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 First edition cover | |
| Author | Matthew Skelton |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Bill Sanderson |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy literature |
| Publisher | Delacorte Press |
Publication date | 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 448 pp |
Endymion Spring is a children's fantasy novel by English Canadian author Matthew Skelton. It was first published in 2006.
At some point during the drafting of his Ph.D., the character that would later become Blake simply appeared to Skelton, trapped in a library and begging for help. Over the next three years, Skelton worked to finish his doctoral thesis. Upon its completion, he moved to Mainz, the setting for the first half of one of his story lines, [1] and began writing the novel. Originally, the book was only Blake's story, and did not include the story by a friend who had reportedly asked him who Endymion Spring was. Endymion Spring was released in the United Kingdom in March 2006, and was published in the United States later in the same year, ahead of schedule.
Warner Bros. currently hold rights to an Endymion Spring film.
Endymion Spring has a double storyline. The first story follows two children in current day Oxford, Blake and Duck Winters. Blake is twelve years old and his sister is a few years younger. The two happen to come across a strange book in a library in St Jerome's College on St Giles' (based on Somerville College), which is entitled Endymion Spring. After finding out that it leads to a book of all the knowledge in the world, all the knowledge Adam and Eve tried to obtain from eating of that forbidden tree of knowledge but lost, they then embark on a quest to find it. However, when they do, the story then becomes a battle against the Person in Shadow, a person whose heart has turned black with evil and desire for the knowledge and power of the book. The second story line follows the journey of Endymion Spring, a young printer's devil who works in Gutenberg's workshop, from his hometown in Mainz, Germany to Oxford, which was then a settlement of monks. The two story lines are about 600 years apart, with Spring's story taking place at the epoch of the printing press in 1453, and Blake's taking place in the late 20th or early 21st century.
There are several themes throughout Endymion Spring. The first and foremost resonates throughout the book in the words "Bring only the insight the inside brings." These words appear to communicate a theme regarding knowledge, and how it should be used.
April Spisak described the novel as follows:
Unfortunately, the interweaving of perspectives (Blake's story is told in third person, Endymion's is a first-person account) slow the pace and unbalance the narrative with their uneven alternation. In addition, elaborately described bibliophilic details ... may try the patience of some readers. However, Skelton's earnest and daring protagonists may intrigue readers who are able to imagine the literary, and sometimes literal, treasures that could be found in dusty ancient books. [3]
Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German inventor and craftsman who introduced letterpress printing to Europe with his movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg invented the printing press, which later spread across the world. His work led to an information revolution and the unprecedented mass-spread of literature throughout Europe. It had a direct impact on the development of the Renaissance, Reformation, and humanist movements. All have been described as "unthinkable" without Gutenberg's invention.
Laurens Janszoon Coster, or Laurens Jansz Koster, is the purported inventor of a printing press from Haarlem. He allegedly invented printing simultaneously with Johannes Gutenberg and was regarded by some in the Netherlands well into the 20th century as having invented printing first.
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A printer's devil was a young apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type. Notable writers including Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Ambrose Bierce, Bret Harte, and Mark Twain served as printer's devils in their youth.
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