This book combines a fantasy story and a treasure hunt for $2 million dollars in fairy rings! All the info is here.
Title: The Secrets of the Alchemist Dar
Author: Michael Stadther
Ages: 9+
Rating:
Zac the woodcutter and his elfling wife Ana live in a magical forest full of fairies, talking trees and more. But the evil fairies, who Zac helped imprison in their cave, have a new leader. The alchemist Dar has a book of evil spells and a plan to kill all the good fairies! The Secrets of the Alchemist Dar is more than just a fantasy story though, it has a puzzle-solving contest where the winners can get over $2 million in jeweled fairy rings.
Zac and Ana's Tale
The story of The Secrets of the Alchemist Dar is a cool and very old-fashioned fantasy adventure. It has a bunch of wacky characters, from a hyper-eager dragonfly to a pet dog-moth (doth) named Pook cuz he farts a lot. It comes in tiny, easy to read chapters so it's a great bedtime story book.
The Magic
What makes this book really stand out is the art, most of which is created by the author himself! Each page is filled with gorgeous drawings, and there are full-page pictures of the great forest, the fairies and even the evil Dar. The last quarter of the book is all full-color pages done up like the pages from the Dark Spells Dark book Dar uses to cast his spells. The whole book is also filled with puzzles and, if you solve the puzzles, you can win one of 100 fairy rings worth a total of $2 million. The most valuable ring is worth $1 million all by itself!
The Bottom Line
Michael Stadther has created a gorgeous book full of bright images and an easy-to-read story that's perfect for younger readers. He has also given older readers an incredible puzzle to solve with millions of dollars of real fairy treasure to be won. The book is a little pricey - $40 US for the hardcover - but with the amount of real life treasures to be won, it's worth picking up!
