Wisecracking Gregory and reserved Brian are polar opposites; perhaps that's what makes them best friends. So when Gregory gets a mysterious
invitation to spend an October week in the remote Vermont estate of his Uncle Max (who isn't really even his uncle, just the guardian of his
older cousin Penelope after her parents died) and is told to bring a friend, Brian is his first and only choice. But even though he knew Max
was a trifle eccentric, Gregory had no idea just how strange the man was - or how strange the visit would turn out to be. Max not only seems
vague on what century it is, but insists that the boys dress like schoolchildren from a bygone era, down to the knickerbockers and starched
collars. Accommodations include a play room full of old dolls and stuffed toys and a board game with no pieces and no instructions and a
picture of a sprawling old house almost exactly like Max's estate. The more they explore, the more the boys realize the truth: they themselves
are the game pieces, the estate and surrounding woods are the game board, and the stakes are literal life and death.
Review
I know I just reviewed another M. T. Anderson book last week, but work has been light and his books slot in nicely to fill a shorter shift
(especially on a Friday). In any event, The Game of Sunken Places ventures into deeper, darker territory than his Pals in
Peril tales, placing a toe or two over the horror/thriller line (though suitable for middle-grade audiences), while still having a
strong streak of adventure and imagination, with shades of Jumanji (and possibly a touch of Zork around the edges, though
maybe that's just me showing my age; more than once, when the boys were warned about exploring dark places, I mentally filled in the old
Infocom text adventure threat about being eaten by a grue).
After setting the stage with a prologue featuring an unlucky real estate developer who stumbles into the dark secrets of the Vermont woods,
the story gets off to a quick start with the gilded invitation and the journey to Max's estate, complete with a lurking stranger and an old
man in town who warns them to flee while they still can. Things only get weirder when Max turns up - in a horse and buggy, no less - and
informs them of the house rule about modern dress (namely, it's forbidden). Brian is the first to clue in that something very unusual is
afoot, as the game board starts filling itself in; the encounter with the actual troll on a bridge just confirms what he already knows. It
takes Gregory a bit longer, but he gets on board soon enough. Along the way, a deeper, longer history is unearthed, reaching into old-school
faerie lore (the kind where the fae are amoral and inscrutable beings to whom short-lived mortals are playthings at best; the "other" beings
are never named fae as such, but there's a strong Seelie and Unseelie vibe to them, or at least light and dark elf) and a forgotten
civilization, while a mysterious figure keeps dogging the boys' footsteps with ominous warnings to give up before it's too late. Along the
way, they both grow up a little, facing riddles and challenges and enough genuine chills and danger to knock any lingering "it's just a
game" jocularity out of even Gregory. There are a few unexpectedly emotional turns and revelations, and an ending that promises more
adventures ahead; once one has crossed paths with the fae, after all, one's life can never be the same. Toward the end I thought it started
stretching a bit, drawing out chases and tension just a touch too long, and something about the conclusion sat a little crooked for me (not
counting the "book one of a quartet" loose threads). For the most part, though, I rather enjoyed this, and will likely follow through on at
least one more installment.
Twelve-year-old Lily Gefelty is nobody's idea of a heroine. She spends most of her life hiding behind her bangs, as good as invisible...
but being invisible means she notices things others miss. So when she goes to work with her dad for Career Day, she notices something amiss
with the place - inside an abandoned warehouse (in the abandoned warehouse district of town) and protected by armed guards - and with the
boss - Larry, a strange man who always wears a burlap sack on his head, rubber gloves on his hands, and has a strange habit of dumping
seawater on his face for lunch. She's also not too sure about the outfit's business plan, though her father insists it's just an ordinary
business dedicated to building stilts (and other accessories) for whales. Lily, though, is certain that Larry is a mad scientist trying to
take over the world... a certainty that only becomes stronger when Larry tells Lily and her father that he's going to take over the world
this coming Tuesday.
Lily doesn't know what to do with this information, or how to stop it. She's just the girl nobody notices, not the girl who saves the day.
