Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star
Fiction Series
For ages 12 and up
Shadow Mountain, 2007 ISBN: 978-1590387429
With only a week of school left Kendra cannot help wondering what it is going to be like in high school next year. Then these thoughts are dashed from her mind when a hideous goblin walks into her classroom. Kendra quickly realizes that she is the only one who sees him in his true form. What is she supposed to do now? First of all she tells her brother and then, by some miracle, help arrives on the scene in the form of a mysterious man who calls himself Errol Fisk. He promises to help the children rid their school of the unwanted goblin.
Unfortunately it turns out that Errol Fisk is not one of the good guys. In fact he is a member of a secret society which calls itself The Society of the Secret Star and the whole Goblin episode was just a ruse to try to kidnap Kendra. Luckily Kendra and her brother Seth are whisked away to their grandparent?s home at Fablehaven just in time. Fablehaven is a preserve of magical creatures and it was on her last visit here that Kendra, during an encounter with fairies, became ?fairykind.? Now she can see magical creatures all the time (something you and I cannot do alas) and she has all kinds of other powers which she is only just learning about.
Once they get to Fablehaven Kendra and Seth learn that all is not well there. It would appear that the Society of the Secret Star is stepping up its nefarious activities. Not only does it want to kidnap Kendra but it also wants to steal a collection of magical artifacts which will give the society an awesome and frightening power. No one really wants to think too much about what they would do if they should achieve such power. Clearly the job at hand is to prevent them from getting the artifacts in the first place and it just so happens that one of the artifacts is hidden somewhere on the grounds of Fablehaven.
This second book in the Fablehaven series is sure to delight fans of the first book. New monsters and creatures, plenty of magic and spells, answers to questions posed in the first book, and much more makes this a gripping read for readers who enjoy a well crafted fantasy title. It is particularly interesting to see how Kendra fares as she comes to terms with her new self and her new powers, and to see how Seth comes to terms with what his non magical and yet still impressive skills as he battles all kinds of enemies.
