George Chedzoy

[Moonraker]

Kindle owners: George's book is available for free download from Amazon today!

[Danger Bird]

I've just started reading this. So far so Blyton!
I think I'm going to enjoy this book!

[Danger Bird]

I've just finished Smugglers at Whistling Sands and would highly recommend it. It really is a modern day Blyton adventure.

[Wayne Pyer]

I too have just finished this book and would highly recommend it.

[MJE]

     This sounds *seriously* interesting. Now I have to find out if it's available as a proper book. (A dead tree version, that is.)
     Have we at last found Enid Blyton's successor? Is this the only book he has written so far? If so, I hope many more follow. And maybe it helps me feel that it may still be viable to write stories of this sort today. I've begun one recently, but I've had a few niggling doubts about whether such a book can succeed today.

Regards, Michael.

[db105]

I came to the forum all excited about my discovery, but the search engine showed me it has already been discovered... Well, anyway, I think the thread deserves to be bumped.

I just read Smugglers at Whistling Sands, the first book in the Lou Elliott Mystery Adventures series, by George Chedzoy. I enjoyed it a lot and I recommend it for all Blyton fans. There are five books in the series so far, and the author has also written a few others. The ebooks are very inexpensive and for those who prefer paper there are cheap paperback editions too. Here's my mini-review:

Looking for a modern writer in Enid blyton's style led me to several disappointments, until I found this book. Here, we have a twelve year old girl, Lou Elliott, who befriends three siblings: twelve-year-old Jack, eleven-year-old David and ten-year-old Emily. Lou is quite the outdoors, self-sufficient, adventurous type, while the others are more sheltered, so she immediately becomes the leader of the group.

I enjoyed the dynamics between the characters, with the occasional squabbling among the siblings giving a sense of realism to the otherwise good-natured friendship. The pace is fast, with the adventure starting quite soon in the book when David accidentally overhears a conversation between two men who appear to be talking about smuggling.

I thought the author did a good job incorporating modern technology. The internet and mobile phones are used, but they do not dominate the adventure tale.

The writing was mostly quite good, adequate for a children's adventure like this. On the minus side, there were several occasions when there was an awkward passage, like this one:

<<
Her foothold gone, Lou started to slither down the bare cliff-face, which seemed to crumble away from her.

Grab something, anything! She thrashed out in panic. The man in the moon must have been on her side. His pale white face shone down again, lighting up the exposed root of a heather bush. Lou grasped it, praying it would take her weight. It did so -just- groaning horribly above the roar of the sea.
>>

So... how does a root groan horribly above the roar of the sea?

In spite of that, this was a very entertaining and dynamic story. It captures well the spirit of Blyton's adventures, and I highly recommend it.

[db105]

I also enjoyed book 2, The Missing Treasure. Really "Blytonesque". My mini review:

Second book of the Lou Elliott series, which is a modern series of children adventures in the style of Enid Blyton's Famous Five. The four friends (two boys and two girls) are back, led as always by the tomboy Lou Elliott.

The author does well in giving each of the children their own personality and role within the group. This is a very good choice for those looking for a modern alternative to the Famous Five. I thought it was better in some ways than the first book, avoiding some of the awkward turn of phrases that I noticed in the previous one. My only criticism is that at then end we get some situations that are not well thought-out (like some of the children being gagged when taken prisoners but not tied, so why didn't they use their hands to get rid of the gag?).

Nevertheless, I recommend this series for anyone looking for adventures where children are the main characters.