Fortunately, she has two best friends who are famous for saving days: Kate Mulligan, whose exploits surviving monster attacks in Horror
Hollow (a suburb off Route 666) have landed her a book series and fan club, and Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, whose steam-powered
contraptions and science-based adventures used to have a far greater following (though he still has a lucrative endorsement from Gargletine
breakfast drinks). But it's going to take more than Kate and Jasper to stop Larry's evil schemes. It's going to take a new heroine to step
up... a heroine like Lily Gefelty.
Review
The title promises over-the-top silliness in the vein of old implausible serials and kid adventurer tales, and the story delivers on
that promise in full and then some. Part Lemony Snickett, part Goosebumps, part homage to/satire of logic-light but action-heavy
adventure series the likes of which date back well over a century, this is the kind of book that only works if the author fully commits to
the gimmick, leans all their weight on the gas pedal, and puts every needle in the red, start to finish, which Anderson gleefully does. The
fourth wall gets so many holes in it it's practically a window, which can be a tough trick to pull off but works here. (Some of the humor
seemed aimed a little over the heads of the target reader, to the grown-ups reading along - or, like me, reading entirely on our own - not
in a crude way, but referencing experiences and cultural knowledge the average youngster likely just doesn't have or hasn't been exposed to
yet.) The main characters, despite their inherent exaggeration and silliness, make for a fun trio bonded by genuine friendship, each pulling
their weight (even if they're sometimes hampered by the tropes that created them; Jasper Dash's clunky gear-and-steamwork gadgetry was all
the rage back in the heyday of his serials and peak Gargletine sales, but is more than a little outdated in the cell phone era, while Kate
is often shadowed by a trio of ghostwriters who crank out even more exaggerated versions of her exaggerated exploits so fast they often hit
stores before the exploit itself has concluded). That friendship forms an emotional core that makes the story more than a collection of gags
and winks, pulling all the elements together to be even stronger than the sum of the parts. The author often intrudes to skip over boring or
repetitive parts or add the odd flashback or commentary, plus more than a few one-liners and asides. At the end of the wild adventure, which
naturally leaves the door open for future installments (like any good serial), is a "study guide" for classrooms and book groups written by
an expert... a guide that reveals far more about the expert's issues than the book it purports to examine. The fact that I was prompted to
snicker out loud at work multiple times while listening to this story kicks it above four stars. I'm not sure if I need to follow the
Pals in Peril tales further - this feels like a gimmick that, while hilarious once, might not be able to carry more installments
without getting stale or repeating itself - but I'd be game to try at least one more.
It's summer break, and Katie is bored, bored, bored. She's sick and tired of the werewolves and the zombies, of foiling evil plans
and solving mysteries and otherwise being the girl heroine of Horror Hollow (off Route 666). She just wants to do normal stuff for a
while: go on vacation, read a vapid teen magazine and do the quizzes, chill out by the pool. Fortunately, her friend Jasper Dash (Boy
Technonaut, young hero of his own obsolete kid adventurer series) just got an invitation to Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort. That sounds
like just the place to have an ordinary, boring summer with Jasper and their other friend, the normal girl Lily (well, except for the
time she helped stop her dad's boss from taking over the world with an army of whales on stilts, but that's a story for a previous
book).
When they get to the mountains, they're surprised to discover that not only is Jasper's photocopied coupon fraudulent, but that
several other guests received the same ones... guests that seem oddly familiar, such as the crime-solving duo the Manley Boys, the
gossiping Cutesy Dell twins, and even Eddie Wax, star of a popular boy-and-his-horse adventure. The famed Hooper Quints were supposed
to turn up, too - only, shortly after the trio arrive, someone rushes into the lobby to announce that the quints were abducted on the
way up the mountain! This looks like a mystery in need of solving, with a villain in need of thwarting - but Katie didn't come all
the way up here just to fall right back into danger and detective work. It's summer, darn it all, and she's on break! Unfortunately,
peril didn't get the memo to leave the pals alone, not even on vacation...
