What do you think?
Fliss Morgan #2
Inside the Worm
The worm was close now. So close Fliss could smell the putrid stench of its breath. Its slavering jaws gaped to engulf her...Everyone in Elsworth knows the local legend about the monstrous worm - or dragon - that once terrorised the village. But it never really happened. Or did it? For when Fliss and her friends are chosen to re-enact the legend for the village Festival, the four who are to play the part of the worm dance as one across the ground. They are the worm. And Fliss begins to feel real fear. Somehow the worm itself is returning - with a thousand-year hunger in its belly, and a burning desire for vengeance...
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1993
About the author
Robert Swindells
178 books106 followersRobert Swindells was born in Bradford in 1939, the eldest of five children. He left the local Secondary Modern School at fifteen to work as a copy holder on the local newspaper. At seventeen he enlisted in the RAF and served for three years, two in Germany. On being discharged he worked as a clerk, engineer and printer until 1969 when he entered college to train as a teacher having obtained five 'O' levels at night-school. His first book 'When Darkness Comes' was written as a college thesis and published by Hodder and Stoughton in 1972. In 1980 he gave up teaching to write full time. He likes travelling and visits many schools each year, talking and reading stories to children. He is the secutatry of his local Peace Movement group. Brother in the Land is his first book for Oxford University Press. He is married with two grown-up daughters and lives in Bradford.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
Author description taken from Brother in the Land.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 31, 2016
To celebrate the local legend of a mysterious monstrous worm (or Dragon), Fliss and her friends are chosen to re-enact the legend for the village Festival.
But something is starting to effect the four friends, surly it’s just superstition or have they awoken the beast?
But something is starting to effect the four friends, surly it’s just superstition or have they awoken the beast?
February 2, 2022
3-
Non avevo la più pallida idea che questo fosse il continuo de La stanza 13, ma nel ritrovare tutti i vecchi personaggi non c’è stato alcun dubbio.
Fliss, devi andare a Lourdes.
Sul serio, tesoro, non è possibile che capitino tutte a te. E che tu venga bullizzata così tanto dai tuoi amici.
Ad ogni modo, Nel ventre del drago non regge il confronto con il suo predecessore. Risulta comunque una lettura godibile per ragazzi, ma manca del fascino del mistero e della tensione narrativa che Swindells aveva saputo regalarci. Non che La stanza 13 sia un capolavoro a mio avviso, ma almeno viene considerato come un cult per bambini per ovvie ragioni.
Qui la trama è fiacca, non c’è un vero mistero nonostante le premesse fossero interessanti. Ed è proprio la mancanza di segretezza verso la natura del drago che la lettura risulta prevedibile e poco entusiasmante. E Fliss ha rischiato la morte, di nuovo.
Anche se non mi ha colpito, Nel ventre del drago non è un romanzo da bocciare. Anzi, credo che il target di riferimento possa apprezzarlo appieno, ma per quanto mi riguarda… meh.
Non avevo la più pallida idea che questo fosse il continuo de La stanza 13, ma nel ritrovare tutti i vecchi personaggi non c’è stato alcun dubbio.
Fliss, devi andare a Lourdes.
Sul serio, tesoro, non è possibile che capitino tutte a te. E che tu venga bullizzata così tanto dai tuoi amici.
Ad ogni modo, Nel ventre del drago non regge il confronto con il suo predecessore. Risulta comunque una lettura godibile per ragazzi, ma manca del fascino del mistero e della tensione narrativa che Swindells aveva saputo regalarci. Non che La stanza 13 sia un capolavoro a mio avviso, ma almeno viene considerato come un cult per bambini per ovvie ragioni.
Qui la trama è fiacca, non c’è un vero mistero nonostante le premesse fossero interessanti. Ed è proprio la mancanza di segretezza verso la natura del drago che la lettura risulta prevedibile e poco entusiasmante. E Fliss ha rischiato la morte, di nuovo.
Anche se non mi ha colpito, Nel ventre del drago non è un romanzo da bocciare. Anzi, credo che il target di riferimento possa apprezzarlo appieno, ma per quanto mi riguarda… meh.
June 28, 2024
My fifth book of the 2026 MG August Reading Challenge (in it's 7th year - it's a great way to purge through a backlog and win your team points! Join us next time? https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...
A paltry 2 stars for this one, whose basic premise is parallel to that of The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively (one of my all-time favourites): children re-enacting local violent folklore get caught up in the literal spirit of it and are transfigured.
