Headwars: Maxwell Horner and the Tree of Life

Headwars: Maxwell Horner and the Tree of Life feels like Roald Dahl’s Matilda, J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter with a dash of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book opens with Danny and Molly Turditch, the owners of Charon’s Undertaker’s in Quaking Falls, NY. These disinterested parents felt just like Matilda’s awful folks to their daughter Mariah. The 13 year old girl had a bad case of dyslexia, and no matter how hard she tried, she failed in school. 

Donny thought his teenage daughter was simply lazy lacking the Turditch killer instinct and staining the family name. He ships Mariah off to his estranged sister, Beatrix. Aunt Bea was everything Mariah’s parents weren’t—kind, understanding, and helpful. And unlike her greedy father, Aunt Bea had this advice regarding life: “Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about. Be kind always.”

Aunt Beatrix found a wonderful school for Mariah plus contacted a neurologist friend who gave her niece a special pendent and pen. These two devices magically cured the teens dyslexia so she could breeze through high school, meet the man of her dreams, and give birth to Maxwell Horner. 

Little Maxwell learns early on that his father had deserted his family before Max was born. During his pre-teen years Mariah is found unresponsive and in a persistent vegetative state for which there was no cure. Therefore, Maxwell decides to dedicate his life to finding a cure for his mother. 

Which brings us to the other-worldly Halfskull Institute of Neurology, set up eerily like Harry Potter’s magical school of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All budding neurologists are selected for a specific dorm, like in Rowling’s novels, and the school has a special game they play on magical flying neurons. 

The many different types of characters reminded me of Oz where odd looking beings traversed the landscape, the biggest of whom are a giant couple from the alien planet Morcant. The female is in a vegetative state, like Mariah, so Maxwell knows how important it is to find a cure, and if successful, cure his mother. 

Head Wars I-Maxwell Horner and the Tree of Life is a 272-page novel available only on Kindle. It’s an exciting read, but I was disappointed that the book ends before Maxwell figures out how to cure his mom. Hopefully, if book 2 is published, my curiosity will be sated. 

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