Review
I only had a short window to listen to an audiobook today, so I grabbed this title, having greatly enjoyed Whales on
Stilts previously. Just as hilarious and out-loud-snicker-inducing as the first book, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
once again presses the pedal to the metal (and nearly through to the asphalt) with a fast-paced story full of action(!), mystery(!),
danger(!), footnotes(!), and exclamation marks(!). Amid the hilarious satire of numerous classic series, Anderson actually adds a
little depth to his characters, making them more than the tropes they were created to skewer. The tale leans more into the meta
elements introduced in the previous volume, as the characters seem mildly self-aware about being fictional creations, which has some
drawbacks that come into play in the story. There's an unexpected element of pathos underlying this revelation, giving the story more
heart than its outwardly silly, over-the-top trappings might suggest. Katie tries being a normal girl for once, finding new friends
in the Cutesy Dell twins, but there's only so long she can stay out of the heroism game. As she sits on the sidelines, Lily and
Jasper take up the challenge of solving the mystery, but both run into their own brands of trouble as they get separated during the
search for the missing quintuplets. Other guests at the lodge, of course, are all suspects in their own ways, each more peculiar than
the last.
The tale quite deliberately does not even try to make sense by the end (another nod to serial tales that often, especially later in
their runs, sacrifice logic for cheap thrills and big twists), but it all works in its own context; as before, this is the kind of
story that can only work with absolute, total commitment to the conceit. I expect I'll continue on with this series if they remain this
fun, and I'm definitely interested in seeing where Anderson is going with kid heroes who are aware of how they're stuck in time and
tropes beyond their control.
In the drab little town of Pelt, there isn't much worth getting excited about (well, excepting the odd invasion by stilt-walking
whale armies, but thus far that was a one-off event). One thing that does grab the town's attention is a good sports match,
particularly when it comes to the rousing game of Stare-Eyes. The high school varsity team could well make the state finals... if
they can beat the champion team from Delaware, that is. But the day gets off to an inauspicious start when hordes of beetles swarm
the town, as if panicked by some approaching force of great and terrible evil, and things only get worse from there.
Jasper Dash (Boy Technonaut, and star of a nearly-forgotten series of young adventurer books promoting the wonders of Gargletine
breakfast drink) is the varsity team's secret weapon, having honed incredible staring powers during his stay at a remote monastery.
But something is very, very strange about today's match, and the Delaware team - such as how their eyes change to slit-pupiled
serpent eyes mid-match (which is clearly an illegal substitution, though the referees don't seem to notice it). And his friend
Katie sees illegal artifacts being smuggled in the back of their team van. Then a psychic call for help reaches Jasper, summoning
him (and his friends, Katie and ordinary girl Lily) to the wildest place on Earth, a realm of impenetrable jungles and lost
cannibal tribes and mystical secrets beyond understanding, a civilization ruled by an iron-fisted despot with spies on every
corner and in every spigot, a location cut off from the rest of civilization for over a hundred years by impossibly high tolls:
the fabled, mystic realm of Delaware.
Review
The third installment of the hilarious adventure series spoof turns its focus on exotic ethnic stereotypes as it transforms the
state of Delaware into a fantastical realm out of a pulp writer's fever dream, a mythologized "Other" land with strong dashes of
untrustworthy foreign governments for spice. Once more, the author flings himself gleefully into the conceit, spinning a wild and
tangled yarn that hits about every "exotic adventure" trope and cliche available (and more besides). Whereas the last book
progressed the characters a little, this one feels more like a holding pattern. Katie is still hoping to be a "normal" girl
someday, not the weekly savior of Horror Hollow; her crush on a Stare-Eyes school champion, Choate Brinsley, ends in inevitable
heartbreak (whereupon her mother reminds her of her advice never to fall for boys whose names sound like prep schools), but she
makes little more effort to "normalize" her life. Jasper, meanwhile, still knows he's out of step with the rest of the world but
not what to do with it... and, here, being out of step comes in handy, as he's the only one who knows the truth about Delaware.
(Or is it the truth? Perhaps, as a character notes later, the Delaware they find themselves in, the tin-pot dictatorship with a
sprawling capital city full of mules and goats and massive cargo-hauling tortoises from the desert lands, is the sort of place
only a boy like Jasper Dash could reach, defying conventional wisdom and modern cartography and probably at least one lesser law
of physics to exist.) Lily still feels out of place with her two world-saving companions, being not nearly as athletic or good
in a fight or clever with a comeback, and struggles to fit in and not hold them back. But the story centers more on Jasper, who
by nature cannot grow or change, as the whole adventure ties into more of his lost history; the hidden monastery where he acquired
so many useful skills wasn't in Nepal or Tibet but in the misty mountains of Delaware (a state that normally has no mountains, but
then normally the state doesn't have jungles or dinosaurs or kangaroo-riding cannibals or six-armed, tusked mountain tribespeople
and the like, so "normal" can take a hike down the freeway). Along the way the reader is treated to some brilliant, if
nonsensical, mind's-eye candy and great turns of phrase, and a few sly observations and moments that slip in sharp underneath the
silliness. It's still quite a fun series overall, though one wonders if it isn't growing a touch stagnant around the edges.
