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Five Kingdoms #4
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Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Middle Grade & Children's (2016)Jeszcze niedawno Cole był zwykłym chłopakiem, który miał zwyczajnych przyjaciół i chodził do zwyczajnej szkoły. Jednak pewna impreza sprawiła, że jego życie wywróciło się do góry nogami…
W Necronum, krainie echa, trudno odróżnić żywych od martwych, a sojuszników od wrogów. Żywi rzadko się tu zapuszczają, a tajne pakty niosą za sobą straszliwe niebezpieczeństwa.
Cole musi udać się do krainy echa, żeby ratować przyjaciół. Wrogowie są coraz bliżej, więc ryzykuje wszystko, aby odnaleźć jedyną rzecz, która może ich ocalić…
Czwarta część pięciotomowej serii, o której sam autor mówi, że najbardziej przypomina bestsellerowy "Baśniobór". I jest co najmniej tak samo genialna!
W Necronum, krainie echa, trudno odróżnić żywych od martwych, a sojuszników od wrogów. Żywi rzadko się tu zapuszczają, a tajne pakty niosą za sobą straszliwe niebezpieczeństwa.
Cole musi udać się do krainy echa, żeby ratować przyjaciół. Wrogowie są coraz bliżej, więc ryzykuje wszystko, aby odnaleźć jedyną rzecz, która może ich ocalić…
Czwarta część pięciotomowej serii, o której sam autor mówi, że najbardziej przypomina bestsellerowy "Baśniobór". I jest co najmniej tak samo genialna!
528 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2016
559 people are currently reading
6602 people want to read
About the author
Brandon Mull
79 books10.7k followersBRANDON MULL is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fablehaven, Dragonwatch, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. A kinetic thinker, Brandon enjoys bouncy balls, squeezable stress toys, and popping bubble wrap. He lives in Utah in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon with his wife, Erlyn, their eleven children, and three mischievous cats. Brandon loves meeting his readers and hearing about their experiences with his books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 609 reviews
February 14, 2024
Kinda disappointing
February 16, 2024
Nadal uwielbiam tę serię, ale ten tom podoba mi się najmniej. Jest zbyt chaotyczny i niektórych wątków nie zrozumiałam.
June 4, 2016
Woah that was most definitely the best book in the series so far! Brandon said this was his favorite, and I agree so much!! I highly, highly suggest reading the Beyonders Trilogy first because there is some overlap between the two series. You'd appreciate this series more after the other one.
March 26, 2016
This book was good. But it felt a little plotless.
We have known from the end of Book 1 that each book in this series will be about regaining the power of each of the 5 princesses in The Five Kingdoms.
This story is searching for Destiny and Honor (from Book 2).
The journey is something like this:
- Go to point A
- You just missed her, go to point B
- She was here, but you missed her. Go to point C
- She was here too, but you missed her. Go to point D
...and so on.
Rick Riordan's books are all about the journey, but they always have unexpected twists & turns, and a lot of fun to them, and we learn something new in the story.
Death Weavers just felt a little old and tired to me.
He did bring in 2 characters from The Beyonders series, so that was ... nice, I guess.
A little unexpected.
I'm disappointed that this book doesn't raise the story stakes at all, and it doesn't introduce new elements about the story or the characters.
If you read The Lunar Chronicles, each story raises the stakes a little bit.
If you read The Throne of Glass series, each story pushes our characters past their limits of endurance -- more enemies, harder to defeat.
Read the Reckoners series. With each book, our heroes have more to lose, the odds are against their success, and it get worse and worse.
There's none of that here. It's a bland adventure.
Maybe he's saving all the bells & whistles for the final book, which will be available in about 18 months.
We have known from the end of Book 1 that each book in this series will be about regaining the power of each of the 5 princesses in The Five Kingdoms.
This story is searching for Destiny and Honor (from Book 2).
The journey is something like this:
- Go to point A
- You just missed her, go to point B
- She was here, but you missed her. Go to point C
- She was here too, but you missed her. Go to point D
...and so on.
Rick Riordan's books are all about the journey, but they always have unexpected twists & turns, and a lot of fun to them, and we learn something new in the story.
Death Weavers just felt a little old and tired to me.
He did bring in 2 characters from The Beyonders series, so that was ... nice, I guess.
A little unexpected.
I'm disappointed that this book doesn't raise the story stakes at all, and it doesn't introduce new elements about the story or the characters.
