The Robe of Skulls

Tales from the Five Kingdoms #1

by Vivian French

All is not well in the crumbling castle high above the mountain village of Fracture. The sorceress Lady Lamorna has her heart set on a new robe. A very expensive new robe. To get the cash she will stop at nothing, including kidnapping, blackmail and more than a little black magic.

Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Witches, Humor

200 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2007

About the author

Vivian June Isoult French MBE was born in 1945 and educated at Exeter University.
Vivian French was best known in school for being extremely skinny and for talking a lot. At school she developed an attachment to words and later became an actor, then a storyteller, and finally a writer of children's books. She is the author of more than two hundred books. Ms. French lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, and has four grown daughters.

Reviews

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed by Tasha for TeensReadToo.com

Just above the town of Fracture lies a ghastly castle with an even ghastlier occupant, Lady Lamorna, who is just plain freaky. Her latest wish is a magnificent black velvet gown that is studded with skulls. When she goes to pay for it she finds that her treasure chest is empty. Instead of canceling her order, Lady Lamorna concocts a plan to pay for the dress.

Her plan includes a couple of members of the royal party, some frogs, and blackmail.

Then there is Gracie Gillypot, a shy girl who spends most of her days locked up in the cellar under the stairs of her house. When she's not spending time with the spiders under the stairs she is running after her stepfather and complying with his every wish. When a talking bat finds her one day, he promises her a better life and takes off. Days later he returns and helps Gracie escape. He's taking her to see the Ancient Crones, who will hopefully be able to help her with her wicked stepsister and stepfather problem.

Last but not least there is the prince that scoots under Lady Lamorna's radar. Marcus is a rather curious prince who really doesn't want anything to do with royalty. When his brother is turned into a frog he is determined to find the person who committed this heinous crime. Through a twist of fate he is paired up with Gracie and they set off to put Lady Lamorna in her rightful place.

This book was an absolute riot. While it is a super-fast read, you will find yourself enthralled with the quirkiness of the characters and loving the story. The illustrations are very comical, too! While this is definitely a middle grade novel, it is definitely suited for older and younger readers alike. I really enjoyed the quick-moving plot that keeps taking twists and turns. I loved how the author connected everything in a way that wasn't predictable and added to the hilarity of the book.

Overall, I really liked THE ROBE OF SKULLS and highly recommend it!

[Jean · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Robe of Skulls” has a very neat plot with several interesting characters: Gracie and Prince Marcus, Lady Lamorna and Gubble, Foyce and Mange (Gracie’s step-sister and father), not forgetting the two bats, Marlon and his daughter Millie who serve as guides and protectors. The wicked Lady Lamorna is short of cash and devises a cruel plan to generate income; her cunning plan is taken over by the even more cunning Foyce. At the same time Gracie escapes from her unpleasant home situation and meets Prince Marcus. The prince sits unhappily amongst royal expectations, preferring the dusty library with its tomes of ancient stories and intriguing maps. Together Gracie and Marcus undo Lady Lamorna’s wicked plan. Foyce is led to the house of the Ancient Crones where she will serve out her punishment weaving until all her wickedness has dissolved away…whilst Lady Lamorna returns to her castle…and receives the infamous robe of skulls. Gracie finds a new and happy home. Gubble the ill-treated servant of Lady Lamorna is replaced by Gracie’s unpleasant father, Mange. So the novel contains both redemption and revenge, and of course, a happy ending for all the true-hearted. It has many different plots within the main plot so makes for a very interesting, quick and pacy read. I would encourage confident Year 3 and 4 children to read this. I would also use parts of the story in Geography when learning about maps. Having just discovered this book is the first in a series I shall go on to read the rest of the series. The recommendation came to me in a journal article in which a group of children clearly loved the book!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think my niece (age nine) would really, really like this. I'll pass it on to her.

[Sayeeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kid in me had a great time reading this one 🤗

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sepertinya penyebab utama konflik di buku ini gak gitu nyambung dgn plot ceritanya, yah mirip-mirip spt pembunuhan putra mahkota Austria malah jadi memicu Perang Dunia I.

Penyihir yg namanya Lady Lamorna ini kecentilan pengen punya jubah baru, sayangnya oh sayangnya dia kaget saat mengetahui persediaan emasnya sdh nyaris melompong. Jadi Lamorna mau mengakali dgn menculik putra-putri bangsawan yg akan ditukar dgn emas.

Gracie Gillypot ini mirip Cinderella dgn bapak tiri dan saudari tiri yg kejam krn mrk berdua memiliki JIWA PALSU. Gracie dibantu seekor kelelawar bernama Marlon melarikan diri dari mereka berdua. Foyce, kakak tirinya tidak membiarkan Gracie lolos begitu saja, dia terus mengejar Gracie.

