I just finished a couple of books I bought for one of my kids and thought I would post a review.
A little background: I recently participated in a book Festival and met a nice couple who have these two books written for youth. I bought both books and my son read them. Because I was curious, I read them too. I can’t rate them on Goodreads or BookDNA.com because they aren’t Amazon books, and I think it’s a shame that there is such a massive stranglehold on self-publishing.
Anyway, if you like wholesome fantasy books for youth (my guess is 9-15 years old), I recommend The Shatterland Chronicles, available at Barnes & Nobles. Both of these books are clean, positive, and teach good lessons.
The series: Three siblings live in the shatterphere, which is a clump of scattered skylands floating in an atmosphere. The skylands came from the world being broken by “Smasher”, the antagonist. These kids discover some old tech and there are adventures. The writing is creative and very well done, and Josh Fritchie did all of the illustrations in the book. It’s good work.
Book 1: Burning Bridges
The story begins with Ivy, Jack and Feather finding an ancient book that opens a portal. They go through said portal and end up on a skyland where several floating sections are connected by bridges. The bridges are also the ropes that hold the islands together. The portal closes and the kids can’t get back home unless they find out what statement in the ancient book was said to open the portal, AND the statement must be truly said by each of them.
There are two factions living in the skylands and their communal harmony is broken by someone or something burning bridges between the lands. Everyone living there is focused on blaming the other side, but the siblings aren’t caught up in the skyland history and end up helping the local discover the truth and set aside their differences.
The siblings find lots of dumb (but funny) sheep, a small dragon named Fluffy, and a large dragon. They get home through the portal.
Book2: The Vale of Valor
Ivy, Jack, and Feather use the portal again and they end up in the skyland of Valorum which is ruled by an evil mayor who is a henchman of the Smasher. Everyone in Valorum is basically a viking, but they are scared of everything. Their mascot or sacred animal is the chicken, which adds a lot of humor to the story. The siblings discover what’s happening on Valorum and why the people are so afraid. Ivy, Jack, and Feather uncover a dastardly plot and help the people to conquer their fears. Along the way, they have to face their own fears in order to use the portal to return home.
