AI Book Review for a Newspaper Review
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Book Review: Lessons in the Enchanted Ordinary
THE MAGICAL WORLD OF MARK AND MARIA By F. G. Lawrence
Illustrated by Laurence Paulo Delos Trinos and Hector Lumandaz Jr.
132 pp. Magical World Publishing.
In the opening pages of F. G. Lawrence’s The Magical World of Mark and Maria, a mysterious cloud drifts over a small patch of earth, drenching it in “enchanted rain”. It is a classic fairy-tale beginning, but the world that follows is less about grand sorcery and more about the quiet, often humorous, friction between two friends trying to navigate a landscape where the extraordinary is a daily chore.
The book is structured as a series of linked fables, many drawing from the folk traditions and personal history of the author’s youth. At its center are Mark and Maria: she is the pragmatic, clever anchor, and he is the easygoing dreamer whose curiosity frequently lands him in the sort of trouble that only a mystical realm can provide.
Lawrence excels when exploring the burden of the miraculous. In an early chapter, “The Genie and the Curly-Tailed Pig,” the protagonists are forced to manage a nine-foot-tall blue genie with an insatiable—and exhausting—work ethic. It is a clever subversion of the “three wishes” trope; here, the characters learn that the only thing more dangerous than a genie who won’t grant your wish is one who won’t stop laboring.
The narrative often pivots on Maria’s sharp, lateral thinking. Whether solving the impossible demands of a local king or navigating the strange logic of the “Tree of Happiness,” her solutions favor internal change and wisdom over external conquest.
The prose is simple and direct, clearly intended for a younger audience, yet it touches on surprisingly deep themes. Throughout their adventures, Mark and Maria encounter personifications of concepts like Love and Time, leading to meditations on joy as a state of mind rather than a destination. The book challenges its readers to look past the surface of their surroundings and, as the final pages suggest, “find what is real”.
While the stories move at a gentle pace, the book is anchored by the vivid, full-page illustrations by Laurence Paulo Delos Trinos and Hector Lumandaz Jr.. The frequent placeholders for images throughout the text suggest a work that relies heavily on its visual component to bring its yellow-veined blue granite towns and magical creatures to life.The Magical World of Mark and Maria is a quiet, thoughtful collection. It doesn’t aim for the epic scale of modern fantasy; instead, it finds its magic in the cobblestone lanes of “Duck Plaza” and the secret notes passed in school. It serves as a reminder that even in a world of enchanted rain, the most important magic is the friendship and perspective we bring to our own ordinary lives.
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