At best, about half an episode’s worth of plot for this otherwise above-average series.
Searching for her missing brother on the flying island of Astaroth, Dessa uncovers evidence of a shadowy conspiracy of grand scope.
Reaching the island using homemade gliders, Dessa and her nonhuman companions, Topper and Fisk, discover a delightful playground built for four children—all kidnapped from royal families—by a mysterious “Toymaker” whose underground realm turns out to occupy the island’s entire core. Meanwhile, back on the mainland, the warrior Capt. Drake captures Dessa’s amnesiac brother, Jared, after a merry chase and receives from him hints of treacherous doings involving the sinister royal chamberlain, Greyfalcon. Still on Dessa’s trail, Drake gallops on to take ship for Astaroth. As usual, predicaments, rescues, heroic physical feats, and startling revelations pile on in sequences of clear and easily readable panels. But series fans hoping that Drake will finally catch up here with his elusive quarry are in for disappointment, as Chantler, after picking up both storylines right where they left off in the previous outing, moves them only a little before cutting off at the end with a double cliffhanger. Moreover, not only is the continual shifting back and forth likely to be wearing on readers, but the pacing takes on a herky-jerky feel as the author adds filler panels here and crams too much action into some sequences there.
At best, about half an episode’s worth of plot for this otherwise above-average series. (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-894786-55-3
Page Count: 116
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Fans of mythology-based fantasies will devour this adventure and anxiously await the next installment.
Abby is your average 12-year-old North Carolinian—and Viking.
She has been eager for years to follow in her mother's footsteps as an Aesir, or Viking warrior charged with protecting the world from Grendels, descendants of the same monster faced down by Beowulf. Still reeling from her mother’s death four years ago, Abby is worried because she hasn’t developed the unusual abilities needed by Aesirs. After she is attacked at home, she and her father head to Vale Hall, an elite Minnesota private school her mother also attended. Along the way they are attacked again, and her father falls into a mysterious coma. Abby is positive a Grendel is after her, but the Viking council at Vale Hall doesn't believe her. She quickly befriends Grimsby and Gwynn, each with their own burdens and secrets. Together they try to find a cure for her father, in the process uncovering secrets from her mother's past and discovering some truths hiding at Vale Hall. This entertaining debut novel seamlessly blends Norse mythology with a modern-day setting to tell an action-packed and humorous story. In addition, the book explores grief, growing up, and starting over with sensitivity and insight. Abby and most other characters are cued as White; Gwynn is described as Asian American.
Fans of mythology-based fantasies will devour this adventure and anxiously await the next installment. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-63607-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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