The Emerald Atlas (The Books of Beginning, #1)
by John Stephens
Genre:
Fantasy/Adventure
Reading Grade: Middle
Grade
Publishing Type:
traditional
Publication Date:
April 5, 2011
Source: local library
(hardcover)
Age Rating: 13+ (a bit
of violence)
John Stephens'
aptly-titled new fantasy trilogy begins auspiciously with a nimble,
fast-paced tale of three siblings. Kate, Michael, and Emma have
suffered through ten years of odious orphanage "care"; now
they have slipped into the care of the eccentric, disturbingly
mysterious Dr. Pym. While exploring their new home, the children
discover a magical green book. With that discovery, a decade of
tedium dissolves into cascades of dangerous time travel adventures
and struggles with a beautiful witch and decidedly less attractive
zombie-like Screechers.
My Review
I decided to read this
book because it has been getting a lot of hype since it was
published. People have been claiming it's going to be the next 'Harry
Potter' series, but I won't make comparisons to Harry Potter. It
is a high fantasy type of book that deals with time-travel and all
the interesting things that can change, and how dangerous that power
is in the wrong hands.
There are an abundance
of fantasy characters, like dwarves, witches, zombie-like ghouls,
ferocious monsters, and lots of battling going on with plenty of the
need for the main characters to save the world from total ruination.
The characters are well-drawn up and very exaggerated, which I like.
My favorites were Dr. Pym, Michael, Emma, and the witch's Secretary.
There are lots of funny and entertaining characters here, even if
Kate, the main character, isn't as interesting as the rest.
The premise is
fascinating, in that there are these three books and they were all
written by ancient wizards long ago about the magic of the universe.
They all possess great power and the one that is the subject of this
volume is the Altas. It is the book that allows for passage
through time and space, giving that traveler immense power to
manipulate any point in time. Of course, an evil character wants the
book, so the children have to stop this character from succeeding
with the help of the old, eccentric Dr. Pym.
It would be best
suited for younger teenagers—not elementary school-aged children.
There is a bit of violence and even a little light cursing, so I'd
recommend it for middle school kids and older. Although, I'm not the
in target audience for this book, I think it would be a big hit with
those who love reading Middle Grade adventure/fantasy fiction. I look
forward to the next installment in the series. There is still much
the children need to accomplish, and I need more of that capital
fellow, Dr. Pym.
My score: 4 out of
5 stars.
The new HP? I am totally there. Since I'm on my adult novel foray, reading this will be regressing but it seems totally worth it. I guess I'm destined to live young through my reading forever.
ReplyDeleteI've only heard good buzz about this book. I really need to check it out. Glad you liked it.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
Oh, will definitely check this out for my eldest. He's devoured all the HP books, Artemis Fowl, Secrets of the Immortal Nicolas Flammel, etc...so I'm always searching for new books for my bookworm-in-training. :)
ReplyDelete@Lan: I'm destined to live young through... well, everything!
ReplyDelete@Andrea: Yeah, all the buzz has been good from those you can trust. Only bad stuff comes from weird Goodreads reviewers. I don't pay attention to them for any books.
@BJ: LOL, bookworm-in-training! That is so cute. I'm sure your training him well, since he sees Mama reading all the time.
Doesn't ever new children's fantasy book get compared to Harry Poy tter if it's good? This doesn't sound anything like Harry Potter. It does sound like a book with a lot of action. Definitely curious.
ReplyDelete@Alison: Yeah! Don't they all? It's very adventurous and exciting, and that's probably about all that you can say to compare it to Harry Potter. It's its own thing. A great Middle Grade adventure story.
ReplyDeleteI am glad I kept reading. While the aforementioned nods to other great children's literature do exist, Stephens begins to weave his own tale. The characters are ones for whom you can champion. I am a major fan of books that incorporate strong female characters, and Stephens does this twice with both Kate and Emma. He also manages to do so while keeping in consideration the fact that they are still children.
ReplyDelete