I've read two books by Robert Swindells now: Stone Cold (which is creepy and quick and highly recommended for reluctant teenage readers, especially male ones), and Room 13 which I just finished yesterday, and which is a prequel of sorts to this one (contains all the same characters, anyway). Stone Cold won the Carnegie Medal, while Room 13's only real merit, I feel, is its setting (Yorkshire, and specifically Whitby and region). Otherwise, standard Goosebumps-esque fare, really.
I was hoping for more Yorkshire content in this one, seeing as Bottomtop Middle is set in or nearby Bradford. But its location seems to have changed to the fictional tiny village of Elsworth, with St Ceridwen's church at its heart, and adjacent to a fen. Ah well.
Fliss (Felicity) is set against her best friend Lisa and newfound allies Gary and Trot (and Ellie-May, who was Room 13's near-victim), as these four are cast to play The Worm and Fliss the part of Saint Ceridwen, its banisher, as part of the millennial celebration of Ceridwen defeating the Worm in Elsworth. The influence of the role of the Worm begins to change the 4 kids in the dragon costume for the worse, and Lisa and Fliss become heatedly estranged. Death threats, violent (and later, deadly) pranks ensue, until the culmination of events at the performance - which was supposed to be on May Day, May the First, by the author's own reckoning! And believe me, I'd notice - I have a list for that: May Day Festivities; feel free to flesh it out! But Swindells forgets the date, and it's a "sunny Saturday in April" when Fliss is at peak dread and facing the prospect of The Performance. Argh.
It's not just the lack of atmosphere and foreboding and subtleties that bothers me, it's getting your own dang dates muddled. So much more could have creeped and seeped its way into this story. As I have implied, I have high standards, since The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy is foremost in my mind. But all in all, the Fliss Morgan duology is fairly lacklustre. If I had an AirBnB in Whitby, I'd keep these on the shelves for bored tweens on rainy days. And I'd only tack this book on in case it rained for a full week and they needed more pages to get through.
But, like all books, there's something worthwhile in all of them. I learned the word propitiate (which is odd, because the rest of the vocab in these two books is very entry-level stuff!), and to my surprise, this ticked off 5 potential Middle Grade Challenge tasks for my team (it will only be slotted in for one of them, ultimately): protagonist betrayed by best friend; pair of eyes on the cover; thriller; same author as another book read this challenge; possession by spirit/ghost/ghoul.
If you're around ahead of next August, I highly recommend checking out the Middle Grade Madness August Reading Challenge - it's a great way to blow through a backlog, and I rely upon it annually to purge my shelves!
If you're into vintage juvenile reads, stop by Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! - we've got some great discussion topics, or start your own. Swindells for me is 1 hit and 2 misses, so far. :)
A paltry 2 stars for this one, whose basic premise is parallel to that of The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy by Penelope Lively (one of my all-time favourites): children re-enacting local violent folklore get caught up in the literal spirit of it and are transfigured.
I've read two books by Robert Swindells now: Stone Cold (which is creepy and quick and highly recommended for reluctant teenage readers, especially male ones), and Room 13 which I just finished yesterday, and which is a prequel of sorts to this one (contains all the same characters, anyway). Stone Cold won the Carnegie Medal, while Room 13's only real merit, I feel, is its setting (Yorkshire, and specifically Whitby and region). Otherwise, standard Goosebumps-esque fare, really.
I was hoping for more Yorkshire content in this one, seeing as Bottomtop Middle is set in or nearby Bradford. But its location seems to have changed to the fictional tiny village of Elsworth, with St Ceridwen's church at its heart, and adjacent to a fen. Ah well.
Fliss (Felicity) is set against her best friend Lisa and newfound allies Gary and Trot (and Ellie-May, who was Room 13's near-victim), as these four are cast to play The Worm and Fliss the part of Saint Ceridwen, its banisher, as part of the millennial celebration of Ceridwen defeating the Worm in Elsworth. The influence of the role of the Worm begins to change the 4 kids in the dragon costume for the worse, and Lisa and Fliss become heatedly estranged. Death threats, violent (and later, deadly) pranks ensue, until the culmination of events at the performance - which was supposed to be on May Day, May the First, by the author's own reckoning! And believe me, I'd notice - I have a list for that: May Day Festivities; feel free to flesh it out! But Swindells forgets the date, and it's a "sunny Saturday in April" when Fliss is at peak dread and facing the prospect of The Performance. Argh.
It's not just the lack of atmosphere and foreboding and subtleties that bothers me, it's getting your own dang dates muddled. So much more could have creeped and seeped its way into this story. As I have implied, I have high standards, since The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy is foremost in my mind. But all in all, the Fliss Morgan duology is fairly lacklustre. If I had an AirBnB in Whitby, I'd keep these on the shelves for bored tweens on rainy days. And I'd only tack this book on in case it rained for a full week and they needed more pages to get through.