If you read The Lunar Chronicles, each story raises the stakes a little bit.
If you read The Throne of Glass series, each story pushes our characters past their limits of endurance -- more enemies, harder to defeat.
Read the Reckoners series. With each book, our heroes have more to lose, the odds are against their success, and it get worse and worse.
There's none of that here. It's a bland adventure.
Maybe he's saving all the bells & whistles for the final book, which will be available in about 18 months.
April 25, 2016
THE REVIEW
Why this book?
I love this series
What I thought
In this installment Cole is mostly by himself most the book in the echolands trying to save Princess Destiny. I didn't mind the others were MIA most the book,Cole has always been my favorite character . I did miss Hunter a little though.Okay now i'm gonna start off with the bad. There wasn't as much action in this book as the others and sometimes the pacing was slow. Plus I didn't find the echolands that exciting. With that said Cole has finally came into his power and even though the echolands aren't that exciting the book is full of exciting moments.It also might not have been action packed but still was action filled at times. Not the greatest book in the series,but not the worst either. It still was awesome,Looking forward to the last book.
Why this book?
I love this series
What I thought
In this installment Cole is mostly by himself most the book in the echolands trying to save Princess Destiny. I didn't mind the others were MIA most the book,Cole has always been my favorite character . I did miss Hunter a little though.Okay now i'm gonna start off with the bad. There wasn't as much action in this book as the others and sometimes the pacing was slow. Plus I didn't find the echolands that exciting. With that said Cole has finally came into his power and even though the echolands aren't that exciting the book is full of exciting moments.It also might not have been action packed but still was action filled at times. Not the greatest book in the series,but not the worst either. It still was awesome,Looking forward to the last book.
April 15, 2016
The Five Kingdoms series, so far, has been generally fine, neither amazing nor terrible. Each book has been packed with a lot of creativity, a mostly clear and action-filled plot, interesting characters, and a generally decent protagonist.
Death Weavers fell short of even that "okay" benchmark. The entire book was essentially Cole running around, asking a ton of questions (both mentally and to the other characters) and then receiving a lot of information about the echolands. Unlike the other kingdoms, where there was some informational dialogue but also descriptive narratives to introduce the new and unique elements of the kingdom, here the majority of information we get on Necronum is all from someone with all the answers (or most of them). The chapter with Prescia was particularly aggravating; I started skimming to get through dull chunks of info and I still felt overloaded.
Gone also were character interactions and growth. Jace, Joe, Mira, and Dalton are mostly incapacitated or absent from the book. Cole meets a few new characters and revisits old ones (the update about Twitch was nice, for example), but we don't see much character growth besides one plot point. Cole's reunion with another character was so tepid and lackluster, that I actually went back and re-read a little to see whether I had missed something. And given the build up of this particular reunion, it was extremely disappointing.
And while the previous book introduced a new and interesting character, Hunter, he is largely absent as well. In fact, he isn't in the latter 75% at all, which was disappointing given how well Mull crafted his character and revelations surrounding his history in the Outskirts in the previous book. (I still think this twist was the best and most unexpected in the series to date.)
Cole himself has become pretty dull, too. By the end of the book, he is more physically capable, sure, but where is the easy humor and mischievousness of book 1? I am hoping that a comment made by Dandalus foreshadows a different aspect of Cole. Otherwise, he'll just be another "heroic" character with no personality. And one with a ton of seemingly unlimited power...
Cole has been avoiding the dilemma of whom to concentrate his efforts on and ultimately has to make a decision, but we still get yet another conversation with Dalton about whether or not to split away from the princesses and frequent introspective questions to himself about whom to prioritize. Yes, this is an important and integral issue. But chewing over it again and again and again is annoying and unnecessary. Mira is still taking dumb risks, despite her importance (and her sixty plus years of experience) to the rebellion. The other princesses never get a chance to develop into people with personalities, though we know how much Honor loves being a knight.
One good thing is we finally learn more about the Outskirts in general, instead of getting more of the same generic answer that Cole can't leave, except maybe he can. We get a pretty comprehensive history of how the Kingdoms came to be. (But in a very lengthy, mostly one sided dialogue, if you don't count Cole's inexhaustible questions.)
The showdown at the end was satisfying, and there seems to be a clear direction for the plot in the last book, but it was almost too little too late.
I was also initially disappointed with Necronum, which only features for a tiny portion of the book, thinking it would be a super creepy place since, hello, the shaping revolves around spirits and what I thought would be necromancy. But I have to admit that the echolands were a unique construction, just not the most compelling or interesting.
