Young Arthur, again: Artos is the scrawny one, while Bed has the muscles and Lancelot the charm. Artos does have diligence and passion for learning; when Sir Ector's prize brachet hound runs away, gravid with young, Artos is the one who follows her through brush and fen to a black hole in the rock. There, instead of the hound, is a creaking, smoking, clawed dragon who asks for meaty stew in return for wisdom—plus a small gem, which Artos exchanges for his first sword: "a sword from a stone." Old Linn ("Merlinnus"), apothecary and druid priest, should have been the source of wisdom, but a fit brought on by age and secrets has left him a mumbling shambles. Armed with the dragon's wisdom and his new sword, Artos leads the boys; even the discovery that the dragon is just one of old Linn's shams fails to take the edge from his joy at his destiny. The Arthurian legend has attracted writers for centuries. Some, like T.H. White and Susan Cooper, weave new tapestries with old yarn; the stories of many others are, at best, irrelevant. Yolen's tale is engaging and consistent, but hardly compelling—not bad, but why deny the magic? For large collections.
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-026789-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1990
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
It’s slanted toward action-oriented readers, who will find that Briticisms meld with all the other wonders of magic school.
In a rousing first novel, already an award-winner in England, Harry is just a baby when his magical parents are done in by Voldemort, a wizard so dastardly other wizards are scared to mention his name.
So Harry is brought up by his mean Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia Dursley, and picked on by his horrid cousin Dudley. He knows nothing about his magical birthright until ten years later, when he learns he’s to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hogwarts is a lot like English boarding school, except that instead of classes in math and grammar, the curriculum features courses in Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry becomes the star player of Quidditch, a sort of mid-air ball game. With the help of his new friends Ron and Hermione, Harry solves a mystery involving a sorcerer’s stone that ultimately takes him to the evil Voldemort. This hugely enjoyable fantasy is filled with imaginative details, from oddly flavored jelly beans to dragons’ eggs hatched on the hearth.
It’s slanted toward action-oriented readers, who will find that Briticisms meld with all the other wonders of magic school. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 978-0-590-35340-3
Page Count: 309
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1998
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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