When last we left our plucky pals - ordinary girl Lily Gefelty, Katie Mulligan (young heroine of haunted Horror Hollow), and
Jasper Dash, Boy Technonaut - they were in the Vbngoom monastery in the high mountains of exotic Delaware, having just thwarted
an evil criminal network's plans to loot the place and turn it into a cheap tourist trap. Now they face the peril of escaping
Delaware's many dangers and countless spies in order to get back home to their drab home town of Pelt. But the autocrat in
charge - His Terrifying Majesty, the Awful and Adorable Autocrat of Dagsboro, who has long coveted the hidden monastery and its
many secrets, secrets that could give him and his vast spy networks unlimited powers and ensure his cruel reign lasts forever -
isn't about to let the foreign meddlers and their monk friends slip free without an extended stay in one of the state's many
well-appointed interrogation rooms. Fortunately, the Vbngoom head monk has contacts inside the Delaware resistance, who promise
aid in the form of Agent Q. Unfortunately, nobody knows what Q looks like... or whether one agent, no matter how good or no
matter how many cool spy gadgets they may have, will be enough to help them escape.
Review
The fourth installment of the hilarious series turns its attention to spy novels, as the imperiled pals deal with Delaware's
devious spy network with the not-always-helpful-help of "Agent Q", a boy no older than themselves but with the arrogance of
someone ten times his size. More wondrous (and not so wondrous) sides of the exotic realm of Delaware unfold, with everything
from airship cities to sapient lobsters to state-sanctioned game shows unmasking traitors to the autocrat, though it does still
sometimes feel like its repeating itself and could've used a fresh setting. Katie's crush on the young monk Drgnan (it was
explained in the previous volume that there is a severe shortage of vowels in the autocrat's mismanaged state) gets some
follow-through... along with the first hints of unease by Lily, who doesn't want to be jealous of her best friend finding some
happiness but can't seem to stop that squirmy feeling in her belly when she sees them holding hands. Jasper Dash, meanwhile,
is a bit unsettled to see some of himself reflected in the egocentric Q, another young hero of a book series who relies on all
sorts of sciencey gadgetry and insists in saving the day. The story has a few more breather moments for incremental character
growth, but is still fairly relentless in its action and its humor, more than once hiding just a little sliver of something
sharper beneath the silly surface. I expect I'll polish off the fifth and final volume in the future.
M. T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin, illustrations by Eugene Yelchin Candlewick Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Humor Themes: Cross-Genre, Fantasy Races ***+
Description
The elf Brangwain Spurge was named for a weed, and his schoolmates and colleagues have never let him forget it. Like the weed,
they consider him useless at best and a target at worst... until the Elf King needs an "ambassador" to take a special gift to the
goblin kingdom, an overture of peace after their most recent war (and, not incidentally, do some light spying on the side), and
historian Spurge's name comes up. This, at last, is his opportunity to prove himself, and become the first elf to set foot in the
goblin capital city in ages. Unfortunately for him, his mission is really a ruse: the gift he's bringing has been bespelled,
turning it into a bomb meant to assassinate King Ghohg the "Evil One" (and take out a good chunk of the capital city of Tenebrion,
beyond the Bonecruel Mountains)... hopefully eliminating the expendable historian in the blast. All Spurge is told is that he's
supposed to report back to the royal elfin secret police in the Order of the Clean Hand via magical messages, especially if he
gets a chance to study the inner workings of the goblins' mysterious Well of Lightning that powers their magic.
