Welcome to my tour stop for Tom Thorneval: Dream Merchant Extraordinaire by Cornelius Elmore Addison! This is a middle grade fantasy and the tour runs August 24 - 28 with reviews only. Check out the tour page for more information and be sure to stop by each tour stop as Tom Thorneval travels and you'll see him in a new stop (new graphic) on each blog!
About the Book
The first paperback from the Addison's Tales musical storyworld is set to appear this summer with the release of "Tom Thorneval – Dream Merchant Extraordinaire". The rippingly entertaining anti-fairytale follows the misadventures of a very likable Dreammaker aiming to make it big in the world of men. Unfortunately, his great plan has drawn the ire of Fate, and Tom is robbed of all his dreams shortly after setting out on his grand adventure.With his loyal (if slightly insane) stoat Wix, a devastated Tom battles on through a series of horrifically funny misfortunes as he makes his way towards what he hopes is the Grand Goblin Fair, only to draw farther away from it in the process. Will the courageous half-fairy make it back to his true love Mary? Will she be waiting for him? Or will all the orcs, imps, witches, dwarves and mysterious creatures that line the forest paths ruin his one chance at happiness?The answer lies in the pages of this innovative literary event that races middle-schoolers through a Pythonesque world of music, color and wild adventure. Readers are invited to listen to the three songs from the tale with their smartphones and go on to learn the über-catchy, author-composed melodies at the Addison's Tales channel on MuseScore.com. With its philosophical turns and fable-like qualities, Tom Thorneval is a modern twist on what it's like to be a little different in a very big world.
"Tom is a down-to-earth narrator, and his dream making is as clever as Roald Dahl’s in The BFG (1982). His adventures are also reminiscent of traveling through Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, and the driving later subplot of the book ... (spoiler removed) ... ends well. Although the book is the first in a planned series, the story feels complete and self-contained. It also includes QR codes to play the music included in the book, which is a nice touch for readers with the proper technology." - Kirkus Reviews
Goodreads | Amazon
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***My Personal Review***
Goblins and Fairies and Witches oh my! This is probably the best fantastical story I have read in a long time. Tom Thorneval is a Dreammaker but he has fallen on hard times due to upsetting Fate and the novel starts as he is making his way towards the Goblin Fair. He meets many fairy tale characters along the way and because his little stoat Wix has eaten the half of the map that shows where he needs to go he has to ask their assistance. So he is always wondering if they are sending him on the right path. I was totally hooked as soon as I saw in the first part of the book that it was one of those "choose your own adventure" type books where the reader gets to choose what Tom will do next! I remember those from my childhood and loved them. You could go back and the story could turn out differently each time you read it :) This is such a great take on a fairy tale world but not the typical fairy tale world we are used to - this is more like a cross between the popular fairy tales and the Grimm fairy tales - a little good, a little bad makes it just the right balance. I think this would be great for middle school readers and I am 39 and loved it! Kids at heart will absolutely adore this story.
Another thing that everyone will love about this is that it comes with a song track - at the beginning of the book is a bar code you can scan and download the musical and animation soundtrack that you can learn and sing while reading :) Tom is a very comical and yet lovable character and Wix his pet is just hilarious. I still am not sure what a stoat is but I am willing to believe in the magic of it all. If you like movies such as Ella Enchanted you will no doubt fall in love with this story and want to keep reading even when it's done. You cannot help but root for the hero Tom as he makes his way to the Goblin Fair and attempts to rebuild :)
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***My Personal Review***
Goblins and Fairies and Witches oh my! This is probably the best fantastical story I have read in a long time. Tom Thorneval is a Dreammaker but he has fallen on hard times due to upsetting Fate and the novel starts as he is making his way towards the Goblin Fair. He meets many fairy tale characters along the way and because his little stoat Wix has eaten the half of the map that shows where he needs to go he has to ask their assistance. So he is always wondering if they are sending him on the right path. I was totally hooked as soon as I saw in the first part of the book that it was one of those "choose your own adventure" type books where the reader gets to choose what Tom will do next! I remember those from my childhood and loved them. You could go back and the story could turn out differently each time you read it :) This is such a great take on a fairy tale world but not the typical fairy tale world we are used to - this is more like a cross between the popular fairy tales and the Grimm fairy tales - a little good, a little bad makes it just the right balance. I think this would be great for middle school readers and I am 39 and loved it! Kids at heart will absolutely adore this story.
Another thing that everyone will love about this is that it comes with a song track - at the beginning of the book is a bar code you can scan and download the musical and animation soundtrack that you can learn and sing while reading :) Tom is a very comical and yet lovable character and Wix his pet is just hilarious. I still am not sure what a stoat is but I am willing to believe in the magic of it all. If you like movies such as Ella Enchanted you will no doubt fall in love with this story and want to keep reading even when it's done. You cannot help but root for the hero Tom as he makes his way to the Goblin Fair and attempts to rebuild :)
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To make it easy, think of the web as a canvas like the cinema screen or a book. Instead of just one film or story for the canvas, however, Addison's Tales is composed of multiple stories, animated videos and songs that can be discovered over ‘bridges’ (hyperlinks) leading from one part of the storyworld to the next like a colourful online garden expanding over time.
Users can enjoy sights, sounds and emotions waiting within the ebooks, apps, music, cartoons and paperbacks. It is a very new approach to storytelling that does not require you to start at any particular page or scene and draws on the unique crossmedia storytelling capabilities of the web. But if you REALLY need a beginning, head to www.addisonstales.com
Here you will meet the creator C. E. Addison in his cottage surrounded by the characters he has purchased from Mack the Character Merchant. Scroll around the cottage to learn about his characters and follow the links to their tales available in your preferred format. The first suggested tale is “The Dream”, where Mr Addison meets Mack.
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GIVEAWAY:
One paperback of Tom Thorneval: Dream Merchant Extraordinaire by Cornelius Elmore Addison
Open Worldwide
Ends September 2nd
Prizing is provided by the publisher, hosts are not responsible in any way.
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