A Tangle of Gold by Jaclyn Moriarty

When Elliot Baranski came to Cambridge, England, he only stayed for just over two weeks.

Which was preposterous.

He was from the Kingdom of Cello, he had stumbled into the World when he fell into a ravine and landed in a BP petrol station, he’d walked from this petrol station to Cambridge, so as to find his friend Madeline Tully but, unexpectedly – a real bonus – the first person he’d run into was Abel Baranski, who was only Elliot’s long-lost dad.

All of which was perfectly reasonable.

Brilliant, even.

But this! Leaving after just over two weeks!

Well, it was preposterous. It was so preposterous it was making Madeleine’s nose bleed.

A Tangle of Gold: The Colours of Madeleine 3When Elliot Baranski came to Cambridge, England, he only stayed for just over two weeks.

Which was preposterous.

He was from the Kingdom of Cello, he had stumbled into the World when he fell into a ravine and landed in a BP petrol station, he’d walked from this petrol station to Cambridge, so as to find his friend Madeline Tully but, unexpectedly – a real bonus –  the first person he’d run into was Abel Baranski, who was only Elliot’s long-lost dad.

All of which was perfectly reasonable.

Brilliant, even.

But this! Leaving after just over two weeks!

Well, it was preposterous. It was so preposterous it was making Madeleine’s nose bleed.

Things are not going well in the Kingdom of Cello. There’s a bit of chaos in the World as well. Madeleine is trying to make sense of it, but there seems there is little sense to be found. Not that Madeleine knows much about what’s happening in Cello. All she knows is that she’s in the World and Elliot is back in Cello and they may never speak to each other again. Their worlds are no longer connected. Until they are. Madeleine, Elliot and their friends are whirled into the troubles of the Kingdom, into the wild and ever-increasing colour attacks, the dangers and the mysteries. The trick is to work out what’s going on, who is who they say they are, who they are working for.

A Tangle of Gold is the third and final instalment in ‘The Colours of Madeline’ trilogy, the first two being ‘A Corner of White’ and ‘The Cracks in the Kingdom’. The series explores the connections between the World and the Kingdom of Cello. In A Tangle of Gold tensions between the Royalists and other groups have escalated until war seems inevitable. Cello, a nation of diverse provinces, needs to sort out its internal problems to prevent war with the neighbouring country of Aldhibah. Tangle is right – everything is a mess! As with the first two novels, A Tangle of Gold is full of twisting, turning challenges which test the mettle of the main characters, forcing them to put aside their personal issues and find ways to save their world. It is full of danger, wonder and doses of humour. Poetry, physics, arts and science tangle in this rich and rewarding series set across two worlds. Highly recommended for upper-primary and early-secondary readers.

A Tangle of Gold: The Colours of Madeleine 3, Jaclyn Moriarty

Pan Macmillan 2016 ISBN: 9781743533239

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s author and bookseller

www.clairesaxby.com