If Brandon Mull never writes about running and hearing songs again, I think I will be okay with that.
Death Weavers fell short of even that "okay" benchmark. The entire book was essentially Cole running around, asking a ton of questions (both mentally and to the other characters) and then receiving a lot of information about the echolands. Unlike the other kingdoms, where there was some informational dialogue but also descriptive narratives to introduce the new and unique elements of the kingdom, here the majority of information we get on Necronum is all from someone with all the answers (or most of them). The chapter with Prescia was particularly aggravating; I started skimming to get through dull chunks of info and I still felt overloaded.
Gone also were character interactions and growth. Jace, Joe, Mira, and Dalton are mostly incapacitated or absent from the book. Cole meets a few new characters and revisits old ones (the update about Twitch was nice, for example), but we don't see much character growth besides one plot point. Cole's reunion with another character was so tepid and lackluster, that I actually went back and re-read a little to see whether I had missed something. And given the build up of this particular reunion, it was extremely disappointing.
And while the previous book introduced a new and interesting character, Hunter, he is largely absent as well. In fact, he isn't in the latter 75% at all, which was disappointing given how well Mull crafted his character and revelations surrounding his history in the Outskirts in the previous book. (I still think this twist was the best and most unexpected in the series to date.)
Cole himself has become pretty dull, too. By the end of the book, he is more physically capable, sure, but where is the easy humor and mischievousness of book 1? I am hoping that a comment made by Dandalus foreshadows a different aspect of Cole. Otherwise, he'll just be another "heroic" character with no personality. And one with a ton of seemingly unlimited power...
Cole has been avoiding the dilemma of whom to concentrate his efforts on and ultimately has to make a decision, but we still get yet another conversation with Dalton about whether or not to split away from the princesses and frequent introspective questions to himself about whom to prioritize. Yes, this is an important and integral issue. But chewing over it again and again and again is annoying and unnecessary. Mira is still taking dumb risks, despite her importance (and her sixty plus years of experience) to the rebellion. The other princesses never get a chance to develop into people with personalities, though we know how much Honor loves being a knight.
One good thing is we finally learn more about the Outskirts in general, instead of getting more of the same generic answer that Cole can't leave, except maybe he can. We get a pretty comprehensive history of how the Kingdoms came to be. (But in a very lengthy, mostly one sided dialogue, if you don't count Cole's inexhaustible questions.)
The showdown at the end was satisfying, and there seems to be a clear direction for the plot in the last book, but it was almost too little too late.
I was also initially disappointed with Necronum, which only features for a tiny portion of the book, thinking it would be a super creepy place since, hello, the shaping revolves around spirits and what I thought would be necromancy. But I have to admit that the echolands were a unique construction, just not the most compelling or interesting.
If Brandon Mull never writes about running and hearing songs again, I think I will be okay with that.
February 13, 2017
Tejedores de Sombras es la cuarta parte de una saga a la altura de la fantasía épica, versión middlegrade. Llena de peligros, suspense, drama y sorpresas, Cinco Reinos es un universo único y brillante creado por el autor con gran creatividad.
Reseña completa en THE BEST READ YET BLOG
Reseña completa en THE BEST READ YET BLOG
March 11, 2018
I . . . liked this book, but I really wanted to like it more than I did.
Characters: As with a lot of other Brandon Mull books, I struggled with the characters. They tend to be like bunnies: with each book, there is a population explosion and you start saying, "who was [blank] again? Oh yeah, that dude from book two." Part of my trouble with these books is that I read them to become well-acquainted with the characters. But if you cover up all of the Joe saids and Dalton saids, you really can't tell who is talking. Their personalities come across so similarly to each other, that they start to blend together.
Another common trend I struggle with is dumping all of the characters from the previous book near the beginning of the current book. Just as you're starting to appreciate a character relationship, some disaster happens and Cole winds up on his own or with brand new characters for the rest of the novel. I wish that we could mostly stick with the same core characters throughout the series. It's those character dynamics that I most want to see, but instead, we always end up leaving them behind, or they get kidnapped, or incapacitated somehow. And the new characters are often a bit bland―usually adults who are super-capable.
That being said, I really liked Cole's development near the climax of the book. I don't remember the previous books very well, but I felt like he grew more in this book than he did in previous books.
