Skip to main content

Keys to the Demon Prison

Keys to the Demon Prison
By Brandon Mull
Shadow Mountain, 2010. 593 pp. Chapter book.

In this action-packed finale to the Fablehaven series, the Sphinx is on the verge of claiming the last of the five artifacts needed to open the great demon prison Zzyzx, which houses the most powerful and terrible of the world's demons. All those on the side of light must band together to prevent this great catastrophe from destroying everything good in the world. A seemingly endless and impossible string of quests ensue that would daunt any mere group of heroes, but those in this story are not your ordinary people. Kendra and Seth are joined by new, fascinating characters as well as reunited with old friends throughout the course of their missions. The question overlying everything is whether they will succeed or fail, and in so doing, will they live to tell their tales?

Another exciting volume concludes the Fablehaven series in a most satisfying way. Although this book could be much improved by stricter editing, it was still a great read. I did skim quickly through some of the sections that seemed needlessly wordy--which there were many--or that diverged into random tangents, but I did read every bit and still enjoyed it despite its faults. I appreciated the new characters added, as well. Although not the strongest of the series, it was a good conclusion and I'm so happy the series is finally wrapped up!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...