Review: Tower of Parlen Min by Matt Xell

Book Description:

Ebook, 345 pages

July 23, 2010, Matt Xell

Ves Asirin, an orphaned and introverted boy with a complicated memory loss disorder, wins a trip to the TOWER OF PARLEN MIN, the home of the wealthiest inventor of the time, Jacobius Trent. There, with 19 other children, he must compete in the Sword Challenge; a series of intricate puzzles and daring tasks, for a prize of $12 million. As dazzling, glorious and liberating as the Tower seems to be for him, Ves finds that it keeps a dark and secret history that he has been unknowingly connected to for over 150 years, a secret that will define his future and destiny ... if he can escape The shadow; a powerful and seemingly unstoppable, supernatural serial killer.

Source: Matt Xell (Thank you!)

My Thoughts:

I’ll start by saying that Tower of Parlen Min is one of the most unique books I read this year. Matt Xell is a genius when it came to blending fantasy and mythology with his own ideas. I’ll never forget them. I’ve read a wide range of mythology from Greek to Norse and I’m familiar with the different tales regarding the paranormal, the mystical and the unexplained. But still, reading Tower of Parlen Min surprised me. It went beyond my expectations.

Ves was an interesting character. He was an 11-year-old orphan who had a strange memory loss disorder. Every day, his memory loss would be triggered and he would lose 10-15 hours of his memories worth. To help himself remember, he kept a scrapbook filled with sketches of his daily life and the people he interacted with and important notes. He was more or less antisocial, minded his own business and let go of a string of words to a select few. But his life changed when he was chosen to be sent to the Tower of Parlen Min. His relationships with the other children, especially with his groupmate Vikey and the High-spirited Tammi, were rather interesting. They were not smooth-sailing but through the days and the tasks spent together, they improved. I liked how he shed a little more of his antisocial behavior with every encounter.

Jacobius Trent was a rich guy who invited selected children from all over the world to spend two months with him at the Tower. The children’s adventures started with The Sword Challenge. Mr. Trent had ensured that it would be a fun, worthwhile and challenging experience for everyone. With the challenge came riddles, puzzles and tasks dealing with ancient stories, myths and supernatural creatures. It seemed dangerous and risky but each one of the children was coping well with the challenge. Things got more and more complicated as the children completed and failed their tasks. The Tower was not what it seemed. Secrets and horrors lurked in the hallways of the breathtaking place.

I loved the world and the fantasy. I never had a problem with too much going on at once. I liked the layers of stories within this novel. It was complicated, well-thought of and brilliant. But it would have been better if the characters were introduced more slowly. The novel as a whole was fantastic. Tower of Parlen Min is fun, thrilling, intriguing, unpredictable fantasy with amazing twists. I highly recommend this to fantasy and mythology readers. Don’t pass this up!

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