Tag Archives: Fablehaven

Fablehaven 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, By Brandon Mull

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[amazon-product alink="0000FF" bordercolor="000000" height="240"]1606410423[/amazon-product]With this review, I have officially read all four of the Fablehaven books currently available. Now I must wait for Book 5, and wait I shall. I’m optimistically hoping that the final book in the series will be worth the wait.

Like the previous three volumes, I found this latest installment of the Fablehaven series to be a fun read. While Brandon Mull takes his time setting the stage, the first half of the book is certainly not boring. While Kendra’s family believes her dead, she is in fact kidnapped by agents of the Society of the Evening Star, which creates all sorts of complications. However, the real story revolves around the continued search for the yet-undiscovered artifacts in an effort to keep them out of the Society’s hands. Once they have all been collected, the Society plans to use them to release the demon’s from their prison, thus loosing these horrible creatures into the world.

Kendra scours Patton’s Journal of Secrets, looking for clues as to the location of the hidden artifacts. Eventually it is discovered that the Knights of the Dawn must brave a dragon sanctuary called Wyrmroost to find the next artifact. Wyrmroost is a certain deathtrap for our adventurers, leaving them wondering if they will actually succeed – or even survive – in their mission. I hesitate to say more lest I spoil the story for you. The little twists and turns in the plot are what makes it fun to read.

I do not read many young adult (YA) books for a couple of reasons. Generally, I find YA books too simplistic for my tastes, way too short and too predictable. True, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary is admittedly not an adult book and I don’t believe it was ever intended to be written for an adult audience, but I found it entertaining enough to keep me interested. Particularly in the last half of the book. Once the stage was set, Mull successfully wound his way through to the end, planting a few surprises here and there to keep the reader going. And I believe the book was the longest of the four volumes, with the hardback weighing in with 527 pages. Lest that scare young readers off, however, the book seemed to have fewer words per page than some of the adult doorstop books I have read and seemed to move pretty quickly.

In terms of recommendations, I found it interesting that Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon, said the book “kept me turning the pages until 4:40 in the morning…deep, intriguing, magical…one of the most enjoyable fantasies I’ve read.”

According to Amazon, the recommended age is 9–12 years and I agree that is likely a good fit in most cases, unless the child tends to shy away from too much suspense, action and monsters.

For more information on Fablehaven 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, click here. The author’s website is http://www.brandonmull.com

Happy reading!

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Fablehaven 3: Grip of the Shadow Plague, By Brandon Mull

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51rf7Yq695L._SL160_On the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend of mine, I am continuing to work my way through Brandon Mull’s Fablehaven books. I have been warned however, that I might get hooked and Book 5 is not yet out. (Furthermore, it won’t be out until Spring 2010.)  Now that I have read the first three books in the series, I can see the danger. But I will gamely press on. …Ok, the truth is, I’m having a lot of fun reading these books.

Grip of the Shadow Plague continues the saga unfolding at the Fablehaven preserve for magical beings. Unfortunately for these creatures, someone or something has unleashed a plague on the preserve that turns beings of light into creatures of darkness who then try to bite the creatures of light and turn them into dark creatures as well. The plague begins to spread rapidly over Fablehaven, threatening to overrun the preserve altogether. The Sorenson’s, grandparents of Kendra and Seth, desperately need help to save the preserve, but their old ally, the Sphinx, has been behaving oddly and fears run rampant that he may actually be a traitor. Meanwhile, Kendra and a couple of her fellow Knights of the Dawn rush to another distant preserve in an effort to keep one of the few remaining artifacts out of the Society’s hands.

“When jumping is the sole option, you jump.”

This has got to be my favorite line in the book. It certainly fits the story well. Several times, the heroes in the book have no choice but to jump and take their chances that all will end well. While the book is written for a YA audience, I found enough suspense, particularly in the last half of the book, to keep me going well into the night until I finished the book.

So who is author Brandon Mull? This graduate of Brigham Young University started working on his first full-length novel after completing his degree in 2000. After the book was rejected by many agents and publishers, Brandon’s talents caught the attention of an editor at Shadow Mountain Publishing. While the publisher did not buy that book, they asked to see something else and thus Fablehaven was born.

At this point, the first three Fablehaven books are out in paperback (Book 3 was more than 470 pages). To the best of my knowledge, Book 4 is still available only in hardcover. But more on that later. I have to go know. I have a date on the magical preserve of Fablehaven.

If you want more details on Fablehaven 3, here’s a link.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Fablehaven, by Brandon Mull

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[amazon-product alink="0000FF" bordercolor="000000" height="240"]1416947205[/amazon-product]A friend recently introduced me to the Fablehaven books by Brandon Mull. I found Fablehaven, the first book in the series, a fun romp through a fairy tale landscape. There were trolls, satyrs, witches, imps, fairies, and a pair of elderly caretakers looking over this odd assortment of characters in a preserve meant to hide them from prying eyes. Unknown to the modern world, this sanctuary for mythical creatures depends upon secrecy to hide its inhabitants. Therefore, when Kendra and Seth’s parents leave them at their grandparents’ house for almost three weeks, no one knows the adventures in store for these two kids, certainly not their parents. However, this inquisitive young boy and his protective older sister inevitably discover the preserve’s secrets and, in doing so, encounter one problem after another. After a well-paced climax and satisfying ending, the stage is well set for the next book in the series. Fablehaven is written primarily for ages 9-12, but has enough ingredients and intrigue to hold older readers as well. 

Shameless plug: To purchase Fablehaven, you can connect to the Amazon store by clicking on the book’s cover above. If you buy through this Amazon link, I will receive a small percentage commission.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”