After reading this book, I will never look at puddles that form in my yard after a rainstorm the same way again.
After a rather brutal rainstorm, Jonah’s back yard is full of puddles. Jonah finds a fish in one of them, and this fish speaks to him. Jonah, who has a very vivid imagination, isn’t amazed. He actually carries on a conversation with this fish, a salmon named Stuart. First of all, if a fish appeared in one of the puddles in my yard, I would be amazed. But none of the puddles in my yard are ever that deep, and I would be even more amazed if the fish spoke to me.
Jonah’s parents think he has imaginary friends (like Stuart the salmon), but the truth is, they aren’t imaginary. He has a troll, Humphrey, for a friend as well as a harpy, Calisto. And friends who won’t desert you in times of trouble are so important.
So Jonah carries on a conversation with this salmon in the puddle, but this fish says that something isn’t right in this puddle. He says something is in there that is after him. This something turns out to be a demon, and it eats Jonah’s parents. Jonah and all of his not-so-imaginary friends set out to rescue them from certain destruction.
Things happen so fast in this book it almost leaves you out of breath.
They travel to the world of Toy Land where the roads are made of cardboard, and the king and queen are puppets. Who is really in control of this strange world? The imaginations of children have power, but water brings death. That is bad news for Stuart, who must be in water to live. So they must convince the guardsman that they mean no harm.
Jonah and all of his not-so-imaginary friends eventually do end up escaping from Toy Land, but do they manage to save his parents?
I enjoyed this book way more than I thought possible, and I highly recommend it no matter what your age. It does have parts that could make some uneasy, but the story is so entrancing that it is impossible to stop reading, and those parts that could make some uneasy are soon over.
If you wish to have your own copy of this book to enjoy, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.
Amazon Link: The Fish in Jonah’s Puddle (To Say Nothing of the Demon)
Favorite Sentences:
Stuart was having a lovely cup of tea with Ms. Finch when reality ripped itself apart.
Debbie edged into the bathroom behind him, her eyes wide and wild as she observed the talking salmon dunked face-down in their toilet.
Jonah, Debbie, and their friends waited nervously, silently, as time crawled past like a handicapped caterpillar.
Its vicious maw wrapped around the sides of its head and down what could have been its neck, making the entity also look a bit like a flying nightmare crocodile.
The wall was the side of a tilted skyscraper, and row upon row of lipless mouths ran up its side like little nightmare windows all the way to its peak.
About the Author:
Byron Byron Leavitt is a creator of weird fiction who lives to cultivate wonder. He wrote all of the story content for the hit board games Deep Madness and Twisted Fables by Diemension Games, plus either wrote or co-wrote all eight books for the story-driven game Dawn of Madness, which one reviewer called “the best narrative I’ve ever read.” He also wrote the books Deep Madness: Shattered Seas and The Art of Deep Madness, plus the true story Of Hope and Cancer about his battle with stage-four Hodgkins Lymphoma. He’s currently working on many more projects, including the long-gestating epic dark fantasy novel Alayaka.
Byron lives in a centennial Swiss-style house in Tacoma, Washington, with his wife, Sarah, his daughters Aurora and Eden, many jellyfish babies, his butler, Egad, several gremlins, and the Gargoyle Baby. When he’s not writing stories,
publishing books, or making games, Byron also serves as a copywriter and editor.
You can learn more about him on his website at https://byronleavitt.com and on his Substack newsletter at https://byronleavitt.substack.com/.
