Based on OSC's glowing review, I read it today. I had scanned the dust jacket at the store previously, and turned it down. Little kids? Fairies? Secret haven for magical creatures? Demented witch? Peril?
Been there. Done that. Fairly burnt out on it.
Or so I thought.
The children are the most...genuine-seeming children since Neil Gaiman wrote Coraline.
The old-fashioned magic and creatures are used in ways that are clever and even touching. These seem like full, living beings instead of mere props and window dressing.
And while the opening is obviously left for future books, it's self-contained. One won't be left unsatisfied.
Worth getting to own.
And in a market saturated with fourth and fifth-rate Potter clones, a successful effort to do all-ages fantasy that -doesn't- imitate Rowling deserves support.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
Oh, yes. I should add that Mull deftly avoids the "Magical creatures are rare today because humans deliberately hunted them down and murdered them!" cliche.
There's another explanation given, one that feels much more real.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)