But, like all books, there's something worthwhile in all of them. I learned the word propitiate (which is odd, because the rest of the vocab in these two books is very entry-level stuff!), and to my surprise, this ticked off 5 potential Middle Grade Challenge tasks for my team (it will only be slotted in for one of them, ultimately): protagonist betrayed by best friend; pair of eyes on the cover; thriller; same author as another book read this challenge; possession by spirit/ghost/ghoul.
If you're around ahead of next August, I highly recommend checking out the Middle Grade Madness August Reading Challenge - it's a great way to blow through a backlog, and I rely upon it annually to purge my shelves!
If you're into vintage juvenile reads, stop by Forgotten Vintage Children's Lit We Want Republished! - we've got some great discussion topics, or start your own. Swindells for me is 1 hit and 2 misses, so far. :)
March 21, 2024
A small town is celebrating the millennium of the martyrdom of their patron saint, St Ceridwen (is there a real St Ceridwen?), and so a weeklong festival is planned, culminating in a play on the life of the saint, who, in addition to dying as a martyr, had defeated a dragon that plagued the small village, not my killing it, but by banishing it to a fen.
The Year 8 pupils of the BottomTop Middle School are given the responsibility of producing the play, and Felicity "Fliss" Morgan is chosen to play the part of St Ceridwen, while her best friend Lisa Watmough is one of four children playing the dragon, whose costume they create out of whatever materials they can find.
Lisa is at first reluctant to take part, as she has a strange feeling that something bad will happen, but once she gets started she participates enthusiastically, and it's Fliss's turn to get worried as Lisa seems to change, and not in a nice way, and those who are acting the dragon's part seem to become too enthusiastic. The tension increases, until the day of the festival itself.
The Year 8 pupils of the BottomTop Middle School are given the responsibility of producing the play, and Felicity "Fliss" Morgan is chosen to play the part of St Ceridwen, while her best friend Lisa Watmough is one of four children playing the dragon, whose costume they create out of whatever materials they can find.
Lisa is at first reluctant to take part, as she has a strange feeling that something bad will happen, but once she gets started she participates enthusiastically, and it's Fliss's turn to get worried as Lisa seems to change, and not in a nice way, and those who are acting the dragon's part seem to become too enthusiastic. The tension increases, until the day of the festival itself.
March 2, 2018
Ihan ok nuorten kirja. Olihan siinä jonkin verran jännitystäkin mukana, mutta aika selkeä lopputulosta myöten. Se jäi mieleen, ettei sitä Ceridwenin mekon kosketusta tarvinnut ruveta selittämään sen tarkemmin.
April 3, 2020
I actually disagree with these reviews -I think it's marginally better than Room 13, especially for that amazing sense of dread it builds. It's a childhood classic for me!
September 29, 2012
"Inside the Worm" is another childhood/young adult "classic" for me. It has that fantastic atmosphere for me, still. The pictures (finnish edition by Karisto) in the beginning of chapters work well in setting the mood as the plot thickens.
A class of teenage school children are going to perform a play, to celebrate a historical event: 1000 years ago a dragon that terrorized the village was finally banished by a beautiful maiden. When four people are selected to play the Worm, strange things start to happen as they prepare their costume for the upcoming event. Fliss is selected to play Ceridwen, the maiden, and her best friend Lisa joins Ellie-May, Gary and Trot to play the worm. Fliss has some ominous feelings concerning the play - is there something bigger going on behind the scenes?
A class of teenage school children are going to perform a play, to celebrate a historical event: 1000 years ago a dragon that terrorized the village was finally banished by a beautiful maiden. When four people are selected to play the Worm, strange things start to happen as they prepare their costume for the upcoming event. Fliss is selected to play Ceridwen, the maiden, and her best friend Lisa joins Ellie-May, Gary and Trot to play the worm. Fliss has some ominous feelings concerning the play - is there something bigger going on behind the scenes?
August 12, 2013
I read this right after Room 13 which I think spoiled it for me. I guess it's just a bit too young for me - which I don't normally say about children's books, but this one just didn't work for me. The physical book is great though with it's different images for every chapter.
June 29, 2015
After the delight of discovering Room 13 as a kid, I was thrilled to get another story featuring the same characters - but Inside the Worm failed to deliver. There were a few moments of delicious horror, but in general it felt like this novel was written without as much thought or love.
Want to Read
December 5, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14829915
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14829915
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews