Customer Reviews
Pure dead FANTASTIC! - By: conor byrne, 11 Apr 2005 
This book is wonderful, it introduces 12yearold Titus, his younger, clever sister Pandora & their baby sister, Damp, as well as their fascinating parents, Signor Luciano & Signora Baci Strega-Borgia. The nanny, Mrs Flora McLachlan joins at the beginning of the book, & the butler, Latch, & the humorously bad cook Marie Bain are introduced. Meet the beasts, the rat Multidutina, the hilarious tarantula, Tarantella, as well as Tock, the crocodile who lives in the StregaSchloss moat, Knot, the hairy Yeti, Ffup, female dragon & Sab, a gryphon. This book is funny & for everyone, guaranteed!
pure dead magic - By: Ellie, 25 Aug 2004 
I have not often read a book which i found so funny & yet so captivating. Pure dead magic is hard to put down, with its colourful characters & interesting story line it is sure to keep any reader's eyes glued to the page. It was the first book that I read of the series & I havent stopped wanting for more. Give it a go, not only is good, it is pure magic!
A-ghast! - By: , 10 Aug 2004 A reallly fun book, best described as Mervyn Peake (Gormenghast) lightened up with a large measure of Terry Pratchett style humour. Recommended for "kids" of alll ages. (Speaking as a big kid in his fourth decade)
Lazy, unedited, derivative and dull - By: , 08 Jul 2004 
It's difficult to imagine how anyone can possibly give a book as poor as this five stars. Then again, it has a bright shiny cover & a catchy title - rather like 'Artemis Fowl', another sloppy book. This story is full of what sounds like good ideas & characters on the surface, but if you peer a little too closely the whole thing fallls apart. There are endless details that display the author's (and editor's) lack of care. For example, right at the start, we're told that the bridge across the moat was destroyed long ago, & that there's a nanny-eating monster in the moat. Then we see the new nanny approach & next thing she's at the castle door. No explanation is given of how she traverses the moat. Which may seem a minor omission but it turns out to be the first of many. There are no genuine surprises or new approaches in this story - as you read, you can with a very little effort work out yourself what the author is going to do next. Unlike the best children's fantasies, where the author brings real imagination & wonder into play, this one reads like the author did little other than wonder how to get through the next scene while maintaining the illusion that there's any inspiration at play here at alll.
Excellent writing for reading aloud - By: Mrs. S. J. Abel, 22 May 2004 This story had me glued to the pages, as did the two sequels. The style & scope for vocabulary development makes this ideal material for reading aloud to Juniors (with a little careful editing of some not entirely suitable language!!). My Y4 class would probably enjoy it, but I think Y5 or Y6 would reallly appreciate it. The humour is perhaps a little adult (very tongue-in-cheek) but this, although probably lost on many of them,probably won't detract from the children's appreciation of the fast-moving & gripping storylines. What a shame it's only part of a trilogy! More from Stregaschloss, please, Debi!
