A huge (in every way) disappointment, this bloated sequel to Cry of the Icemark (2005) bogs down a tale terrific at its core in a mire of uninspired subplots, unnecessary explanations and predictable set pieces. Twenty years later, crazed general Scipio Bellorum is again massing troops to invade the chilly Icemark. Suspecting that not even her nonhuman allies will be enough to turn the tide this time, Queen Thirrin sends Charlemagne, youngest of her five children, overseas to safety—but “Sharley” has other ideas, and even though hobbled by both polio and adolescent lack of confidence, he embarks on a quest to find new allies. Watching him grow, mature and meet new (if not particularly original) peoples provides the same fascination that his mother’s similar journey supplied in the previous episode. Compelled to give nearly every character a point of view, though, Hill keeps putting Sharley’s part on hold while cycling tediously through an unwieldy Icemark cast. Eventually the foes all come together, Sharley charges in with dark-skinned armies from “Arifica” mounted on horses and zebras, the cardboard villains are washed away in fountains of blood and Sharley’s truly bad-apple witch sister Medea is dispatched to another dimension—doubtless to await the next sequel. Some good parts, but not enough to meet expectations. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-439-84122-4
Page Count: 584
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
If it were a Golden Age comic, this tale of ridiculous science, space dogs and humanoid aliens with flashlights in their hands might not be bad. Alas... Number Four is a fugitive from the planet Lorien, which is sloppily described as both "hundreds of lightyears away" and "billions of miles away." Along with eight other children and their caretakers, Number Four escaped from the Mogadorian invasion of Lorien ten years ago. Now the nine children are scattered on Earth, hiding. Luckily and fairly nonsensically, the planet's Elders cast a charm on them so they could only be killed in numerical order, but children one through three are dead, and Number Four is next. Too bad he's finally gained a friend and a girlfriend and doesn't want to run. At least his newly developing alien powers means there will be screen-ready combat and explosions. Perhaps most idiotic, "author" Pittacus Lore is a character in this fiction—but the first-person narrator is someone else entirely. Maybe this is a natural extension of lightly hidden actual author James Frey's drive to fictionalize his life, but literature it ain't. (Science fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-06-196955-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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