 |
 |
 |
 
|
The Six Crowns: The Ice Gate of Spyre is book four in the middle-grade animal fantasy where six badgers rule everything. It is a sort of Tolkien-lite (and will draw obvious comparisons to Redwall) that includes Captain Grizzletusk, a mean and ornery critter hunting for the six crowns, and Esmeralda Lightfoot, who's certain that she is the Chosen One.
The legend says that only the Oracle can locate the crown. As our little characters delve deeper into the darker regions, they come face to face with strange things ranging from terrible bats with a thirst for tea and a giant lotus that will put you to sleep. Add to that battling llamas and a nest of voracious snow snakes, and you have all the makings of a fantasy world you'll want to read about.
The writing is clean and imaginative and will engage the 8 to 12-year-old reader from the opening lines:
"The legends say that once-long, long ago-there was a single round world, like a ball floating in space, and that it was ruled over by six wise badgers. The legends also tell of a tremendous explosion, an explosion so huge that it shattered the round world into a thousand fragments, a vast archipelago of islands adrift in the sky. As time passed, the survivors of the explosion thrived and prospered and gave their scattered island homes a name-and that name was the Sundered Leands.
"That's what the legends say.
"But who believe in legends nowadays?"
Challenging text for young readers, but well worth the battle. The Ice Gate of Spyre is a terrific tale.
|
|
| |
Steven Rosen/2012 for curled
up with a good kid's book |
|
|
For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews,
visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)
|
|
The Six Crowns: The Ice Gate of Spyre