THE CABINET OF WONDERS

A refreshingly different fantasy premise falls to pedestrian plotting. Twelve-year-old Petra admires her father’s magical talent for mechanical invention, but when he is blinded after crafting a clock for the Prince of Bohemia, she is as outraged by his resigned acceptance as by his mutilation. She runs off to Prague to steal back her father’s eyes, now bespelled for the Prince to wear. Assisted by the erudite tin spider Astrophil and the Gypsy boy Neel, Petra braves both the wonders and injustices of palace life to learn that the marvelous clock threatens the stability of all Europe. The fantastical alternative-Renaissance setting provides imaginative charm, and intrepid Petra is a resourceful, if self-centered, heroine. Alas, her quest plods along without suspense, relying on random encounters and convenient revelations. Despite occasional intriguing glimpses of magic in action, there is no sense of a coherent system. The tone veers irritatingly from fairy-tale adventure to unpleasant grimness to arch narrative asides, and erratic shifts in point of view add to the confusion. Disappointing. (Fantasy. 10-14)