Third in a series that began with Dragon's Gold and Serpent's Silver, featuring a prophecy, a young hero, and several parallel magical worlds—in short, the familiar Anthony formula. Kelvin Knight Hackleberry (our hero), along with his half-brother and their father, takes a transporter trip that ends up on the wrong parallel world, where they are instantly captured by the froglike locals and turned over to the man-eating Chimaera. Meanwhile, good King Rufert has been banished by the wicked sorceress Zoanna and replaced by King Rowforth, who looks exactly like him except for the shape of his ears (the only way to tell natives of different "planes" apart). Can Kelvin escape the Chimaera in time to stop evil Rowforth from conquering the world? Given the lifeless writing, and a pack of banal characters who invariably do something stupid at a crucial point in the story, not many readers are likely to care. A very flat performance; the ending promises at least one more installment.
Pub Date: May 21, 1990
ISBN: 0586212477
Page Count: 311
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1990
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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