Fablehaven Author: Visit Amazon's Brandon Mull Page | Language: English | ISBN:
1416947205 | Format: EPUB
Fablehaven Description
Review
"A gripping, beautifully crafted tale…Readers will find it hard to put this book down." --
Through The Looking Glass Children’s Book Review"In an explosion of children's fantasy following the footsteps of Harry Potter…Fablehaven is a worthy addition to the crowd." --
SFRevu, Sam LubellFablehaven is bursting with adventure, imagination, and heroism. --
Flamingnet.comFast paced, precise and perfect...a truly captivating tale. Look out J.K. Rowling...Mull, an outstanding new author to embrace. --
BookReview.com--Review by Heather Froeschl --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Publisher
These authors had the following to say about Fablehaven.
The dialogue snaps and sizzles...like Harry Potter, Fablehaven can be read aloud in a family with as much pleasure for grownups as for children....do yourself a favor, and don't miss the first novel by a writer who is clearly going to be a major figure in popular fantasy." - Orson Scott Card, New York Times Bestselling Author
"Imagination runs wild in Fablehaven. It is a lucky book that can hold this kind of story." - Obert Skye, Author of Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Age Range: 9 - 13 years
- Grade Level: 3 - 8
- Lexile Measure: 700L (What's this?)
- Series: Fablehaven (Book 1)
- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: Aladdin; Reprint edition (April 24, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1416947205
- ISBN-13: 978-1416947202
- Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
It's very rare, in this day and age of Harry Potter mania (and yes, I admit I'm a very devoted victim!) to find a fantasy story that can actually hold your attention. With FABLEHAVEN, though, new author Brandon Mull manages to do just that from the very first page to the last. Not to mention, thank the fairies, that there's already another book planned in the series.
The premise is simple enough: two siblings, thirteen-year-old Kendra and her eleven-year-old brother, Seth, are relegated to spending time with their paternal grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Sorenson, while their parents enjoy a seventeen-day Scandinavian cruise. At first glance, that might not seem so strange, but you have to understand that their family's relationship with the grandparents Sorenson is sort of an odd one. They don't visit much, they don't call; in fact, Kendra and Seth don't really know their grandparents that well at all.
This is a forced, mandatory vacation though, so the kids don't have much choice in the matter. And when they finally reach Fablehaven, where, unbeknown to them, their Grandfather is the caretaker, they're a little overwhelmed. First, there were the No Trespassing and Private Property signs that gave way to one that said Certain Death Awaits. Now, they find out that however pretty and secluded Fablehaven may be, there's no television, no radio, and a ton of rules -- not all of which make sense.
What follows is two weeks of more adventure, trouble, suspense, and magic than the kids could have ever dreamed of. When their rash actions, and disobedience to some important rules, leads to retribution from the magical world of Fablehaven, Kendra, Seth, Grandpa Sorenson, and even Grandma, who seems to be missing, are in for a ride.
I find it very difficult to write a review for this book. I suppose I'll start with the fact that I'd expected the book to focus more on the actual "Fantastical Preserve" - ie, what a caretaker actually does day-in and day-out to care for magical creatures. However, there really wasn't any of that. Or very little at least. It was more like a giant patch of land where the magical beings could exist. Which, is fine, just not what I'd expected.
So, now for the unfortunate things - at least, in my opinion. I didn't really like the main characters all that well. I thought I did, for a while, but then they were just annoying. Everyone had their promising qualities, etc., but nobody really stood out to me as someone you were rooting for. The children were constantly disobeying "rules" as well as annoying each other. And while this had ramifications, it didn't seem to register with the kids... at least not as soon as it seemed it should have. On a similar topic, I found the lack of communication with the children just as disappointing, and again, the ramifications didn't seem to fit really. I wasn't very happy that one of the "messages" seemed to be "follow the rules because they are the rules." Perhaps this will be addressed in later books, but it wasn't satisfying for me in this book. Additionally, the ramifications for not telling the children all they needed to know was pretty sever, and again, I'm not sure how well the characters "learned their lessons." But, again, it is a series... so....
Also, the writing style was okay, but nothing that really astounded me. Sometimes it felt like a lot of time was spent on things that weren't really that important.
Also, a warning for squirmish readers, some parts are rather nasty.
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