Castle Storm

Welkin Weasels #2

by Garry Kilworth

Sylver is on a quest to find the humans who abandoned Welkin many years ago and bring them back. With his small company of weasels, he journeys south, through myriad adventures, in search of an ancient castle wherein lies the clue he seeks—Castle Storm. Meanwhile, Welkin itself is under threat, as thousands of rats are pouring down from their marshland home to seize power from the stoats.

Genres: Fantasy, Animals, Fiction, Childrens, Novels, Young Adult

388 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Garry Douglas Kilworth is a historical novelist who also published sci-fi, fantasy, and juvenile fiction.

Kilworth is a graduate of King's College London. He was previously a science fiction author, having published one hundred twenty short stories and seventy novels.

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story jumps around like a wild Squirrel on speed. Also one minute its jokey and light, the next dark and deadly.
I wish the author would decide whether he wants a light read or dark tale?

[David Ellery · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange book. As at least one other reviewer has noted, it doesn't really seem to know what it wants to be. It's a faintly uncomfortable melding of a light, jokey, reference and pastiche dotted adventure with the same habit as its predecessor of writing down to its audience - most notably in the first chapter, which repeats most of the details laid out in the prologue as if to make absolutely sure you got them - and something quite a bit darker. The first book had a grisly streak, but it was so background as to not really merit mention. Here it's a lot stronger, much more in the foreground, producing several genuinely gruesome moments that seem quite inappropriate for its apparent young target audience, not least in how they can be lingered on, though this is somewhat subjective.

One minute death matters, the next it doesn't, mass killings by a monster forgotten the instant it's dealt with, very much in the manner of a Hollywood blockbuster. The pacing is brisk, possibly too brisk, until the band reach the titular castle, then bogs down on the search for the clue for far too long. Half the band are given little to do, and even vanish entirely for many pages during the overlong hunt. A thread is set up fairly early on, then alluded to just once afterwards before being rapidly and conveniently tied up at the very end; can't help thinking it could have been used to give the forgotten half of the band something to do, and cut down the search. It would also have meant less of the increasingly tiresome Mawk; all the characters are one-note, not least the rat hordes who are just slavering idiot grotesques to be used and abused as needed, but his note is irritating, and repeated far too much.

For all this, it is largely an enjoyable book, often well-written, with plenty of imagination, and undoubtedly has its moments. You just have to be willing to handle its issues to get the most out of it.

[Evianrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing book to add to my bookshelf! The Welkin Weasels; Castle Storm follows the adventures of Sylver the weasel and his outlaw band, still on the search for the humans who left Welkin. Meanwhile, an army of rats, led by the evil wizard-stoat Flaggatis, swarm the land and wage war against Prince Poynt and Lord Ragnar.

I found this book to be equally exciting as the last! The outlaw band's adventures take twists and turns to extraordinary lands with quirky characters. Clive of Coldkettle was a favorite. I've already grabbed the third book to read once I set this one down.

It'll be interesting to see how things play out now that Prince Poynt's sister, Sibiline, has been introduced. Will she play a larger role in Castle Rayn? I'm also interested to see if Sheriff Falshed will take his role more seriously in future adventures, as he did at Castle Storm in the later chapters. I also look forward to seeing how the outlaw band rescues Miniver.

You Might Enjoy This Book if you Like...
-Adventure
-Witches/Wizards/Magic
-Battles/War
-Puzzles/Secret Passage Ways

You Might Not Enjoy This Book if you Dislike...
-Death / Torture
-Talking Animals

[Adz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personally, didn’t find this as entertaining as Vol.1 of the trilogy.

[Charleigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The zombie-badger in the tunnels is honestly terrifying. Lots of Shakespeare-Hamlet references in this one. Prince Poynt gets a sister, so that's a win for feminism.

[Capnniknak · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many more exciting adventures, can’t wait for no. 3!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Overall a better read than Jacques but found the ending rushed.

[Mr. Mustela frenata · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.32

[Amy M · Rating 2 out of 5]

My actual rating: 2.25

I found the mass market paperback at a library sale and its John Howe cover made it an instant buy. Also my having a healthy appetite for animal tales, especially those set in a fantasy realm--it was a done deal.

This is actually the second book of a series, but I went ahead with it deciding that if I liked it I could always fill in the blanks later. Turns out it was a good thing I didn't try to track down the first as I doubt I'd have ever made it to Castle Storm.

Kilworth has an imagination that much was clear, but his execution could've been vastly improved. None of the characters really came alive and fell flat. The dialogue was quite cheesy and overlong where you just wished the curtain got pulled forcing whichever character to shut up. (The princess character could've easily been removed in most of her scenes, etc.)

Some of the situations were very original, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to compensate for the weaker areas. As an early draft this would've worked fine, but as a published work I had higher expectations.

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars really...The story was great again, so were the characters (loved the story line with the secret garden), but the end felt so rushed. You take over 400 pages to build up suspence and the you rap it up in under 30 pages? Shame really...But other than that, I enjoyed it.