#Blogtour The Stranger's Door To Talliston by John Tarrow

It's a pleasure to revisit the world of Talliston and take part in the Blogtour The Stranger's Door to Talliston by John Tarrow.

The Stranger's Door To Talliston is a YA fantasy adventure set in Britain's most extraordinary home: Talliston House & Gardens. It is both sequel & prequel to The Stranger’s Guide To Talliston (2019) & Letters From The Labyrinth (2020) books.

About the Author

John Tarrow is a storyteller, poet, shaman, award-winning author and creator of Britain’s most extraordinary home; Talliston House & Gardens. The Stranger's Door To Talliston Buy: mybook.to/TheStrangersDoor More info: John Tarrow - linktr.ee/JohnTarrow

About the book

It is Twelfth Night 1590 and thirteen-year-old Bríane races to save her grandmother from execution for crimes of witchcraft. Only one thing can prove her innocence; a magical grimoire owned by the town’s dark and sinister lord. In the attempt the girl loses the precious book at a crossroad of all worlds called The Forest of Doors. Can she locate the spell book in time to save Old Mother Moore from her terrible fate? Or will she fall victim to the wood’s dark and dangerous puzzle of doors and rooms?

Both sequel and prequel to The Stranger’s Guide To Talliston, this new story revisits many of the original thirteen locations but in entirely different moments – plus adds two dozen new rooms in its extraordinary expanded universe. Starting in Elizabethan Essex, The Stranger’s Door To Talliston goes deeper into the mysteries, adventures and heroes battling to save the last magical places on Earth.

The house - The novel is inspired by and set inside a unique and amazing house and gardens. Talliston was a 25-year project that took the UK’s most ordinary house and transformed it, room by room, by ordinary people on an ordinary budget, into Britain’s Most Extraordinary Home. 

Starting as a three-bedroomed, semi-detached, ex-council house in Essex, today not a single square centimetre of the original house remains. In its place is an extraordinary labyrinth of locations, each set in different times and places.

Review

At a time when the oppression and subjugation of girls and women are at the forefront of the majority of political, religious and social agendas, witchcraft seems like the obvious place to go. At the heart of this tale is Briane trying desperately to save her grandmother from the accusation of witchcraft and planned execution because of said accusation.

Being bold enough to steal the solution means she is in the crosshairs of accusations and threats levelled against her, and when she loses the grimoire that holds the solution to her problems, there begins  a journey of confusion and desperation.

I'm going to go back to something I said about the Stranger's Guide to Talliston - It's an intricate, fascinating and ambitious YA fantasy. I can understand wanting everything in one story or book, however the sheer magnitude of ideas and worlds probably needed more depth and page space. A series of books perhaps or this one and then a series of books with a focus on a different area each time. - And although this one has more of main character at the core with the worlds revolving around her as she is hurtled to and fro - the point remains the same.

It offers such a wide range of context, concepts, worlds and forever intertwining thoughts and ideas, that it sometimes feels like riding a complex rollercoaster with spontaneous destination stops - and yet they are all connected. It's a book and series I would recommend to older teens, advanced fantasy buffs, then again it is also the kind of book that has the ability to create a lover of complex plots. 

I'm intrigued to see where Tarrow will take the Chronicles next and remain intrigued by Talliston - the amazing house a visual concept and inspiration to art and soul.

Buy The Stranger's Door To Talliston at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd; pub date 25 Sept. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#BlogTour The Stranger's Guide to Talliston by John Tarrow

Technically it was my turn on the Blogtour on the 16th, but moving house and reading and preparing the completely wrong book and post got in the way of that, so here we are today instead.

About the Author
John Tarrow is a novelist, poet, storyteller and award-winning writer. His fascination with folk and faerie tales has taken him around the world, gathering threads of story and legend to weave into his own mythologies: hiss extensive studies in Lakota Sioux and Druidic traditions offer readers stories resonant with magic, folklore and the wonder of the natural world. he pent twenty-five years transforming a three-bedroom, semi-detached, ex council house in Essex into the world famous Talliston House and Gardens.
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Visit tallistonhq.wixsite.com/tarrow
Buy The Stranger's Guide to Talliston

About the book
Abandoned and alone, thirteen-year-old Joe's world is shattered when he enters a deserted council house and becomes trapped within a labyrinth protecting the last magical places on earth. There, Joe discovers a book charting this immense no-man's land, without time or place.

Its thirteen doors each leading to a different realm. Hunted by sinister foes the boy is forced ever deeper into both the maze and the mystery of his missing parents. What will he find at the labyrinth's centre, and can it reunite him with the family he so desperately needs?

Crossing through diverse landscapes from Victorian Britain to fifties New Orleans The Stranger's Guide to Talliston is inspired by the internationally famous nd gardens dubbed 'Britains's Most Extraordinary Home' by the Sunday Times. It is a classic YA tale of adventure that introduced readers to an otherworld hiding in plain sight, cloaked in magic and steeped in imagined history. Yet beyond its fearsome huntsmen and battling magicians dwells the secret that lies within all of us -the power to live extraordinary lives.

Review
This is a YA read, but I would also recommend it for older children who are advanced readers. It's Pullman with shades of Pratchett, and if your child reads either of those authors then they will enjoy this.

I love the fact this is based on a real house and gardens. What if Enid Blyton's Magic Faraway Tree came to life and became an actual place to visit, that's what this book is like. The Talliston House and Gardens are magical and full of imagination, it's only right that an author should try to capture some of that magic.

Joe's life is full of rules, fear and anxiety, even more so since his parents just abandoned him one day. Now he lives by himself avoiding human contact and trying to follow the rules he has been taught. At some point he has no choice but to wander out into the world to stay alive. On his travels he comes across an aggressive teenager, who in turn introduces him to Talliston.

A world of doors, places, secrets and magic. Whole worlds within a single house, but what a house it is. Full of darkness and moments of light. Joe learns to trust in himself and focus on his abilities and strengths.

It's an intricate, fascinating and ambitious YA fantasy. I can understand wanting everything in one story or book, however the sheer magnitude of ideas and worlds probably needed more depth and page space. A series of books perhaps or this one and then a series of books with a focus on a different area each time.

Please note that the hardcopy is an especially beautiful book and as if that wasn't enough at the very back of the book there is a special gift for the reader. The kind of gift that would make you sever a page at the back (it's says you have to), although that is absolute sacrilege to a bookworm.

Buy The Stranger's Guide to Talliston at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for an other retailer. Publisher: Unbound; pub date 11 July 2019. Buy at Amazon com. Buy at Unbound.