Nun di kerajaan Gorebreath ada sepasang pangeran kembar yg memiliki tabiat berlawanan. Marcus yg pembosan dan menyukai petualangan mendapati dirinya hrs menolong kakaknya, Arioso dan teman-teman putrinya yg disihir mjd kodok. Dan spt sdh diduga oleh saya, Marcus dan Gracie saling bahu-membahu utk meloloskan diri dari sihir hitam.

Utk ukuran buku anak-anak, lumayan sajalah buku ini. Ceritanya simpel banget dan nyaris gak ada lika-likunya. Saking lempengnya makanya aku bingung, knp Lamorna dgn mudahnya dibodohi oleh Foyce. Dan jubah itu utk apa juga gak jelas tujuannya. Intinya cuma kebaikan mengalahkan kejahatan, itu saja.

[Sondra Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm nearly finished with this fast-paced read from Candlewick Press.

Vivian French is a fabulous writer and the plot, characters and even the names of the people and places come together superbly to create a believable fantasy world of sorcerers, wizards, goblins and laugh-out-loud situations that will appeal to readers of all ages.

This is book one in a series and I can't wait to discover more.

[Darshan Elena · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title and cover were far better than the story itself.

[osoi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Сказочная история, в которой нашлось место принцам, лягушкам, ведьмам, магии, насквозь интриганским летучим мышам, странно очаровательным големам и плетению полотна судьбы в качестве исправительных работ. А началось все с того, что одна ведьма вознамерилась заказать себе новое эксклюзивное платьишко, но денег нема - и пришлось ей вооружиться волшебной пудреницей и замыслить старый добрый шантаж :р

Вроде все складно, но для меня история так и не сложилась. Каноны детской книги для меня непостижимы, потому что хочется одновременно похвалить за правильные посылы, но тут же логика кричит - почему даже самых злобных персонажей ожидает искупление, а бедный голем тыщу лет в рабстве и никто не придет ему на помощь? Вроде того.
И что самое смешное, больше все девелопмента досталось злодеям - они переживают метаморфозы и выглядят более-менее выпуклыми. И в пику им есть абсолютно картонные главные герои из противоположного лагеря - каждый как на подбор trueheart, аж тошно :с Такое ощущение, что этим “правильным” развиваться не надо, они герои без упреков и сомнений, и эта их “правильность” - потолок. Скучно.

Респект за абсолютно безбашенных летучих мышей, начиная с манеры общения и заканчивая сюжетными интригами :р

lukk.svbtle

[Rezza Dwi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,7 bintang dengan pembulatan ke ataaas

betapa rindunya aku dengan fantasi middlegrade yang alurnya apik begini. tokohnya seru. jadi pengen baca buku lainnya juga buat ketemu Marcus lagi xD

[cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

waaahh... bagus ternyata... eh gak deng... bagus banget ternyata!!!

dongeng anak2 ini simpel tapi penuh kelokan dan kejutan manis. semua yang klasik ada di sini... cinderela, saudara tiri yg kejam, pangeran, katak2 yg sebenarnya pangeran, tulang sihir, troll, keledai, kelelawar yg bisa ngomong, rumah ajaib di tengah hutan... semuanya ada lengkap, tapi anehnya, semua ceritanya tetap terasa segar dan menyenangkan untuk dibaca.

aku suka karakter gracie yg gak menyimpan dendam. aku suka marcus yg carefree tp ttp bertanggung jawab. aku juga suka endingnya... pangeran yang suka berpetualang jelas lebih menyenangkan drpd 'they lived happily ever after' kan ya... :)

mauuu lanjutaaaannyaaa.... *nyari pinjeman* *atau mau koleksi aja ya??* *tergodaaa*

[Stefanny Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,8⭐ (pembualatan ke atas)

Awalnya aku agak bingung sama alur ceritanya dan juga siapa karakter utama dalam tokoh ini, karna rasanya setiap karakternya jadi inti ceritanya 😂😂
tapi berhubung aku enjoy banget bacanya dan ceritanya juga fast pace, serta seluruh plot baru terkoneksi di akhir2 buku aku jadi paham keseluruhan ceritanya yg ternyata dibuat sangat rapi dan gak terlalu "disengaja"

Tokoh favoritku di sini justru pangeran Marcus 😂
Dan konsep tentang hukuman yang diberikan oleh 3 wanita penenenun itu bagus banget, karna kebanyakan biasanya di cerita dongeng tokoh jahatnya selalu meninggal atau berubah jadi sesuatu sebagai ganjaran, tapi di sini semacam pakai konsep "terapi" supaya tokoh jahatnya bisa dipulihkan

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivian French says on the jacket that she had FUN writing this and it shows. Bet it was a nice break from those "Tiara Club" books my daughter is so addicted to...

