Skip to main content

Atherton: The House of Power

By
Atherton: The House of Power
By Patrick Carman
Little, Brown and Co, 2007. 330 pgs. Chapter book.

Patrick Carman's new series begins with Atherton: The House of Power. Carman writes for an older audience than he did in The Land of Elyon trilogy. The tone of Atherton is darker and more serious, sometimes it is downright grim. Atherton is a unique world of three levels: The Highlands, Tabletop, and The Flatlands. The majority of the world's populace resides on Tabletop where figs, rabbits and sheep are raised for food. The rulers live a life of luxury on the Highlands. The House of Power is so called mainly because they can control the output of water to the lower levels. And you probably don't want to know what lives in the Flatlands. Only one boy is brave enough to explore his world and wonder what might be on the other levels. Edgar learns that he can only reach his goals with the help of some friends, something he thought he would never have. Friendships are discovered and social status ignored as Edgar, Samuel and Isabelle try to understand and cope with their changing world. I liked the feel of this novel, but was bothered at times by the author's narrative style. The book is written mostly in the third person, but occasionally the author speaks to the reader using 'I' and 'we'. It is unnecessary and distracting. Overall I enjoyed reading this book and am curious where he will take the series. This should definitely be recommended to those who liked City of Ember and other post-apocalyptic books.
Labels:

Comments

therbi said…
This book captured me and still has yet to let go. I look forward to the series.
November 11, 2007 at 9:49 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Kareem Between

By
  Kareem Between By Shifa Saltagi Safadi New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024. Fiction. 324 pages.  Kareem loves football and as he gets ready to start seventh grade he dreams of someday becoming the first Syrian American NFL player. Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Kareem, after football tryouts don't go as he had planned, his best friend moves away, and his mom returns to Syria to help bring his sick grandfather to the US for treatment. So when Austin, the quarterback and coach's son, offers to talk to his dad and get Kareem on the football team in the spring, if he will cheat and do his homework for him, Kareem agrees. Kareem really wants to fit in at school and he is desperate to find a friend, but deep down he knows that doing Austin's homework isn't the right thing to do. And to make things harder, Kareem's mom asks him to be a friend to Fadi, a Syrian Christian refugee. He knows he should stand up for Fadi and help him adjust to the new school,...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Sole Survivor

By
  Sole Survivor  Written By Norman Ollestad and Brendan Kiely  New York: Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2025. 255 pages.  This is a juvenile biography/memoire about the plane crash that Norman Ollestad survived when he was a sixth grader. The book starts off with Norman wining a skiing competition and heading home to play in a hockey game only to head onto an airplane with his dad, his dad’s girlfriend (Sandra), and the pilot so he could go and claim his trophy for the skiing competition. Only, the plane crashed and the pilot and Norman’s dad were killed. Then when Sandra falls and dies as well, Norman is left as the sole survivor from the plane crash in the San Gabriel Mountains during a snowstorm.  Fans of Hatchet or other adventure novels will love reading how Norman survived this ordeal. And they will be even more impressed with the fact that this is a true story and the person who survived and is still alive today. This book goes over all of...
Post a Comment
Read more