Peter Dickinson has won a number of awards including the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread. In fact, the book to
which Angel Isle is a sequel - The Ropemaker - was a Printz Honor book. But you don't have to look
over his awards to know he's an amazing author; you just have to crack open one of his books.
In Angel Isle, four unlikely heros come together to save their world: a frightened 12-year-old girl
who can sense the presence of magic; a shepherd boy who just happens to be an incredible magical prodigy; a mill
keeper who can hear water talk; and a fiery escaped slave who does the magic that sets everything in motion. This
small group is looking for the Ropemaker, a legendary magician who can put an end to the magical tyranny of The
Watchers. The Watchers were once set in place to protect the empire, but became corrupted by magic and now rule
at all costs.
The journey to find the Ropemaker is filled with magic and adventure, and it leaves none of the four travellers
unchanged. This is a huge novel - 500 pages - and not a quick read. The writing is engaging with characters that
linger, but it's definitely a book that forces you to take your time and savor the story. I found the appendix
particularly interesting, as it uses string theory to help us understand the working of the story's magic.
For this book, magic doesn't make anything easy - but it does keep things exciting. Although the story has a
satisfying ending, it clearly leaves room for revisiting this world, should the author feel so inclined. We can
only hope he does.