Plot: It is starting to feel formulaic. It REALLY started to feel like the old Nintendo game: "Sorry, [Cole], but your princess is in another castle." I would mind that a lot less if there was more of a twist at each turn. I'd probably not even notice this if I enjoyed the character interactions more. But listening to the brand new characters in this world tell Cole how awesome he is doesn't really entertain me.
Setting: As with the other five kingdoms, I found the world interesting. This one was more difficult to understand than the previous three. I found myself churning over the definitions, terms, and ideas, then finally deciding to just move on and hope I'd just start to get it later on.
Overall, I did like this book a lot. I almost gave it a four stars. But I'm just growing more and more disappointed by the potential that this book (and others in the series) just barely miss. For example, if Hunter, Jace, Mira, or Twitch had somehow been able to accompany Cole instead of finding new people. Or if there had been a couple less stops. I don't mind interruptions to the journey, but I want them to add depth, meaning, or intrigue to the book, not just pages.
Characters: As with a lot of other Brandon Mull books, I struggled with the characters. They tend to be like bunnies: with each book, there is a population explosion and you start saying, "who was [blank] again? Oh yeah, that dude from book two." Part of my trouble with these books is that I read them to become well-acquainted with the characters. But if you cover up all of the Joe saids and Dalton saids, you really can't tell who is talking. Their personalities come across so similarly to each other, that they start to blend together.
Another common trend I struggle with is dumping all of the characters from the previous book near the beginning of the current book. Just as you're starting to appreciate a character relationship, some disaster happens and Cole winds up on his own or with brand new characters for the rest of the novel. I wish that we could mostly stick with the same core characters throughout the series. It's those character dynamics that I most want to see, but instead, we always end up leaving them behind, or they get kidnapped, or incapacitated somehow. And the new characters are often a bit bland―usually adults who are super-capable.
That being said, I really liked Cole's development near the climax of the book. I don't remember the previous books very well, but I felt like he grew more in this book than he did in previous books.
Plot: It is starting to feel formulaic. It REALLY started to feel like the old Nintendo game: "Sorry, [Cole], but your princess is in another castle." I would mind that a lot less if there was more of a twist at each turn. I'd probably not even notice this if I enjoyed the character interactions more. But listening to the brand new characters in this world tell Cole how awesome he is doesn't really entertain me.
Setting: As with the other five kingdoms, I found the world interesting. This one was more difficult to understand than the previous three. I found myself churning over the definitions, terms, and ideas, then finally deciding to just move on and hope I'd just start to get it later on.
Overall, I did like this book a lot. I almost gave it a four stars. But I'm just growing more and more disappointed by the potential that this book (and others in the series) just barely miss. For example, if Hunter, Jace, Mira, or Twitch had somehow been able to accompany Cole instead of finding new people. Or if there had been a couple less stops. I don't mind interruptions to the journey, but I want them to add depth, meaning, or intrigue to the book, not just pages.
February 23, 2020
This is really great how things are coming together and unraveling , weaving in and out of each book to combine this stellar story of Cole and the realm of the 5 Kingdoms. Was waiting with baited anticipation for this book, now I have to wait for the next.
No spoilers here: but if you haven't begun the journey that Cole must endure with every temptation thrown at him to leave his calling, then you are truly missing out on another Brandon Mull masterpiece. Have gotten several young girls in on reading this tale in my class and they told me that based on the cover , they never would have attempted this story. Now they are hooked, and you will be too.
Just reread the entire series and found so much I missed the first time around
No spoilers here: but if you haven't begun the journey that Cole must endure with every temptation thrown at him to leave his calling, then you are truly missing out on another Brandon Mull masterpiece. Have gotten several young girls in on reading this tale in my class and they told me that based on the cover , they never would have attempted this story. Now they are hooked, and you will be too.
Just reread the entire series and found so much I missed the first time around
July 1, 2015
I can't wait for this book to come out!! 2016 can't come any slower now!!
February 11, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
Oczekiwałam trochę więcej ale nadal bardzo mi się ta seria podoba.
Zaraz konieec🫶🏻
Oczekiwałam trochę więcej ale nadal bardzo mi się ta seria podoba.
Zaraz konieec🫶🏻
May 15, 2016
At the end of the book, Brandon Mull mentions that he has been overworked and was on a deadline for this book (as well as his other series). It is clear that being overworked lead to him producing what is probably the weakest book he has ever written. This entire book was dry, dull, and boring.