In Tenebrion, the goblin archivist Werfel is beside himself with excitement. He, of all people, has been chosen to host and escort
an elfin historian! This will surely be a landmark visit, a chance to establish true diplomatic ties and show the elves that,
contrary to what they think, goblins have a rich and complex culture. Surely an educated man like this fellow Brangwain Spurge
will be above the prejudices that have driven so much hatred and bloodshed, and together they can begin clearing away the
centuries of lies and misunderstandings between their kingdoms. But the visit gets off on the wrong foot from the moment of the
ambassador's disastrous arrival, and Spurge proves singularly uninterested in everything Werfel tries to share: the cuisine, the
theater, the music, the art, not even the city's excellent history museums with the shed skins of goblin luminaries of ages past.
(The elf even seems repulsed by how goblins save and treasure their old skins, the essence of a goblin's history. And he claims
to be a historian!) If he messes up this most important mission, the goblin secret police will have him imprisoned, and King
Ghohg will no doubt order his execution.
Little do either man know just what their seemingly ill-fated meeting will lead to, a snowballing cascade of mishaps and
misunderstandings and betrayals that may end with both of their nations toppled and themselves killed very, very dead.
Review
A humorous skewering of an age-old fantasy trope that asks pointed questions about where history ends and propaganda begins and
whether truth can ever really be known once everyone has put their own spin on facts, this seemed like a fun, short story, if one
clearly skewed heavily toward the silly end of the scale. Unfortunately, like Werfel's first encounter with Spurge, my encounter
with The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge got off on the wrong foot when I chose the wrong medium - an audiobook - to
explore what is actually a heavily illustrated short novel... one where entire illustrated chapters tell at least half of the
story (a half that, focusing on Spurge's experiences and perceptions, conflicts greatly with the text, which is largely from
Werfel's vantage point), and where the promised "bonus" PDF link with said illustrations was nowhere to be found until I did some
serious digging around online for other sources.
Since my experience was mostly via Werfel's tale, with a few missives from an elf in the Order of the Clean Hand (who was a former
school bully of unpopular Spurge), I came into the story predisposed to side with the goblins. The archivist's excitement at
meeting an elfin colleague and hopes for world-changing success are almost immediately dashed as Spurge turns out to be a
singularly unlikable and utterly undiplomatic jerk who is determined to offend and belittle and reject everyone and everything
Werfel introduces him to. He never even tries being neutral or even simply polite. The image-based messages Spurge sends back to
the Order of the Clean Hand reflect his perceptions of the goblins and their city as grotesquely monstrous entities, which doesn't
exactly help present him as remotely sympathetic (even though I didn't actually see said images or messages until long after I'd
listened to the audiobook at work). I got very annoyed by how Werfel kept going out of his way to extend the elf credit where none
was due, risking his own reputation and honor and even life to defend a man determined to ruin his life and any proper chance for
peaceful, diplomatic ties... except when he didn't and was merely in over his head, whiplash moments that never really tracked
even in a plot as inherently silly as this. Further and further Werfel and his beloved bat-winged and betentacled pet get pulled
into deeper and deeper trouble while Spurge cluelessly (or maliciously? It's hard to believe even the silliest elf can't recognize
some of the lines he's deliberately stepping over... I was half-expecting him to wipe his rear with his host's old skins, and he
wouldn't have even pretended it was a faux pas) makes everything worse for the both of them. It's only much, much later that
things get so intolerably bad for them that Spurge finally, belatedly begins to get the slenderest microfiber of a clue and return
some of the loyalty Werfel has been demonstrating all along, eventually stepping up to the challenges of the problems he helped
create (and/or was too dumbly blinded by his own race's propaganda-littered idea of history to begin to see as it developed).
Along the way, the authors work in some sharp observations and commentary on how prejudices and injustices are intentionally
perpetuated by a handful of power holders, which the majority pay for in their own blood and lives whenever things boil over.
Things eventually come to a reasonably satisfactory ending.
While there are many points to appreciate in this tale, and elements that came close to raising the rating, ultimately my too-long
frustration with Spurge (and also with Werfel for bending himself into a goblin pretzel trying to excuse the elf's rude and moronic
misbehavior and deliberate disparaging of all things goblin - and I'm well aware that's a goodly portion of the point of the book,
though there comes a time when a point becomes less a point and more a skull-crushing sledgehammer) held things down.
