Φεγγαρόλυκοι

Oddity #2

by Eli Brown, Karin Rytter (Illustrator), Βαγγέλης Κράτσας (Translator)

Η ΣΥΓΚΛΟΝΙΣΤΙΚΗ ΣΥΝΕΧΕΙΑ ΑΠΟ ΤΟ «ΑΛΛΟΚΟΤΟ», ΤΟ ΜΑΓΕΥΤΙΚΟ ΜΥΘΙΣΤΟΡΗΜΑ ΝΕΑΝΙΚΗΣ ΦΑΝΤΑΣΙΑΣ

Οι ηρωίδες δεν τα παρατούν ποτέ!

Παρά τη νίκη της Κλόβερ ενάντια στην καταστροφική Ράφτρα, ο πόλεμος εξακολουθεί να μαίνεται ανάμεσα στις Ενοποιημένες Πολιτείες και στον αυτοκράτορα Βοναπάρτη. Έτσι, η Κλόβερ και η Νέσα αποφασίζουν να αφήσουν το σπίτι τους στο Σαλαμάντερ Λέικ για να γίνουν μέλη της Ένωσης Γυναικείων Υπηρεσιών, ελπίζοντας να προσφέρουν τη βοήθειά τους στους πληγέντες.
Στην πορεία, όμως, θα έρθουν αντιμέτωπες με μία εντελώς διαφορετική πραγματικότητα. Υπό την καθοδήγηση της δεσποινίδας Γιαμάντα, θα αναλάβουν την εξάλειψη όσων Παρασίτων -τρομακτικών μαγικών πλασμάτων- έχουν απομείνει.
Με τη βοήθεια της Πηνελόπης, μιας νεαρής που έχει την ικανότητα να δημιουργεί αντίγραφα του εαυτού της, του εκλεπτυσμένου κυρίου Χόλντερ, του ικανότατου κυρίου Κέτλεμπαουμ και της εκρηκτικής Σουζάνα, η Κλόβερ θα αντιμετωπίσει μια απειλή που ξεπερνά κάθε φαντασία: τον πανίσχυρο Υπόγειο Βασιλιά και το μοχθηρό στρατό του.
Μια φανταστική ιστορία για το θάρρος, τη φιλία και τη δύναμη της μαγείας που μας δένει με τον κόσμο μας, ακόμα κι όταν αυτός καταρρέει.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Middle Grade

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2025

About the author

Eli Brown's middle-grade novel, ODDITY, follows Clover Elkin, the no-nonsense daughter of a frontier surgeon as she tries to protect the secret magical object he's left behind. Booklist called it "...a richly imagined blend of Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron and Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass."

Brown's culinary pirate novel, CINNAMON AND GUNPOWDER, was a finalist for the California Book Award, a San Francisco Public Library One-City One-Book selection, and an NPR Book Review Staff Pick.

Brown’s first novel, THE GREAT DAYS (Boaz Publications), won the Fabri Prize for Literature. Publishers Weekly called it “…a harrowing, convincing look into the heart of cult life that should linger with readers.”

A Yaddo fellow and featured reader at Litquake, Brown earned his MFA from Mills college. He lives with his family in Northern California where the squirrels bury acorns in his garden and cats bury worse.

Reviews

[Therearenobadbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cool. I love this world and the characters. A group of Oddities (women with powers/magic) fights the Vermin (undead constructs, half machines/half animals, horrible monsters) from terrorizing the United States (a parallel historical steampunk world that is being attacked by Emperor Bonaparte). This group of women is heroes. While the men fight in the war, they save those left behind from these monsters. In this volume, we'll focus on defeating the Underking. The scene where they see this monster for the first time is vivid, scary, and epic.
This is one of my favorite historical Steampunk Fantasy series. I love the characters as a found family. It is filled with black and white illustrations. Middlegraders who love complexes world building and unique magic-system who want an adventure/ horror will also appreciate this series, not just older readers.

[Daly Pierce · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5 stars, in actuality

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: Mooncussers is an entertaining sequal to Brown's Oddity. The pace is slow to start, but by the halfway mark things pick up dramatically. The character development is not as deep as I would have preferred, but it's still a fine follow up and continuation of Clover's story.

This time around, they're setting out to hunt and destroy the vermin who scattered across the continent following the battle at Harper's Ridge. Clover must once again face her fears and learn to trust people on the way to achieving their goal, all while staying out of the crosshairs of Senator-turned-President Auburn. When a new enemy makes itself known, it changes their path and takes them through a battle they didn't have any clue they'd be up against.