One of the things I liked about the Five Kingdom series is the characters tended to grow and develop over the books. This had none of it. Readers were instead treated to lengthy sections where only Cole is traveling around the Echolands. This would be great, but Cole doesn't grow or change as a person. He just moves from point to point. There are literally dozens of other characters that we have hardly seen or interacted with. We're coming up on the fifth book soon and we have had a handful of interactions with the princesses and Hunter (Cole's brother).
A frustrating aspect of this book is literally the writing/plot flow. This entire book can be summed up as -
Talk to person who points them to point A
Travel to point A to find out they missed X individual but they speak to person who tells them to go to point B
Go to Point B just missed the person, find someone who tells them to go to point C
Go to point C just missed the person, find someone who tells them to go to point D
You get the point.
It was literally just walking around going from point to point with no point (sorry for the pun) to it.
The pointless plot was made even more frustrating by the pages and pages and pages of question and answers. 75% of Cole's conversations involved him asking questions. A typical convo was something kind of like this -
Cole: Can you help me:
Person: No I cannot help you. But Sam can.
Cole: Who is Sam?
Person: Sam is a shaper who lives in the echolands.
Cole: What are the Echolands?
Person: Explains Echolands
Cole: Why do the Echolannds exist?
Person: Explains
Cole: How do I get to the Echolands?
One or two convos like this would have been fine, but it was the entire book.
Oh and there is a whole cross reference to Mull's other series, which might be nice for those who liked that series, but it really just feels forced.
I wish Mull had talked to his publishers and respectfully asked for deadline extensions if he felt overworked/tired. This is not up to par with the rest of the series.
One of the things I liked about the Five Kingdom series is the characters tended to grow and develop over the books. This had none of it. Readers were instead treated to lengthy sections where only Cole is traveling around the Echolands. This would be great, but Cole doesn't grow or change as a person. He just moves from point to point. There are literally dozens of other characters that we have hardly seen or interacted with. We're coming up on the fifth book soon and we have had a handful of interactions with the princesses and Hunter (Cole's brother).
A frustrating aspect of this book is literally the writing/plot flow. This entire book can be summed up as -
Talk to person who points them to point A
Travel to point A to find out they missed X individual but they speak to person who tells them to go to point B
Go to Point B just missed the person, find someone who tells them to go to point C
Go to point C just missed the person, find someone who tells them to go to point D
You get the point.
It was literally just walking around going from point to point with no point (sorry for the pun) to it.
The pointless plot was made even more frustrating by the pages and pages and pages of question and answers. 75% of Cole's conversations involved him asking questions. A typical convo was something kind of like this -
Cole: Can you help me:
Person: No I cannot help you. But Sam can.
Cole: Who is Sam?
Person: Sam is a shaper who lives in the echolands.
Cole: What are the Echolands?
Person: Explains Echolands
Cole: Why do the Echolannds exist?
Person: Explains
Cole: How do I get to the Echolands?
One or two convos like this would have been fine, but it was the entire book.
Oh and there is a whole cross reference to Mull's other series, which might be nice for those who liked that series, but it really just feels forced.
I wish Mull had talked to his publishers and respectfully asked for deadline extensions if he felt overworked/tired. This is not up to par with the rest of the series.
March 23, 2016
I am so sad that this book had to end!!! Brandon Mull continues to amaze me with his vibrant imagination. I think I have a new favorite place and it's the Echolands! Also, for any long time Brandon Mull fans, there are some serious treats waiting in this book. The voices of his characters are always unique, the story flowed perfectly, and the ending left me craving more! How can I wait until next fall!!!
April 5, 2016
Loved It!
July 24, 2015
i want to read it!!!!!!!!!!!!! now
August 7, 2018
So remember when I said that Crystal Keepers was my favorite in the series, well I lied. Yeah well Death Weavers came along and put a quick end to that. At this point in the series I am going to start sounding like a broken record because I have already told you what I love about this series. However I will continue to say that the detail that goes into every single one of the new kingdoms is outstanding. Necronum and Zeropolis would definitely be two kingdoms I would want to visit or live. Bizarre I know but when you can vividly picture yourself walking through the world then you know the author has done his job. This series has fast become one of my favorites from Brandon Mull. The excitement to see how it all ends is at a high.
June 21, 2017
Another excellent installment in this fabulous series. The only downside is that now we have to wait until the fall before the fifth and final book is available. Great stuff, and definitely a good read.
January 28, 2021
LOL, when he got his powers back I was literally yelling hell yeah at 11:30 pm but forgot my parents were sleeping.
