The Chamber in the Sky

Norumbegan Quartet #4

by M.T. Anderson

From National Book Award and Printz Honor winner M.T. Anderson comes the amazing conclusion to his Norumbegan Quartet!

Brian and Gregory have seen it all. They've played a strange, twisty game and won, and then created their own...sort of. They've gone to investigate intergalactic suburban sprawl that was infringing on the Vermont forests, and landed in the empire of New Norumbega inside the huge body of an alien. They've escaped certain death, walked right into it, and wreaked small amounts of havoc of their own. And finally, they're going to make sense of all their travels and adventures...if they possibly can!
Part fantasy, part mystery, part quest, part Monty Python, the Game of Sunken Places #4 brings to a close the incredible, strange, funny journey of Brian and Gregory, as only the masterful M. T. Anderson could.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult, Dystopia

288 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Matthew Tobin Anderson (M. T. Anderson), (1968- ) is an author, primarily of picture books for children and novels for young adults. Anderson lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His picture books include Handel Who Knew What He Liked; Strange Mr. Satie; The Serpent Came to Gloucester; and Me, All Alone, at the End of the World. He has written such young adult books as Thirsty, Burger Wuss, Feed, The Game of Sunken Places, and Octavian Nothing. For middle grader readers, his novels include Whales on Stilts: M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales and its sequel, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this series as much as I enjoyed Anderson's other work, but one thing I liked is that there are consequences in his writing. Things don't just return to the status quo, and relationships evolve and change and not always for the better. I respect that.

[Ali · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Game of Sunken Places is one of my favourite books, and I was really excited to find out there would be a sequel--and then a quartet! The second and third books left me largely disappointed. The tone drifted, the plot was all over the place, they lost their existential charm and became heroic quest novels instead. The Chamber in the Sky is the best of the three sequels for a variety of reasons, but particularly because it's over now.

[Trent Mikesell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked the first book when I first read it--enough that I recently reread it. I was excited to find out there were 3 more books to read. Although I can recommend the first book, the other three were...pretty dumb. I'll give points for imaginative world building, but the story seemed to drag on with very little point. The other three books were a story that did not need to be told.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book to end the series on. So many ups & downs, twists & turns. M T Anderson, you are the best!

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a satisfying finish to an interesting series. The action in this volume was non-stop from start to end. The characters were as vivid as ever. I'll be sad to see the Norumbegans go as well as Brian, Gregory, Prudence, and all of the mannequins. I highly recommend this series to anyone looking for a romping good time with non-stop action and interesting characters and civilizations.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just don't bother. It's hard to want to read a book where you don't even care about the characters enough to properly dislike them. Book 1 was an interesting play on the board game/scavenger hunt theme, and a good self-contained story. Book 2 was a jumble of them stumbling around with no plan, and ended w a cliffhanger, no resolution. Book 3 played like a whodunnit, forgetting the sense of urgency previously built up, leaving me screaming at the book to get back to priorities. It also ended on a cliffhanger. This book was mean-spirited & petty, with no growth or resolution for the characters at the end. I admire the attempt to show real consequences for real actions, but the character development was so lacking that it just didn't make sense. It was not fun to read, and I would not recommend the series.

[Shana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I changed my status to read, but that's a lie. I did read half of it, but just couldn't finish it. The story was still interesting, but not interesting enough to make me put up with the three most annoying characters I've come across is a while. They just don't have any readeeming qualities by this book and I found I just don't care about them anymore. So, while I enjoy M.T. Anderson's other work, and the even the first and second book in this series, I just couldn't get through to the end.

[Caitlin Snyder · Rating 2 out of 5]

yikes. I stuck with this series all the way through based off how good the first 2 were. the last two could be condensed and combined and then maybe they'd be half as good as what got me hooked. the first 3/4 of this was like pulling teeth. Maybe doing all four in quick sequence might make the difference but I don't have it in me.

[Susan Honthumb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I did not like this book. it seemed well written and the characters were well developed. perhaps if I had read it in one or two sittings, I would have liked it, but since I put it down a lot, I was mostly confused and I kept reading to be done.

[Omar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Loved this book and the series. It was a nice little ending that left you changed. Would have liked it if the outcome was a bit more of a nice ending like the first book but still wonderful story.