-As a Muisca, living in South America and preparing for one of the most important ceremonies of his people, Cuchaquicha was horrified to find that the Spanish Conquistadors had invaded their lands and kidnapped both his wife and his son during the ceremony. Only having them in mind, Cucha set off o... more

-As a Muisca, living in South America and preparing for one of the most important ceremonies of his people, Cuchaquicha was horrified to find that the Spanish Conquistadors had invaded their lands and kidnapped both his wife and his son during the ceremony. Only having them in mind, Cucha set off on a trip that would take him to Luxembourg all because the vampires wanted the secret to finding El Dorado (the city of gold) and the vampire named Meadow thought that Cucha could draw out the elf that was the Guardian. - 400 years later - As Alex and Jackie set off on vacation to see their Aunt and Uncle in the town of Luxembourg the plan was to do some shopping and enjoy their time there. The sisters did take the time to learn a little of the languages, one chose a few phrases of French while the other a few words of German, but that didn’t help with the too expensive shops that they had intended on visiting. Exploring the rich cultural, religious and mythical history of the area was how they ended up spending their days. Touring the area, the museums and the churches proved to be more interesting after meeting a man named Sergio who seemed to know a lot about the history of Luxembourg. When I got this book, I didn’t know that Alex and Jackie had other adventures - so this was all new to me. Parts of the book read like a history lesson, parts of the book read like a geography book, parts of the book read like a tour guide. I really enjoyed the fictional story, the vampires, the elf, the mermaid but I didn’t think there was enough of the fiction in the book to make it as fun as it could have been. I didn’t read the first adventure (which I later found out was called ‘First Night‘), so I can’t say that it is the writers style or just this one book. I felt that for a fiction, there should have been less concentration on the accuracy of the history and geography (while accuracy is important, it just didn’t need to be so thorough for a fiction novel) and more on the characters (unless you want to count Luxembourg as a characters - which I don’t). I had trouble getting into the story because of the use of the foreign (to me) languages and use of a lot of names of both past and present people that weren‘t actually important to the story. This is a good adventure if you have the ability to sludge through the facts to get to the fiction, but my mind doesn’t work well at that especially when I wanted a fictional adventure story, so I struggled with this one a bit.

The Elf of Luxembourg BY: Tom Weston PUBLISHED BY: tom weston media PUBLISHED IN: 2009 ISBN: 978-1-981-94134-9 Pages: 290 Ages: Young Adult Reviewed by Billy Burgess The teenage California sisters from “First Night” are back. Once again, Alex and Jackie are traveling with their aunt a... more

The Elf of Luxembourg BY: Tom Weston PUBLISHED BY: tom weston media PUBLISHED IN: 2009 ISBN: 978-1-981-94134-9 Pages: 290 Ages: Young Adult Reviewed by Billy Burgess The teenage California sisters from “First Night” are back. Once again, Alex and Jackie are traveling with their aunt and uncle, but this time they are in Luxembourg. The girls are enjoying their vacation, and are especially excited about seeing the old Dracula movie at the Capucins Theater. Of course the girls know that vampires aren’t real? Or are there vampires in Luxembourg looking for Alex and Jackie? After Jackie receives a mysterious looking coin, an elf comes into their lives and turns their vacation into an journey they will soon never forget. “The Elf of Luxembourg” is an exciting, fast-paced sequel. Tom Weston has wonderfully blended historical facts with supernatural fiction. My first thought was, “Not another teen vampire novel.” But after reading the first chapter, I knew this was a clever story that just happens to have a few vampires in it. Alex and Jackie are fun, energetic characters that both male and female readers will connect with. The book is just as charming at the “First Night.” I recommend “The Elf of Luxembourg” to everyone who enjoys a good adventure. *Note: I would like to thank the author for sending me this book to review.