Title: Fablehaven IV: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary Author: Brandon Mull
Although I've heard a lot about Brandon Mull's Fablehaven books, read chapters from them to my kids, and even helped those aforementioned children write book reports about them, this is the first time I've actually read one in its entirety. So if you're a huge fan of Fablehaven, keep in mind that I can't draw from the stories of the first three books. Mull seems to assume that most of his readers read forward from the first book; it wasn't until I was about 300 pages into the 544 page story that I felt like I fully understood what was going on, which made for somewhat slow reading for a YA novel. I don't know how that should figure into my vote.
As for the story itself, it was pretty entertaining. It took several chapters and two dead Kendras for the Fablehaven crew to reassemble over the holiday break. Once they got together, they made a holiday visit to their neighbors, the centaurs, Seth snuck away a few times, and they talked strategy. Lots and lots of strategy. So much strategy that it was painful at times. Then they headed north to a dragon preserve, in hopes of getting to a precious treasure before their enemies did. That's when the book got fun. Traveling with gryphons and dragons and giants is a lot more interesting than sitting around a room and talking strategy.
One of the things that felt least "real" in the novel (and I know that it's a fantasy) is the way that Kendra and Seth's parents were completely absent. They thought their daughter was dead, they let their son spend the holidays with his grandparents, and then they were written out of the story. Mull does a great job characterizing dragons and giants, but when it comes to fleshing out the parents, it felt like they were almost intentionally left two-dimensional. So the conclusion of the book (and I'm not going to spoil things and write it out here) didn't have the emotional impact it might have if they had been more fully realized.
And one more picky thing. The word SUV appears way too many times. I think it's appropriate to use "car" as a synonym instead of calling the vehicle an SUV over and over again. I know that's probably me being crabby, but it still irritated me.
3 comments:
Scooter and I have both read all four FH books thus far and you could have KNOCKED me over at the climax of this one. I didn't see that black dragon coming. Props to Mull for that. Can't wait for Book 5.
Totally agree re: parents.
i've read the whole series from the start, and really enjoy them (akin to lightning thief series for entertainment value). but they're definitely not stand-alone books. if you decide to read any others, do yourself a solid and start with the first one. i imagine you'd find them to be like little literary snacks. yum!
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Shelah I love your book reviews, that is exactly how I felt about this book, entertaining but, seriously is it so wrong that they actually feel attached to their parents
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