It’s book review time! Yes, I finally got all the way through a book!
I recently read The Codex of Tyler Grayson, written by my writer friend, Richard Gibbard.
Summary from Amazon:
Magic, monsters, and murder. Not usually three words that describe the life of a typical high school student.
But in the world of Tyler Grayson, these words describe his new life immaculately.
Upon discovery of his family’s treasured heirloom, the Codex of Creatures, everything changes. The tome speaks of Merfolk, Gadwen, Dragons and Demons, and all that was once fairy tale becomes real as tragedy and treachery strikes Tyler down and forces him to choose:
Comfort or Danger? Friend or Foe? Honor or Vengeance?
A new and exciting magical world awaits him, but it’s one that he never belonged to. Will the creatures trust him, an outsider, to fulfill the destiny wrought by his ancestors 2000 years prior?
The fate of the world depends on it, for it’s not only faeries and forest dryads that roam the realms of man. The dark and sinister lust for the Codex, and only Tyler Grayson stands in their way.
So just before Tyler turns 18, he finds out his mother was a Scribe. She traveled the world, filling the Codex with information about magical creatures — both good and bad. That job now falls to Tyler, with some help from his grandfather, his Adjutor Erika, and several mythical creatures along the way.
My favorite part of the story (as usual) was the characters! I especially liked Erika right away, as well as Mossy. What I really appreciated that amid all the crazy stuff — Tyler discovering magic, dealing with deaths, running from demons — the characters still did real, normal stuff. Like celebrating Tyler’s birthday and Erika’s love of music no matter how she was feeling. This is just a personal preference for me, and it’s something that makes characters feel much more real to me.
I also enjoyed reading about new creatures! I mean, I’m into the old classics like Elves, unicorns, and centaurs. But it was neat to have new creatures introduced by the Codex — with Tyler literally spelling out what the creature is and what its temperament is. I think that was a great way to introduce lots of new information without it being boring or slowing the pace of the plot. And on that note, the magic was explained well and wasn’t too complicated to figure out, which is a big bonus for me with fantasy books!
The sequel is in progress and I’m excited to see what happens next for Tyler!
If you want to check out The Codex of Tyler Grayson: Creatures Among Us (and you do!), you can find it on Amazon.
And follow Richard on Twitter for the Mythical #QuestionOfTheDay (always lots of fun) as well as news on the next book!
I’m going to give Creatures Among Us 5/5 stars!
Favorite scene, without giving too much away of course: Mossy and the creature gathering. (Felt very Narnia-ish to me)
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