Jones sets this in the ununified Italy of a world "parallel to ours, where magic is as normal as mathematics, and things are generally more old-fashioned"—and she directs it like a manic opera, as the varied but uniformly voluble members of the closely-knit extended Montana family cope in frenetic counterpoint with one crisis after another. (The enemy is invading; the children are kidnapped; the cat ate the fish.) The most theatrical scene occurs fairly early on, when the Montanas in full force confront the hated Petrocci clan, their rivals in spell-casting, in a knock-'em-down, zap-'em-to-pieces contest of shape-changing magic. The battle occurs because each family believes the other guilty of kidnapping; but in fact an outside enchanter has imprisoned the youngest Montana and the youngest Petrocci to tie up both families' defensive spells while three other states invade their native Caprona. As little Tonino Montana and Angelica Petrocci discover to their terror and discomfort, the enchantress behind the plot against Caprona is the Duchess herself. Her tricks run to such inspired cruelty as making Punch-and-Judy puppets of her captives; and her evil genius proves so powerful that it takes the Duke, the now-united magician families, the Montana cat Benvenuto, and a guest appearance by the great Chrestomanci of Charmed Life (1978) to reduce her to her true rat's form and dispatch her accordingly. Jones carries off the performance with real finesse and a great show of brio. However, the absence of moral, intellectual, or (especially) emotional grounding might be an impediment to reader engagement.
Pub Date: April 21, 1980
ISBN: 0060298782
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1980
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters.
Two young people save the world and all the magic in it in this series opener.
When tall, dark-haired, white-skinned Christopher Forrester goes to stay with his grandfather in Scotland, he ventures to the top of a forbidden hill and discovers astonishing magical creatures. His grandfather explains that Christopher’s family are guardians of the “way through” to the Archipelago, where the Glimourie Tree grows—the source of glimourie, or the world’s magic. Black-haired, olive-skinned Mal Arvorian, a girl from the Archipelago, is being pursued by a murderer, and she asks Christopher for help, launching them both on a wild, dangerous journey to discover why the glimourie is disappearing and how to stop it. Together with a part-nereid woman, a ratatoska, a dragon, and a Berserker, they face an odyssey of dangerous tasks to find the Immortal, the only one who can reverse the draining of magic. Like Lyra and Will from Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Mal and Christopher sacrifice their innocence for experience, meeting every challenge with depthless courage until they finally reach the maze at the heart of it all. Rundell throws myriad obstacles in her characters’ way, but she gives them tools both tangible (a casapasaran, which always points the way home, and the glamry blade, which cuts through anything) and intangible (the desire “to protect something worth protecting” and an “insistence that the world is worth loving”). Final art not seen.
An epic fantasy with timeless themes and unforgettable characters. (map, bestiary) (Fantasy. 10-16)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593809860
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
A pleasing premise for book lovers.
A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.
When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)
A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9780316448222
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
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