May 27, 2021
I found this while trying to clean out my to-read shelf, and decided it might be fun to go back and read a book from middle school. I really loved the other two series by this author, and I thought it would be nice to finish this one as well. As the perfect book to listen to – not too demanding and a good form of entertainment, I enjoyed revisiting this series.
June 12, 2025
Końcówka była cudowna, tak się wciągnąłem że przegapiłem przystanek jadąc do szkoły 😌... Świetne motywy, niebanalna fabuła, zaskakujące zwroty akcji, wyraźni bohaterowie ale jednak większość książki trochę mi się dłużyła, nie angażowała tak bardzo jak ostatnie 100 stron, trochę nie chciało mi się do niej wracać. Możliwe że zbyt mało czasu minęło od przeczytania poprzedniego tomu i jeszcze nie dość się stęskniłem za tą serią...
October 6, 2017
This was definitely my favorite in the series, so far. Partly because you come to understand how the 5 Kingdoms were established and why people who travel to the Five Kingdoms are forgotten by their families back on Earth. Partly because shaping in Necronum is very interesting. Partly because Cole learns some valuable lessons, faces hard decisions and his loyalty is tested. Partly because as Cole and his friends travel to the Echolands, I could see so many parallels between the Echolands and my beliefs regarding life after death. We meet several really interesting characters and learn new details about others. And we finally learn more about Destiny and her remarkable powers.
I really love this quote from the book:
"The meaning of life is to learn to love the right things."
"What are the right things?"
"In short, those things that bring lasting happiness to yourself and others."
And this:
"He just needed to help whoever he could, whenever he could when he had the chance."
I really love this quote from the book:
"The meaning of life is to learn to love the right things."
"What are the right things?"
"In short, those things that bring lasting happiness to yourself and others."
And this:
"He just needed to help whoever he could, whenever he could when he had the chance."
November 9, 2021
This one is were you meet loads of the other people that died so it is really fun of them coming back.
Also it is really cool because people from Beyonders come into this book.
Also it is really cool because people from Beyonders come into this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2020
The fate of the FIVE KINGDOMS remains in doubt. Three of the lost princesses have been found and restored but the fate of the fourth may be the most perilous as the journey moves to the kingdom of Necronum and the ghostly realm of the Echolands where spirits of the dead and nearly dead await their transition to the next plane. It is only there that they may find...and free...the missing princess. And so, Cole and the rest must leave their mortal bodies and enter the lands of the dead. While some will lose themselves, others will find what they thought had been lost forever. And the call of the Other can put an end to it all with a true death the reward. But, apparently, death isn't the end.
Volume four of the five book series and author Brandon Mull ups his game with arguably the best and strongest...and the most unique...book in the series. The adventures have shifted from elements of straight fantasy to high tech science and now to a setting that would be appropriate in a true horror setting all wrapped around with magic and the inherent talents and abilities of the young main characters that Mull specializes in. While Mull's "children" and "teens" may have the maturity and presence of those several years their senior, he still manages to capture the youth and insecurities that are part and parcel of that certain age.
Mull is a master world builder and has surpassed himself in this series as he takes a centralized plot and theme which runs through out the books but twists and turns them on their heads as he creates a new world with new physics and new magic in each.
Four down and the finale looming. Each new book is better than the last!!!
Volume four of the five book series and author Brandon Mull ups his game with arguably the best and strongest...and the most unique...book in the series. The adventures have shifted from elements of straight fantasy to high tech science and now to a setting that would be appropriate in a true horror setting all wrapped around with magic and the inherent talents and abilities of the young main characters that Mull specializes in. While Mull's "children" and "teens" may have the maturity and presence of those several years their senior, he still manages to capture the youth and insecurities that are part and parcel of that certain age.
Mull is a master world builder and has surpassed himself in this series as he takes a centralized plot and theme which runs through out the books but twists and turns them on their heads as he creates a new world with new physics and new magic in each.
Four down and the finale looming. Each new book is better than the last!!!
August 8, 2019
How does each book in this series get so much better than the last? This book takes Cole and his friends in an entirely new direction! They enter the fourth kingdom, which has strong connections to the echolands--or land of the dead. To complete this phase of the quest, Cole must cross over to the echolands (to basically be a temporary ghost).
