The Seventh Mountain

The Seventh Mountain
Gene Curtis
Prize Books
ISBN: 1-4116-6282-2
Fiction, Young Adult, Contemporary Fantasy
Reviewed by Mayra Calvani

For twelve-year old Mark Young, it all begins with a strange, surreal, and somewhat frightening dream about long dark corridors and a booming voice that tells him, “You’re going to die.” The next day he relates the dream to his parents. To Mark’s surprise, his parents were expecting this moment to arrive, the moment when he would have to face his destiny. Over a series of flashbacks, his parents tell Mark the bizarre circumstances of his birth. Soon Mark realizes that he is no ordinary boy, that he is being protected by a series of ancient beings, that he must go to a special school to train and learn his path, and that he is in danger.

The reader will follow Mark’s adventures as he learns to be a Magi at the Seventh Mountain in the company of friends, who, like him, were born under the protection of other supernatural beings. Will he find his fate and fulfill his destiny?

Though the book is technically well written and edited, I found the beginning somewhat slow, probably because of all the flashbacks and explanations about what happened in the past. The real action doesn’t begin to catch up until about page seventy, when the young protagonist goes to the Magi school. But perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this book is its resemblance to Harry Potter in terms of plot and characters. Indeed, the “copycat” plot doesn’t do justice to the author’s smooth prose, well-thought descriptions and natural dialogue. There are just too many similarities between the Magi school and the wizard school found in Potter’s. Readers looking for an original story won’t find it here. However, those who love Potter-like books will find Mark Young’s adventures entertaining.