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
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
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat,...
Full-blown middle-volume-itis leaves this continuation of the tale of a teenage elf who has been genetically modified for so-far undisclosed purposes dead in the water.
As the page count burgeons, significant plot developments slow to a trickle. Thirteen-year-old Sophie manifests yet more magical powers while going head-to-head with hostile members of the Lost Cities Council and her own adoptive elvin father, Grady, over whether the clandestine Black Swan cabal, her apparent creators and (in the previous episode) kidnappers, are allies or enemies. Messenger tries to lighten the tone by dressing Sophie and her classmates at the Hogwarts-ian Foxfire Academy as mastodons for a silly opening ceremony and by having her care for an alicorn—a winged unicorn so magnificent that even its poop sparkles. It’s not enough; two sad memorial services, a trip to a dreary underground prison, a rash of adult characters succumbing to mental breakdowns and a frequently weepy protagonist who is increasingly shunned as “the girl who was taken” give the tale a soggy texture. Also, despite several cryptic clues and a late attack by hooded figures, neither the identity nor the agenda of the Black Swan comes closer to being revealed.
However tried and true, the Harry Potter–esque elements and set pieces don’t keep this cumbersome coming-of-age tale afloat, much less under way. (Fantasy 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4596-3
Page Count: 576
Publisher: Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
© Copyright 2026 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.
