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Orphaned siblings Kate, Michael and Emma encounter a magical book in The Emerald Atlas, the first book in the planned YA fantasy trilogy “The Books of Beginning.”
The children, ranging in age from 11 to 14, were abandoned by their parents nearly a decade ago and have been bouncing from orphanage to orphanage ever since. Only Kate, the oldest of the three, remembers her loving parents and her mother’s promise that their family would eventually be reunited. She strives to keep the happy memories alive for her younger siblings who barely knew their parents before the family was sundered.
The siblings don’t always get along harmoniously, especially with bookish middle-child Michael clashing frequently with plucky, pugnacious little Emma. Yet they remain fiercely loyal to each other and to the parents whose names they do not even know (they’ve only been told that their last name begins with “P”).
Eventually, the children land in a singularly dismal and rundown mansion in an abandoned mountain town. The home’s owner—and their new guardian—is a mysterious old man by the name of Dr. Stanislaus Pym.
As the children explore the dilapidated mansion, they stumble upon a strange book belonging to Dr. Pym. When Michael places a photograph in the ancient book, it promptly transports the children back in time to the scene depicted in the photograph.
The siblings find themselves in the same town of Cambridge Falls, but during a time of great peril, some fifteen years before the present time. The town and its people are being held hostage by the Countess, an ancient witch who appears in the guise of a beautiful, sweet young woman. The Countess is in ruthless pursuit of the very book in the siblings’ possession and is willing to sacrifice all the men, women and children of Cambridge Falls to get her hands on it.
When Kate, Michael and Emma draw the attention and wrath of the witch, it throws them into a scary and thrilling adventure that involves mind-bending time-travel, a dwarf prison, poisoned arrows, secret tunnels, friends in unexpected places, and even an encounter with someone Kate has longed to see.
While many of the characters seem to be drawn from standard fantasy literature, harkening back to characters out of Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling and others, the story still manages to feel fresh and engaging in its own right. In particular, interesting characters like the Dire Magnus and Gabriel hold a lot of promise, and one hopes to see their stories fleshed out in future books. The travel back and forth in time is somewhat confusing, but does not detract from the appeal of the book.
While the broad humor (Mrs. Sallow’s tirades about the children fancying themselves to be French royalty; the boorishness of the Dwarf King; the never-ending squabbles between Emma and the hapless Michael) sometimes falls flat, it may appeal more to the target audience than to an adult reader.
My other reservation is that the death or near-death of central characters is handled in a surprisingly casual manner for a book intended for 8-12 year olds. While the battle scenes are not particularly gory, parents of children at the younger end of that range may wish to take this fact into account.
First-time YA author John Stephens’ background in writing for television is apparent in the way that the sets are lovingly described. The book frequently reads like a screenplay, and quite often scenes from movies like the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Lord of the Rings trilogy flashed through my mind as I read The Emerald Atlas. It could make for an entertaining and fast-paced movie.
Sometimes books by first-time authors fail to provide a satisfying climax, but The Emerald Atlas delivers a roaring finale—albeit with a cliffhanger ending—that is more than one could hope for.
In all, this is a very enjoyable story sure to win over many young fans.
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Usha Rao/2011 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
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The Emerald Atlas (Books of Beginning)