M. Romero, Caleng and the Moonstone Pearl Review

Overall Rating

Caleng and the Moonstone Pearl
M. Romero
1st Books 2003, 322 pp.
ISBN: 1410762114

Living in the Kingdom of Golad in the Land of Faye, Prince Caleng may be a purebred Faerie, but like youths of any species he is curious about everything so he impishly seems to get into everything. His goal is to become a great wizard even more renowned than the mighty Andrade. However, instead he finds himself leaving his home at Brzden Castle on a dangerous quest.

He seeks the legendary wizard Fyn'hazzmhn, banished by his father King Perret, many ages ago. For through the aid of the mighty wizard, Caleng hopes to rescue his missing father. However, the lad's odyssey takes Caleng far beyond the realm of faerie into a world full of hate, a land of mortals in which he is not only a lost soul transformed into a human body, but could easily meet "mortal" death in this ball of confusion.

On the surface this youthful epic fantasy is clearly aimed at a young audience but adults will also appreciate the powerful tale that contains several moral points imbedded brilliantly into Caleng's adventure. The story line is fast-paced yet the author M. Romero insures that key characters, especially those that are mythological, seems real. That is the key to the quest as the Land of Faye and the other realms visited by Caleng seem authentic so that the audience receives a fabulous story that is both complex and simple as only a grand enchantress of a writer can do.

Harriet Klausner