So much happens in this book, and we get to learn more about the history of the Outskirts. It's incredible to think of how much happens in this one volume. We really get a good look at the kind of person Cole is as he faces his greatest challenges yet. We meet so many new people, plus some familiar faces.
And apparently if you've read the Beyonders series (which I haven't yet), this book ties into that series! I already have an idea of how (and am worried I spoiled something for myself), but I am committed to having Beyonders be the next series I read.
I can't say it enough, though. I LOVE the Five Kingdoms books!
So much happens in this book, and we get to learn more about the history of the Outskirts. It's incredible to think of how much happens in this one volume. We really get a good look at the kind of person Cole is as he faces his greatest challenges yet. We meet so many new people, plus some familiar faces.
And apparently if you've read the Beyonders series (which I haven't yet), this book ties into that series! I already have an idea of how (and am worried I spoiled something for myself), but I am committed to having Beyonders be the next series I read.
I can't say it enough, though. I LOVE the Five Kingdoms books!
July 31, 2018
Oh my gosh! Brandon Mull's creativity and cleverness always blow me away! This is the 15th book I have read by Brandon and I am still completely pleased by how he creates completely different worlds, realms, kingdoms, characters, etc. Death Weavers had a cool supernatural/ghostly/spooky feel to it, which I have never read much about. The character development is considerably awesome due to there being lots of characters. Brandon never fails to give each character their own personality that is unique to them. I am super excited to jump into the finale, Time Jumpers! I also can't believe this series is coming to a close.
Also... people who have read Beyonders will be THRILLED at what Brandon Mull had up his sleeve when writing Death Weavers. I can't say much because I don't want to spoil anything, but what Brandon has done to connect the two books was outstanding and completely worked with both book series. I was so happy at what he did that I was in tears! It is taking everything I have not to write it all out here, LOL :D
Also... people who have read Beyonders will be THRILLED at what Brandon Mull had up his sleeve when writing Death Weavers. I can't say much because I don't want to spoil anything, but what Brandon has done to connect the two books was outstanding and completely worked with both book series. I was so happy at what he did that I was in tears! It is taking everything I have not to write it all out here, LOL :D
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April 30, 2018WARNING SPOILERS!!!!!
Five Kingdoms book four, "Death Weavers", by Brandon Mull is about Cole and his friends looking for Honor and Destiny Pemberton. As they try to get info about the princesses locations, Cole is tricked by an echo. Echoes are people that have died, but haven't moved on the after life. It can be very hard to tell the difference from an echo and a human. Cole end up getting tricked by an echo named Sando who leads him to an evil prison and captures his friends. It is up to Cole to get them back. He travels to the echolands , runs into many dangers to get them back, and finds more about his ultimate enemy, Nazeem.
One theme found in this story is, never giving up, even if the task at hand seems impossible, is the key to success. This can be found when Cole is all alone looking for his friends in the echolands and he finds Destiny, and then falls into a slip stream. Slip streams have never been escaped before. Once you fall in, there is no coming out. But Cole has a great enough desire that he is able to resist it. the slip stream is so strong, that it is able to rip off the power covering Coles shaping ability. This means that Cole's desire was strong enough to resist the unresistable. He escaped the slip stream and saved Destiny. That is why the theme of this story, never giving up is the key to success is a good theme.
This book is amazing. I would recommend it to anyone who loves an adventure filled book full of very happy moments, and sad ones. Over all this book was very heart-felt and a great book for anyone. I hope you enjoy!
Five Kingdoms book four, "Death Weavers", by Brandon Mull is about Cole and his friends looking for Honor and Destiny Pemberton. As they try to get info about the princesses locations, Cole is tricked by an echo. Echoes are people that have died, but haven't moved on the after life. It can be very hard to tell the difference from an echo and a human. Cole end up getting tricked by an echo named Sando who leads him to an evil prison and captures his friends. It is up to Cole to get them back. He travels to the echolands , runs into many dangers to get them back, and finds more about his ultimate enemy, Nazeem.
One theme found in this story is, never giving up, even if the task at hand seems impossible, is the key to success. This can be found when Cole is all alone looking for his friends in the echolands and he finds Destiny, and then falls into a slip stream. Slip streams have never been escaped before. Once you fall in, there is no coming out. But Cole has a great enough desire that he is able to resist it. the slip stream is so strong, that it is able to rip off the power covering Coles shaping ability. This means that Cole's desire was strong enough to resist the unresistable. He escaped the slip stream and saved Destiny. That is why the theme of this story, never giving up is the key to success is a good theme.
