A proper, if not exactly seamless, trilogy finale.
The evil Queens of Fairy get just deserts at last thanks to former giant Lena and her airheaded Lilliputian counterpart, Shefin.
Presuming that characters and events in previous episodes will be fresh in readers’ minds, Riley picks up his tale in midboil—guiding Lena to the Cauldron of Truth to throw off the fairies’ loyalty spell, regain her memories, and, with rebel fairy princess Gwentell and other allies, renew her quest to rescue the genie Jin from the magic lamp that imprisons him. But it’s Shefin, her forcibly assigned true love, who takes the lead here, and despite being as dense and clueless as a fence post, he’s utterly convinced that he’s the greatest hero ever. Armed with a magic sword that turns anyone it touches into a fervent partisan of the queens, Shefin will put readers back on his side by coming through at the last tick with an improbably clever wish that snatches victory from the jaws of defeat. Before that, though, the author spins out further misadventures with his large cast, predominantly cued White and largely drawn from European fairy tales, embedding frequent italicized digressions that fill out some significant backstories. Better late than never, but the latter do give the narrative a distinctly patchy character. Also, though slipping in a teasing hint of, maybe, further sequels, he gives Lena barely a bit part in the windup.
A proper, if not exactly seamless, trilogy finale. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: May 30, 2023
ISBN: 9781665904926
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: April 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2023
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel.
Sure signs that the creative wells are running dry at last, the Captain’s ninth, overstuffed outing both recycles a villain (see Book 4) and offers trendy anti-bullying wish fulfillment.
Not that there aren’t pranks and envelope-pushing quips aplenty. To start, in an alternate ending to the previous episode, Principal Krupp ends up in prison (“…a lot like being a student at Jerome Horwitz Elementary School, except that the prison had better funding”). There, he witnesses fellow inmate Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) escape in a giant Robo-Suit (later reduced to time-traveling trousers). The villain sets off after George and Harold, who are in juvie (“not much different from our old school…except that they have library books here.”). Cut to five years previous, in a prequel to the whole series. George and Harold link up in kindergarten to reduce a quartet of vicious bullies to giggling insanity with a relentless series of pranks involving shaving cream, spiders, effeminate spoof text messages and friendship bracelets. Pilkey tucks both topical jokes and bathroom humor into the cartoon art, and ups the narrative’s lexical ante with terms like “pharmaceuticals” and “theatrical flair.” Unfortunately, the bullies’ sad fates force Krupp to resign, so he’s not around to save the Earth from being destroyed later on by Talking Toilets and other invaders…
Is this the end? Well, no…the series will stagger on through at least one more scheduled sequel. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-17534-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride.
Zipping back and forth in time atop outsized robo–bell bottoms, mad inventor Tippy Tinkletrousers (aka Professor Poopypants) legs his way to center stage in this slightly less-labored continuation of episode 9.
The action commences after a rambling recap and a warning not to laugh or smile on pain of being forced to read Sarah Plain and Tall. Pilkey first sends his peevish protagonist back a short while to save the Earth (destroyed in the previous episode), then on to various prehistoric eras in pursuit of George, Harold and the Captain. It’s all pretty much an excuse for many butt jokes, dashes of off-color humor (“Tippy pressed the button on his Freezy-Beam 4000, causing it to rise from the depths of his Robo-Pants”), a lengthy wordless comic and two tussles in “Flip-o-rama.” Still, the chase kicks off an ice age, the extinction of the dinosaurs and the Big Bang (here the Big “Ka-Bloosh!”). It ends with a harrowing glimpse of what George and Harold would become if they decided to go straight. The author also chucks in a poopy-doo-doo song with musical notation (credited to Albert P. Einstein) and plenty of ink-and-wash cartoon illustrations to crank up the ongoing frenzy.
Series fans, at least, will take this outing (and clear evidence of more to come) in stride. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-17536-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
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