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Rating: 
Summary: This Really is the Greatest Children's Novel
Review: The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian by Lloyd Alexander is a wonderful book by possibly the greatest children's author. This book has so much in it. It has a lot of adventure, romance, fantasy, humor, commentary on the human condition, and is even an allegory about the power of beauty on a persons life. It reminds the reader of classics like Anthony Hope's A Prisoner of Zenda and Raphael Sabatini's Sabatini (readers should also read all of Alexander's other novels). The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian certainly deserved its National Book Award and deserves to be regarded as a classic.The story is really marvelous. It is about Sebastian who is an Eighteenth-Century fiddler in the imaginary kingdom of Hamelin-Loring. Unfortunate occurances force him to lose his place as a fiddler in a baron's personal orchestra. This starts the naive hero on his journey through life. Along the way, he joins a travelling acting troup and falls for a princess. Sebastian also comes across a magnificent fiddle which makes music beyond anyone's dreams. Sebastian also has the misfortune of gaining a large number of powerful enemies. Sebastian ends up having to face all of his difficulties with his friends and grow up along the way. The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian is what all children's literature should strive to be. It presents a great story and contains depth. The reader learns countless lessons about life as Sebastian learns them in the novel. The novel speaks of love, growing up, evil, and even democratic governments. The novel also speaks of the power of beauty. In the novel, the supernatural fiddle almost brings Sebastian down as he is made drunk on its music. I will end this review with Lloyd Alexander's own profound comments about the book. They might be irrelevent until after a person reads the novel, but I do not know if they are in new editions of the book and they should be read somewhere: "The story isn't only about a musician. Fantasy should speak from and to the human condition, and I think each of us carries Sebastian's fiddle in one form or another. The question is: How closely dare we listen to it? How willing are we to commit ourselves to its music? Sebastian heard his own answer, as we must hear our own melodies."
Rating: 
Summary: We find this novel extraordinary
Review: This book is classic Lloyd Alexander -- funny, romantic, complicated and well-written, with likeable heroes and a fresh plotline. A lot of the stuff in it is in the mold of other books like the Prydain Chronicles and "Arkadians," but it never feels stale at all. In the country of Hamelin-Loring, Sebastian is the fourth fiddler in the Baron's orchestra, and a mistake costs him his job and sends him wandering with nothing but his fiddle. He loses the fiddle to a gang of thugs, and gains a pet cat called Presto. When he tries to steal food he is rescued from death by a pleasant stranger called Nicholas, who takes Sebastian under his wing. But they end up rescuing a girl dressed as a boy, who happens to be the Princess Isabel, who has run away from her castle so that she will not have to marry the Regent. To save themselves they will have to dodge the Regent's ruthless spies and soldiers, the disgruntled citizens of Hamelin-Loring, and possibly the mysterious rebel Captain -- with a ragtag circus troupe, a cursed violin, and a very smart cat as their allies. "Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian" is a charming, delightful story that shows Alexander at his best, with the exception of the Prydain Chronicles. Alexander keeps a good pace and storyline going while also including a few subtle lessons about pride, love, kindness, and a few things about music. (He himself plays the violin) He throws in a few twisting plot developments that will keep you guessing about the seemingly cursed violin, which plays for Sebastian as it did for no one else, and the mysterious Captain, whose identity is kept a secret for most of the book. His writing style is brisk and fast, with a lot of funny dialogue (especially Isabel's very verbose sentences) and charming characters (the various circus performers). Sebastian is the nice-guy hero that Alexander does so well, while Isabel is a bit different from his other heroines, in that she has a major lesson to learn -- originally she's a bit snobby, naive and full of herself rather than full of common-sense. Nicholas is harder to pin down, since many of his actions really don't make sense at first; Presto is delightfully three-dimensional considering that he is a cat who never talks. "Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian" lives up to its title, and readers will definitely enjoy it. Especially if they play the violin.
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