This book is amazing. I would recommend it to anyone who loves an adventure filled book full of very happy moments, and sad ones. Over all this book was very heart-felt and a great book for anyone. I hope you enjoy!
April 23, 2019
This book had a pretty kickass ending, but the first two-thirds were such an unbelievable slog. I think this may be Mull’s weakest offering to date.
Normally, I absolutely love Mull’s world-building – his imagination knows no bounds. But here, it faltered: his version of the afterlife is distinctly underwhelming. The world-building mostly went like this: “In the echolands, you don’t have to eat… but you should eat to replenish energy. In the echolands, you don’t have to sleep… but you will have sleep-like trances that rejuvenate you. In the echolands, you don’t have to breathe… but you need air to talk.” So… basically the echolands seem awfully similar to the real world, just with different names for things.
And SO MUCH of this book is just Cole running. Pages and pages of him running. Sometimes he angsts about how many people he has to save. Sometimes he talks with his fellow runners about having to save people. On occasion, he comments on the scenery. He runs from person to person, each of whom promises to help him reach the next, far more important, person with all the answers. (Cole calling this out in the book doesn’t make it any less tedious.) This book could have easily had a hundred pages shaved off without losing anything, and I’d go much further than that.
The cast of characters also grows a bit much: Joe and Jace, Desmond and Destiny and Durny, and on and on… There needs to be some serious culling. The two characters who show up from the Beyonders series do inject a spark of life into this book, purely because they’re sassy and I’m emotionally attached to them, but they were a completely unnecessary cameo. And frankly, if Mull needs to bring in “special guest stars” to give his story a pulse (no pun intended), that doesn’t bode well for the story he’s telling.
Credit where it’s due: the big reveals at the end, the increasingly clear outline of what this series is actually about, are pretty damn epic – worth powering through this book to get to. It’s clear Mull has had this epic story in mind the whole time, and has done a masterful job of revealing it in a slow burn. Every series is allowed a lackluster installment, here’s hoping he nails the finale.
Normally, I absolutely love Mull’s world-building – his imagination knows no bounds. But here, it faltered: his version of the afterlife is distinctly underwhelming. The world-building mostly went like this: “In the echolands, you don’t have to eat… but you should eat to replenish energy. In the echolands, you don’t have to sleep… but you will have sleep-like trances that rejuvenate you. In the echolands, you don’t have to breathe… but you need air to talk.” So… basically the echolands seem awfully similar to the real world, just with different names for things.
And SO MUCH of this book is just Cole running. Pages and pages of him running. Sometimes he angsts about how many people he has to save. Sometimes he talks with his fellow runners about having to save people. On occasion, he comments on the scenery. He runs from person to person, each of whom promises to help him reach the next, far more important, person with all the answers. (Cole calling this out in the book doesn’t make it any less tedious.) This book could have easily had a hundred pages shaved off without losing anything, and I’d go much further than that.
The cast of characters also grows a bit much: Joe and Jace, Desmond and Destiny and Durny, and on and on… There needs to be some serious culling. The two characters who show up from the Beyonders series do inject a spark of life into this book, purely because they’re sassy and I’m emotionally attached to them, but they were a completely unnecessary cameo. And frankly, if Mull needs to bring in “special guest stars” to give his story a pulse (no pun intended), that doesn’t bode well for the story he’s telling.
Credit where it’s due: the big reveals at the end, the increasingly clear outline of what this series is actually about, are pretty damn epic – worth powering through this book to get to. It’s clear Mull has had this epic story in mind the whole time, and has done a masterful job of revealing it in a slow burn. Every series is allowed a lackluster installment, here’s hoping he nails the finale.
August 31, 2025
The only gripe with this book is that is was kind of a huge wild goose chase for the majority of it. The premise of the Echolands (where the majority of the book takes place) is really cool. This is the book that really increases the stakes for our protagonists as it is the penultimate book in the series.
CONTENT WARNINGS
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
CONTENT WARNINGS
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Slavery, Violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail
November 28, 2025
Life and death, regret and redemption, losing and finding, honor and sacrifice - all prominent themes in book 4 of Brandon Mull’s Five Kingdoms series. Mull unveils significant explanation of world-structure and shaping origin, while also continuing to flesh out the overall narrative arch. Breaking enough with previous book story-rhythms to avoid monotony, Death Weavers, while at times a little murky to follow, serves a good setup for the climatic finale to come - let’s go!
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