Eric Recommends: ‘Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star’
“Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star,” by Brandon Mull, is the second book in the young-adult fantasy series, and if there was any question before that Mull deserves to inherit the soon-to-be-available Harry Potter audience, this should settle it. It’s even more inventive, more whimsically outrageous, and more fun than the first book.
It’s the ongoing saga of a young brother and sister whose grandparents are caretakers of a magical preserve, and the overarching story has an evil group attempting to collect a series of magic artifacts that will unleash havoc upon the world. Like the Harry Potter books, “Fablehaven” has an unseen magical world existing side-by-side with the regular world, and there are lessons to be taught as the young heroes learn more and more about Fablehaven and its inhabitants.
In “Rise of the Evening Star,” Mull continues to write funny, realistic dialogue for the siblings, and raises the stakes by introducing all manner of death and injury (though not graphically described, don’t worry). His imagination continues to be the most impressive thing about his work, though. This installment incorporates shrinking potions, ax-wielding monkeys, demon poop, and a phantom whose weapon is fear itself, to name just a few. It all makes for a fast-paced, exciting story, one that will have readers breathlessly anticipating Volume 3 — and I don’t usually even read fantasy novels.
June 26th, 2007 at 12:04 pm
I’m enjoying it a lot, too. I mistakenly pre-ordered the book on CD instead of a real book, which would have been a disaster, except that I loaded it on my iPod and listen to it while I go to the gym. I’m not crazy about the narrator’s narration voice, but he does a great job of all the voices in the story.
The imagination of Brandon Mull is amazing, and his descriptive talents are huge.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:47 pm
I hear that Kendra has a love interest in Fablehaven III and that the majority of the book takes place in other sanctuaries. The latter makes sense since they probably have to recover the other artifacts that are hidden. But I also heard that Brandon told a group of students that dragons will be introduced in book three and take on a major role in book four.