up well throughout the book and I found myself turning the pages to find out what happened next, even though I rarely read books in the fantasy genre.
I expect there will be many younger fans of fantasy books who will really like this book, particularly because of the dialogue between the teenagers in it. The author has included lots of contemporary idiomatic terms and expressions that are most probably used by teenagers day-to-day. As a reader of a much more mature age I can only speculate upon this but I greatly admired Gradner’s heroic efforts. It added an authenticity to the tale that I found bewildering at times but which is probably expected!
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