Five Kingdoms Rogue Knight by: Brandon Mull

Author Brandon Mull has done it again!  In Rogue Knight, the second book of the Five Kingdoms series, he kept me in suspense from the first page to the last.  So much happens in this story. Cole is chased by the slave traders, getting away from them is quite tricky.  Cole learns that he has magic abilities but he is unable to rely on them at all times.  There is so much wonderful storytelling in this book.  I know that if you enjoyed Sky Raiders, the first book in the series, (see my review of July 23, 2014) you will love this book too.  I cannot wait to get my hands on book #3.

Cole is still living in the outskirts, trying to find his friends so that they can return to their home in Arizona.  Cole has made many new friends in this strange land.  This time, he is traveling with his new friends to Elloweer in order to find Mira's sister.  Elloweer is a kingdom that is on high alert because of the unbalance of magic in the kingdom. There is a magic source that destroys towns and all of its people in a matter a minutes.  There is also a Rogue Knight that steals treasure from others,  claiming he will return all of what he steals once he becomes the champion of a town called Merriston.  You see, champions are the leaders of towns and they can be challenged by others for their positions.  The Rogue Knight wants to take over all the towns in the land.  When the Rogue Knight encounters the friends, he kidnaps Mira.

Cole is able to find Dalton, his best friend from home.  Dalton joins in the quest to rescue Mira and find her sister, Honor.  Dalton has learned some shaping magic and that comes in handy as they journey to many strange areas in the kingdom of Elloweer.  Upon finding Mira, they discover that the Rogue Knight is not as bad as they first believe.  They travel to the lost palace and find strong magic there that is holding Honor (Mira's sister).  With the combined skills of Mira, Cole and Jace, they are able to rescue Honor.  Now they are off to Fog Lake, a place people may go but not many return.  They find help there that enables them to face Morgassa, the one who is destroying towns and the people that live there.  The battle is crazy!  Cole, Mira, Jace and Dalton are turned into animals while Honor becomes a Knight.  Just when it seems as though nothing can hurt Morgassa, Cole and Jace are able to surprise her.  I won't give away the ending, but I will tell you that they are off again to another land and I'm sure it will be as dangerous as Elloweer.

I loved this book.  So much magic, adventure, friendships, twists and turns in the plot.  So fun to read.  Thank you, Brandon Mull, for another wonderful story.

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna

Five Kingdoms Sky Raiders by: Brandon Mull

Me with author Brandon Mull 

I had the privilege this past spring to host a book signing at my elementary school with Brandon Mull.  My students and I enjoy his books and it was exciting to be among the first to get a signed copy of his newest series Five Kingdoms Sky Raiders.  This will be a series of five books and I am looking forward to book #2 since I just finished reading book #1.

This is a fantasy adventure that I won't soon forget.

Cole and his friends are looking forward to visiting a haunted house while out trick-or-treating on Haloween.  When they enter the basement of the house, only to find themselves locked, they become really scared.  Before they know it, they are being kidnapped and taken down a tunnel in the basement floor.  Cole is able to hide himself from the kidnappers.  After the kidnappers leave the basement, he decides that it is up to him to rescue his friends.  With trepidation, he enters the tunnel.  He lands in a barren land called Sambria, and learns that his friends are now slaves in a place called the Outskirts.  Cole is soon captured and taken and sold to the leader of the Sky Raiders.  As a Sky Raider, he is trained to help salvage items from the floating castles that appear almost everyday.  In the land of Sambria most things are floating in the air.  If you make the wrong move on a floating castle,  you will fall into nothing, never to be seen again.  With the help of his jumping sword, Cole becomes a skilled sky raider and soon he is helping a lost princess, Mira, regain her powers of shaping in order to save the kingdom from her evil father.

The land of Sambria has many interesting characters and magical items.  Mira is a shaper, shapers  can create items that look real but are not.  This is the reason Cole's friends were kidnapped.  The High King wants to train more people to be shapers and those living on earth seem to have some shaping talent.  People who meet Cole are surprised he came to their land on his own and feel that he is powerful in different ways then they are used to.  Cole relies on his jumping sword, which is his method of travel, as well as a weapon with which to fight. He also finds a magic shawl that when worn places you under the control of the shawl's owner.  A shawl might not sound very important, but believe me, it comes in handy.  When Mira shares the secret of who she really is the friends are soon on the run.  Stealing a floating boat, they enter a cloud wall that turns out to be a funnel cloud.  They are sure all is lost until they are rescued from the funnel cloud.  Will Cole ever find his friends?  You will love this book!  See you at a bookstore when book #2 is released.

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna

Fablehaven by: Brandon Mull

This is my friend Evelyn and she will be entering the fourth grade when school begins in August.  A new feature at Books Children Treasure is my "Friday Friends"!  Enjoy....

I just finished reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.  This is the first book in the Fablehaven series. I met Brandon Mull at my school assembly and was able to hear him talk about all the Fablehaven books, the other books he has written, and how he began writing.  I was also able to get my book autographed. 

Seth and Kendra (brother and sister) went to visit their grandfather’s house.  Their grandfather told them there were certain places they couldn’t go, but they went away.  This leads them on an adventure through an enchanted preserve filled with magical creatures, such as Batmah, Muriel the witch and the Naiads. Bahumat is a devil locked up in the forgotten chapel, who tries to rule Fablehaven.  Muriel is the wife of one of the owners of Fablehaven who tries to help Bahumat.  The Naiads, are water fairies that try to drown people.  These characters and many others lead Seth and Kendra on a dangerous trip and in the end, Kendra does something unexpected and is rewarded with a magical gift.

                  I really enjoyed this book because of the adventure the kids go on, but if you don’t like scary stories, this may not be the book for you.  I’m looking forward to reading Brandon Mull’s next book, The Rise of the Evening Star.

                  Evelyn  (4^th grade)

Beyonders - A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

If you are a fan of fantasy books A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull is a book you must read.  This is the first book of the Beyonders Trilogy and you will want to read the entire series.

Brandon Mull pulls the reader immediately into this amazing story.  Imagine being swallowed by a hippopotamus or chasing a butterfly and then finding yourself in a new world, unlike anyplace you've seen before.  This is how the main characters (Jason and Rachel) arrive in Lyrian.  Brandon Mull writes so well, you feel like you are in Lyrian too.  Jason meets a blind king and finds a book with an eyeball on the cover, after reading just one page of the book Jason is compelled to go on a quest to overtake the evil emperor, Maldor.  In order to overtake the emperor Jason and Rachel, need to find the syllables of the word that will end the life of Maldor.  Each syllable is being protected and many obstacles have to be overcome in order to obtain each syllable.  Many have tried but nobody has succeeded, will Jason and Rachel be the heroes that Lyrian so desperately needs?  Jason is not sure he can be a hero until he learns that "a hero sacrifices for the greater good.  A hero is true to his or her conscience. . . Heroes do the right thing regardless of the consequences."  This is what we see Jason and Rachel do during each of their quests to obtain the syllables of the word.  As they travel through Lyrian searching for the syllables they meet all kinds of interesting people.  The most interesting to me is the displacer, Ferrin.  Ferrin can take himself apart and then put himself back together.  Displacers are usually spies for the governor but they find a friend in Ferrrin, well they think he is a friend.  Jason also visits a land where the people just eat and play all day long.  A place nobody ever leaves, until Jason.  Read this book and you will cheer when you see that Jason and Rachel are indeed the heroes Lyrian needs.

After reading this story you will be busy reading book 2 in the series Seeds of Rebellion.  However, take sometime to imagine some different types of people and lands that may be fun and/or dangerous to visit.

Happy Daily Reading
Deanna