Did You Know That Goblins Invented Baseball?

 

Author: Paul Lonardo
Publisher: PL Publishing
Published: April 11, 2021

Goodreads Blub: 
The one thing eleven-year-old Jake Lupo loves more than anything else is baseball. However, despite his father being a professional pitcher, Jake's fear of failing has kept him from competing against children his own age. When his father, who has recovered from a serious arm injury, is invited to pitch for an independent team, Jake and his parents move to Pine Barrows, a far flung forested mountain outpost. Jake is excited about his father's chance at a comeback, but he soon learns that he is not the only one in Pine Barrows who loves baseball. Goblins love to play baseball, too, and Pine Barrows happens to be chock full of them. Then Jake discovers that the region is occupied by two factions of warring goblins.

Seeking to take control of the goblin kingdom, the leader of the evil goblins kidnaps Jake's mother and bans baseball, a game which itself is a natural source of power for the goblins.

It turns out that Jake has a secret kinship with the legendary beings, and he is the only one who can save them, their kingdom and his mother. However, Jake must believe in himself and play a winner-take-all game against the best goblin players in Pine Barrows. 

My Thoughts: This book was absolutely delightful. I'm an avid reader of folklore, so I really loved that all the different types of goblins and other faerie creatures were straight out of lore or fairystories. The hogboon, fachan, redcap, kallikanzaros, and Jenny Greenteeth, (just to name a few) are all creatures pulled from (mostly European) legends. These terrifying creatures have been stalking human imaginations for centuries. Jenny Greenteeth, goblins, and hobgoblins have even made their way into D&D (Dungeons & Dragons). I found Lonardo's depiction of the goblins quite accurate, I loved how many different species there were - every goblin was unique, and contributed something useful to their society. 

While this story abounds with magic, goblins, and intrigue, the true heart of the story is about baseball. I like baseball, I like going to baseball games, but I do not speak baseball. Jake speaks baseball. He knows every facet of the game, he knows statistics, and theories, and formulas that made absolutely no sense to me. So it's understandable that I got a bit lost during the "big game", I could follow everything until the baseball lingo really started. So, avid fans of baseball, you're gonna love this book, casual fans, maybe find a dictionary. 

At the end of the day, goblins really love baseball. And I mean REALLY LOVE BASEBALL. They invented it after all. The game is everything to them, Buach (evil goblin overlord) first started down the path to the darkside because he got cut from a junior league team. Seriously. I'm not making this up. The goblins are divided into two factions - The Order (which Buach leads) and the Resistance (lead by Skip). Basically the Resistance wants to play baseball and have a good time, and the Order wants to control everything and demolish all happiness. Seems pretty easy to pick out the good guys, as Jake's dad says: "You can't trust anyone who doesn't like baseball". Turns out all the goblins LOVE baseball, even Buach, though he may deny it. 

I thought this book was very fun, a good step into the world of fantasy for young readers, AND an awesome bridge between sports and fantasy. If Rip Van Winkle's dwarf friends could play nine-pins, then goblins can play baseball.

Rating:

Song of Echoes is a rich, epic fantasy with a wonderful heroine

Title: Song of Echoes

Author: R. E. Palmer

Genre: Fantasy

Publication Date: July 12, 2021

Buy Song of Echoes

Blurb:

‘All that has gone before is woven into the Song; joy, sorrow; kind acts and cruel acts; creation and destruction. Past, present, and what has yet to come, make themselves known — if you know how to listen.’

For three hundred years, the people of the Five Realms have lived in relative peace, protected by their great leader, the Archon. Yet, far to the north, in the frozen lands beyond the Draegalen Trench, the Ruuk stir, driven by a rising evil, long believed banished from the world. But rumors questioning the Archon’s ability to defend the realms once more, persist.

Elodi, the Lady Harlyn, uneasy in her new role following the death of her father, and Toryn, a farmworker and outsider in his village, must discover a way to fight an enemy that all but defeated their ancestors.

Song of Echoes is the first book in this epic fantasy series.

Me:

This is an exciting post because I get to review a book I beta read that is now being published! 

R. E. Palmer's Song of Echoes is a rich fantasy adventure in the tradition of Prydain, Earthsea, and dare I say Middle-Earth. It strikes that balance that's hard to achieve but crucial in fantasy: beautiful world-building and a forward momentum plot. Plus it has a young, precocious hero of unknown origins (Toryn) and a fully developed heroine (Elodi) who is much more than just a "strong" female character. In other words, it has everything I want in a book.

There are three reasons I couldn't put this book down: the action, the suspense, and Elodi.

The action. There are a couple of really epic battle scenes that almost made me miss my subway stop (seriously, it was real close) because I was so engrossed. I could picture the action vividly in my head. 

The suspense. By which I mean mysteries that I just had to keep reading to find out about. For example: how did Elodi's father really die? Who was Toryn's father? Who is the strange magic-worker who saves Toryn's life? Is the Archon, protector of the realm, really a good guy? Etc.

Elodi. All the characters in this book are very distinct and well-developed, and both Toryn and Elodi (the two main characters) have great arcs. Some characters I absolutely loved, others I found mysterious and intriguing, and there are others whose morality I'm still not sure about. But when all is said and done, Elodi is just the best and clearly I can't review this book without mentioning her multiple times. Picture Eowyn but as the queen of Rohan and with more inner dialogue, slowly gaining confidence in her leadership abilities. 

While all of that kept me reading, the land, lore, and magic ushered me into a rich, wondrous new world I didn't want to leave. In the end, isn't that one of the best things about fantasy? There were moments that felt numinous and sublime in the way Narnia sometimes feels, and references to old tales and myths that reminded me of Tolkien's Middle-Earth. Sometimes fantasy worlds feel a little thin or lacking, but this world is rich with history, legends, creatures, peoples, and places. 

All in all, a truly epic read.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.