Faerie Wars

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced fantasy
Review: Except at the beginning. Once this book got going, it was a gripping adventure. But until the pieces finally fall into place, it was a tad slow.

The author slowly builds up to the main action, something some readers may find boring. The book starts with Henry Atherton building a model of a flying pig (that actually flies. No explanation is given for this). Then he discovers that something has gone wrong in his life. It turns out his Mom's a lesbian who's been having an affair with his father's secretary. Certainly not an average occurance! But this is not an angsty 'teen problem' novel, which is what you'd expect that to happen in. It's a fantasy story about faeries interacting with humans and travelling between worlds. The lesbian plot development is a useless addition that was never expanded on like it could have been.

The book also follows Pyrgus Malvae, a faerie prince and his escapades in his world involving black magic and bad "faeries of the night". His feisty sister Holly Blue reminded me of Holly Short from the Artemis Fowl books. Strangely enough, this whole story seemed vaguely similar to the books (which is interesting, considering Eoin Colfer wrote glowing praise of this book on the back cover).

Henry, Pyrgus, Holly and a funny old man named Mr. Fogarty eventually meet up after a lot of disasters, espionage, demon summoning, trickery and portal mishaps. The result is an excellent conclusion begging for a sequel. You'll enjoy this book.

Rating:
Summary: Trying Too Hard to be Controversial Detracts from Story
Review: I got this as an audio book because I was going on a long road trip with some friends and their children and thought it would be a good way to pass the time. I'm glad I previewed it before the trip and saved myself a lot of embarrassment! It contains material that is NOT APPROPRIATE for its target age group, WHICH ACCORDING TO ITS PUBLISHER'S WEB SITE is 9+.

Faerie Wars should have been fantastic, but the author tries to make it more than it should be, which ruins the story.

The idea is great, with a young boy, Henry, discovering a portal to the Faerie world in the garden shed of an elderly neighbor. Of course, the Faerie world is in grave danger and only Henry, with the help of the Faerie Prince Pyrgus, can save it.

Sounds exciting! I have to admit I was looking forward to the book. However:

1) The book gets off to a very bad start when Henry's mother has a lesbian affair with her husband's female secretary. The author even describes the women making out! It seems to me that many children's writers today feel that they have to introduce "controversial" material in their books regardless of whether it is relevant to the story. In this case, the affair is superfluous and detracts from the main story.

2) When the story focuses on Pyrgus and the Faerie world, it is interesting. When the story focuses on our world, it bogs down, mostly because it focuses on the mother's affair.

3) There is another "controversial" scene that I need to mention. It completely creeped me out. Henry, wandering around the Purple Emperor's palace, stumbles upon Holly Blue bathing. The author then goes into detail describing the naked (12 or 13 year old) girl, lingers on the scene too long and later brings it up in flashbacks. Like I said, it creeped me out and made me wonder whether the author requires psychological examination or police observation.

The main storyline of the book is enjoyable. However, be aware that it may contain some material that is not appropriate for your children.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: I just finished reading this book for the second time, and it is still awesome. The story follows both Henry Atherton and Pyrgus Malvae as the plot develops. Henry is working for Mr. Forgarty when he and Forgarty learn about the analogue world from a real fairy prince! The book switches from one of the many characters' points of view to another's very abruptly, making it a little difficult to understand at some parts. This factor also makes the beginning move a bit slow, as it takes a while for the characters' backgrounds to all come together. A lot of thought must have gone into the plot of this story, with all of its twists and turns, and it is enjoyable. I didn't mind the slow beginning or slightly confusing plot, though others may, but I'd reccommend this book to anyone, whether they are fantasy readers or not!!