Fans of the series will welcome a new story arc stocked with familiar characters, settings, and adventures.
After narrowly averting a demon apocalypse in the previous series, Fablehaven sibs Seth and Kendra face a new threat to the world.
No good deed goes unpunished, it seems, and so cautious Kendra and her irrepressibly reckless little brother find themselves challenged by wily, scenery-chewing Celebrant, king of the very dragons who were so instrumental in quelling the demons. The dragons are now hot to break out of their own long confinement, and a hidden talisman is all that can restore the mysteriously weakened magic barriers that have kept them in check. Time for quests and tests! “The unworthy will not survive. Death is likely. Off you go,” a cheery guardian bids. With help from Calvin, a gigantic (i.e., thumb-sized) nipsie, and other motley allies, the young heroes survive hazards ranging from slavering dire bears to the clinically depressed Somber Knight to find the talisman and sneak it past a draconic blockade…only to learn that dragonkind is in general revolt and other sanctuaries have already fallen. In a broad hint of where Mull is going with this, Kendra gets an offer of help at the outset—from a demon. Stay tuned. If it feels formulaic, that’s because it is, but formula has its place.
Fans of the series will welcome a new story arc stocked with familiar characters, settings, and adventures. (Fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62972-256-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Opening episodes of a comic-book series created by an American teacher in Japan take a leap into chapter-book format, with only partial success. Resembling—in occasional illustrations—a button-eyed, juvenile Olive Oyl, Akiko, 10, is persuaded by a pair of aliens named Bip and Bop to climb out her high-rise bedroom’s window for a trip to M&M-shaped Planet Smoo, where Prince Fropstoppit has been kidnapped by widely feared villainness Alia Rellaport. Along with an assortment of contentious sidekicks, including brainy Mr. Beeba, Akiko battles Sky Pirates and video-game-style monsters in prolonged scenes of cartoony violence, displaying resilience, courage, and leadership ability, but not getting very far in her rescue attempt; in fact, the story cuts off so abruptly, with so little of the quest completed, and at a lull in the action to boot, that readers expecting a self-contained (forget complete) story are likely to feel cheated. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32724-2
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
It’s easy to see that this was written by two Hollywood screenwriters—readers can almost watch the CGI effects unfolding as they go. When the local Viking overlord kills Dane’s father and abducts a childhood friend, he and some neighbors set off on a quest for rescue and revenge that catapults an ill-matched crew into hideous perils and hilarious misadventures. A rollicking page-turner with definite appeal, the book falls short in its historical details, taking liberties with Viking life: Anachronistic language abounds, as do 21st-century concepts, ambitions and family relations. Nonetheless, the plot—of the classic “good commoners vs. evil-lord-with-grandiose-ambitions” variety—churns consistently on, hurtling from disaster to cliffhanger to a climactic deus ex machina resolution. Characterization is not the point; with the exception of Dane and his friend-turned-love interest Astrid, the good guys are all pretty obvious caricatures, while the villains are there to drive the plot. Although it can be overly detailed at times, boys especially will enjoy the pell-mell action, the wisenheimer narration and the belch-and-flatulence humor embedded in the adventurous tale. (Fantasy. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-06-144936-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Laura Geringer/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
