Editorial Content for The Goblin's Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice

Andrew Chilton gleefully melds numerous fantasy elements, along with plenty of originality, in his debut novel, THE GOBLIN’S PUZZLE: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice.

As the title makes apparent, this novel is both playful and a ripping good adventure story. In the very first chapter, a nameless boy becomes an accessory to a crime punishable by death when he fails to protect his master from a murderous fellow slave, while elsewhere in the kingdom, a disgruntled nobleman conjures a dragon. The nobleman is the diabolical Duke Geoffrey, who is incensed that the king plans to change the laws of succession so that the crown can be passed to the king’s daughter, Princess Alice. He summons a dragon to kidnap the princess and solve his problems once and for all.

Andrew Chilton gleefully melds numerous fantasy elements, along with plenty of originality, in his debut novel, THE GOBLIN’S PUZZLE

But the dragon (who’s named Ludwig and is actually a pretty nice guy, as dragons go) kidnaps the wrong Alice, instead capturing a girl known as Plain Alice (even though she’s actually rather pretty). Plain Alice is sharp as a tack --- she’s been studying for years in the hopes that she might someday be invited to become a sage like her father.

As for that nameless boy, he winds up on running for his life, on the way taking up company with a goblin named Mennofar (for short) and getting enlisted to rescue Plain Alice. Since the goblin knows everything, he knows the true story of the boy’s origins and the reason he doesn’t have a name. However, he won’t tell, so the boy tries to figure out which of the countless folk and fairy tale tropes he might fit into --- because he must be a hero, right?

Chilton is obviously well-versed in fantasy literature and lore, from classic characters and situations to plots and puzzles. But the novel also has a refreshing, contemporary feel and plenty of modern-day originality, with humor in abundance and jokes that kids and their parents (if they’re lucky enough to get to read this aloud) will enjoy equally. And as for those puzzles, they will keep readers guessing throughout; in fact, the novel itself acts as a sort of puzzle, with numerous pieces that fit together into an intricate and thoroughly satisfying whole.