No, this is fun, with lots of evil characters (but nothing too scary), good winning over evil and a happy ending that might lead to a sequel, or just might not. It would be fine either way.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

What great fun! Advisor bats, a half-werewolf beautiful enemy, and a spell for turning royals into frogs! I think Holly Black's Spiderwick fans would like this one--I certainly did!

[Sand-Witch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really really really good book with a mix of everything. Definitely one of the best books I've read. Yeah.

[Dyah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nyesel sumpah, ngga baca buku ini dari lama dan mengabarkan kepada dunia betapa seru dan lucu ceritanya! Vibes-nya mirip-mirip Addams Family, atau Edgar and Ellen, atau buku berseri tentang keluarga monster itu loh ... Apa ya judulnya, aku lupa. Pokoknya yang anak bungsunya cantik sendiri.
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Premisnya, seorang nenek sihir ingin punya gaun baru (ngga begitu dijelasin kenapa dia pengen banget punya gaun baru, pokoknya ujug-ujug pengen aja), udah keburu pesan, tahunya pas ngecek peti harta, dia baru sadar dia ngga punya cukup uang buat bayar gaunnya. Si nenek sihir yang introvert dan sesungguhnya mager banget, terpaksa keluar dari kastelnya buat mengumpulkan pundi-pundi emas. Caranya? Nyulik para putri dan pangeran dong. Tapi apa segampang itu? Hmmm.
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Sementara itu, ada seorang gadis cilik yang ditindas oleh ayah dan saudari tirinya. Ada pangeran badung yang sengaja bikin onar supaya ngga diajak pergi ke pesta pertunangan kerajaan tetangga. Ada juga tiga wanita pemintal (benang-benang kehidupan) yang mendekam di sebuah rumah misterius, menyuruh seekor kelelawar untuk mengamati dunia.
Bagaimana jalinan kisah mereka semua pada akhirnya bertemu?
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Tokoh favoritku sih Marcus, si pangeran badung berhati baik. Apalagi sifatnya dikontraskan dengan saudara kembarnya yang luar biasa sempurna.
Gracie si gadis tertindas menurutku terlalu membosankan ... Mungkinkah di buku berikutnya karakter dia bakal berkembang jadi lebih menarik?
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Di dalam buku ini ada beberapa ilustrasi hitam-putih yang menarik dan sangat mendukung kekoplakan cerita.
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Seri Tales from the Five Kingdoms ada 5 buku, tapi yang diterjemahkan dan diterbitkan dalam Bahasa Indonesia baru tiga buku. Sepertinya aku akan berusaha mencari buku empat dan lima dalam versi Bahasa Inggris.
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Ampuh banget untuk menyembuhkan reading slump!

[Ruby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great series, very imaginative and thrilling

[Carolyn Page · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like if Tim Burton and whoever conceptualized Yzma from "The Emperor's New Groove" got together to write a book. Spooky but bad loses and good wins. Clever along the way. Quite fun!

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite book of all time

[Jelka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fabulous, the only thing I didn't really get along with was the writing style.

[Anissa Rosario · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in middle school and loved it

[Kasey H · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the time that we've had no Good Reads, I have started a new book! This book, nobody has really heard about. I'm still trying to figure out if this book is part of a series or not. Well, by now, your probably wondering what book I'm about to write about. Robe of Skulls! Yes! That is the book I'm reading! The Robe of Skulls, is by Vivian French. Very fancy name, right? The authors name contributes to how fancy this book is. While I'm talking about what's so fancy, I might as well tell you about the actual story!
Gracie, a risk taking girl, lives with her step dad and sister. These two characters are very arrogant! Every time they get angry, BAM! DUNGEON for Gracie! I always relate them to the evil stepsisters, and mother in Cinderella. Except that these two are werewolves. Which nobody in the story, or me, figured out until later on in the book! Gracie always tries to accomplish her dreams of leaving this horrid place. Well guess what? Little Marvin, a bat, has to do with it all! Marvin sees Gracie in the dungeon, and does a spell to help Grace escape. The only way that I can compare myself to this story, is that Marvin, and I both, don't like seeing people sad. Everyday I see people sad. This one day it was bad. I saw a little girl crying in a corner. In my head I was thinking that she just got hurt or something. When I went over she told me, that her friend just told her a lot of negative things about herself. It turns out it was all just a misunderstanding, so everything turned out fine!
I don't really like any horror or mystery books, but this one caught my eyes just by the summery! Lady Lamorna, a scary women, who is on the cover of this book, makes this story come together. She makes the scary parts scarier and the awesome parts, even more awesome! If you like humor, be ready to meet Gubble! Lady Lamorna' s assistant. Gubble is my favorite character! Who knows. He might be yours too!

[Tina Rath · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend drew my attention to this book, as it looked like my sort of thing and it is, it so is. From the very beginning when the evil (but ageing) sorceress Lady Lamorna is introduced thinking about ordering a new gown in black velvet, embroidered with spiders’ webs, poison ivy and skulls, with ‘rows and rows of dear little skulls sewn all along the hem’ and ‘layers and layers of blood-red petticoats’ I knew I was at home (I want that gown too). But she needs gold to pay the Ancient Crones and her treasure chests are empty. The result is a plot involving blackmail, royal transfrogmification, deep villainy – on the part of Lady Lamorna, and courage - on the part of two delightful heroes, Gracie Gillypot, who has spent years suffering from her dreadful stepfather Mange Undershaft and his horrible, but beautiful daughter Foyce (a much nastier step-sister than even Cinderella had to deal with) but retains her good-humour, and Marcus, the Prince who really wants to be an adventurer.
They are helped by the delightful Marlon (a somewhat dodgy bat), his daughter Millie and Alfie (bat in training) and even find support in Lady Lamorna’s troll servant, Gubble. It was, of course, written for children, but I loved it, and I am sure children (who can take a bit of scary stuff – werewolves, for instance) like it too.
There are four sequels. I have ordered the lot.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Lamorna - a down on her luck sorceress - orders a new robe of skulls from the Ancient Crones and then has to figure out how to pay for it. With a little help from her troll slave, she decides to turn princes into frogs, then offer her services (at a steep price) to their families in order to change them back.
In the meantime, Gracie Gillypot longs for a better life away from her nasty stepfather and her evil stepsister, Foyce. With the help of a talking bat, Gracie escapes her stepfamily and journeys off to meet the Ancient Crones.
Meanwhile, Prince Marcus wishes for adventure away from his studies and his perfect twin brother. With a little ingenuity and some help from his tutor, he rides off with a map of the world outside his father's kingdom.
All three stories come together in a fun, fractured fairy-tale like story with all the usual elements - adventure, courage and comeuppance. It's a bit of a slow starter, but once the stories start to intertwine, it gets better. Recommended for 4th - 7th graders.

[Annalise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is up there as one of my favourite children's books.

Gracie Gillypot, a Trueheart, lives with her abusive stepfather and stepsister. Marcus, the scruffiest prince you'll ever meet, wants to escape from a royal family outing and go exploring for adventure instead. Lady Lamorna, a delightfully evil sorceress, simply wants a new gown. I've yet to mention the bats and the Ancient Crones, and Gubble the troll, and the royal families of four other kingdoms besides Marcus's.

This is a fairytale full of adventure, defeating evil (where it can be defeated), and coming of age. The characters' stories are beautifully interwoven, and while some of them seem familiar (Gracie Gillypot=Cinderella) they are still refreshing. Gracie is not your traditional passive heroine, instead her goodness becomes her superpower. Read this book to your kids. There are some pretty cool illustrations too.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great romping adventure. I loved both the Truehearts and the villains, especially the wickedest step sister ever, but it was the chatty bats who kept me laughing the whole way through. I now want my own fleet of friendly bats to pop by daily and say “Keep it up, kiddo!”

--- Update:
Reread this with my 1st and 3rd grader. It may have been a bit advanced for them, but they loved Gubble so much that they stuck with it. I was in it for the chatty bats.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would not have chosen this book based on the cover art. But, hey, the cover art is kind of misleading, so good thing I picked it up! This is an entertaining and enjoyable fractured fairytale, not a story about a creepy lady obsessed with death and/or skulls.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, fun, fairy tale–influenced middle grade fantasy, brought vividly to life by Nigel Planer’s audiobook reading. French integrates several familiar elements while often employing a humorous slant or unexpected interpretation, such as with the three Fates and their penitent weaving.

[Christina *Cantarella* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is probably the only fairytale filled with epicness.

[Cha Iskandar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suka dengan covernya yang merah meriah, ceritanya walaupun ringan tapi seru.

[Kaylee M · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Forever and hereafter… Ever and hereafter”-red-haired woman (pg,114) the Robe of Skulls (by Vivian French) is a fictional story about Lady Lamorna ( evil sorceress) who wants all the power and gold she can get her hands on , with a sidekick who is a nice troll. Also a no good rule breaking prince with a goody-to-shoes twin brother who only does thing the way he is told to do. Lastly there is a noble-hearted and naive younger maiden and there is also her conniving stepsister. I enjoyed this book because the characters were interesting and the story line was cool and i'm definitely gonna read the rest of the books in the series. My least favorite character is lady lamorna because Lady Lamorna wants a skull-studded gown of black velvet, but she has no more gold. So lady Lamorna kidnaps, blackmails, and using more than a little black / dark magic to get what she needs. The reason i don't like what she did is because she didnt care what happened to her or anyone else as long as she got what she wants in life. I loved this book and definitely will read the whole series