SPOILERS AHEAD **************




Mooncussers was a little bit of a letdown for me following Oddity, but it was still a fine book. I'm sure middle graders would have very few gripes with it, though. I don't have any major complaints about the writing - I think I was just missing some of the character depth from the first book. I feel like I barely know anything about Hazel for how crucial a role she plays in the story. There are so many blanks about her that we're left to imagine and fill in for ourselves. Same for Miss Yamada. Given her knowledge of Clover's mom, I expected there to be more conversations about her.

We know that Clover still feels connected to her mother because she calls out for her help in a moment of desperation. That connection, however, isn't very evident in the rest of the book.

There's a shift from a hero's journey to something very much more a team effort. Clover is still the central protagonist, but the story doesn't feel like it's hers in the way the first book did. This story seems to be more about the factions of good vs. evil in general and is less concerned with the actual development of each character.

To that end, the characters are not as well developed in Mooncussers as they were in Oddity. The first half of the book was a bit of a slog for me, to be honest, but the second half really came in and redeemed the whole. The pace picked up dramatically and I sure did end the book with a smile. If he ends up writing a third, I'd totally pick it up, and I still recommend this duology very highly!


Thank you to Edelweiss and Walker Books US for the advanced copy of this book.

[YSBR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eli Brown's follow up to Oddity takes Clover Elkin, the daughter of a frontier doctor, on another journey. After finding her mother in book one, the uneasy peace in the war between the Unified States of America and Napoleonic France has reignited into war again. The states are “Unified” because instead of selling the Louisiana Territory, Napoleon has invaded instead. He's using a zombie army made from a magic barrel, one the many "oddities" of the book's universe. An oddity is an object, like a quilt holding monsters, a pistol with bullets that take orders and track their targets, or a matchbook that stops time. People who have proven themselves able to wield the oddities are called oddities as well.

Clover is a healer like her father, often putting herself in danger to mend friend or foe. Such adventurousness has put her into close contact with oddities, such as a huge viper, which bites her and creates a kind psychic connection. She names it Sweetwater and coils it around her like a scarf. She befriends Hannibal, a verbose rooster army general from the Unified States. There's also a muscular, temperamental patchwork doll, Susanna. Clover’s skills and collection of oddities pique the interest of Miss Ruth Yamada, a government agent putting together a group of extraordinary women nicknamed the Mooncussers. Miss Yamada and Clover are joined by her driver Mr. Kettlebaum, Clover's sidekick Nessa, Hazel and her dark past, and a girl-wonder from Finland named Penelope, who can unfold herself into copies like a paper doll. They have been marshalled to find a new, dangerous foe: The Underking.

Brown's settings and costumes are straight out of a Western, filled with a down-home vernacular heard on dusty porches or in timeless, folksy advice from yesteryear. The magical realism is sustained perfectly, the characters feel real danger when stumbling upon giant swamp beasts or magical objects and their bearers. As the catalog of oddities grows, it's like going through an old junk drawer — daunting, nostalgic, strange, and silly. Link to complete review: https://ysbookreviews.wordpress.com/2...

[Lina D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Οι περιπέτειες της Κλόβερ Έλκιν συνεχίζονται με την ένταξη αυτής και της φίλης της Νέσα στην Ένωση Γυναικείων Υπηρεσιών, ή αλλιώς Φεγγαρόλυκοι, όπου γνωρίζουν αξέχαστους χαρακτήρες και καλούνται να αντιμετωπίσουν την αναδυόμενη απειλή του Υπόγειου Βασιλιά.

Όπως και το πρώτο βιβλίο της σειράς, έτσι και αυτό είναι ευκολοδιάβαστο, με περιγραφές που δημιουργούν εξαιρετική ατμόσφαιρα μέσω της παραστατικότητας τους, έντονη δράση και χαρακτήρες που οι παραξενιές και η γενναιότητα τους τους κάνουν να ξεχωρίζουν, όμως, παρά τις ομοιότητες του με το πρώτο, αισθάνθηκα πως αυτό το βιβλίο υστερούσε σε κάτι που έκανε το προηγούμενο τόσο διασκεδαστικό.

Διασκέδασα με τους Φεγγαρόλυκους όχι όμως όσο διασκέδασα με το Αλλόκοτο. Βρήκα τη πλοκή πολύ αργή στην αρχή και έπειτα υπερβολικά γρήγορη από τη μέση και μετά. Ενώ στο Αλλόκοτο ένιωθα πως η πλοκή κινούνταν ομαλά, εδώ ένιωθα λες και έκανε κοφτά πηδηματάκια. Απόλαυσα την ιστορία, τη φιλία μεταξύ των Φεγγαρόλυκων και το τέλος μου φάνηκε ιδιαίτερα ωραίο γιατί μου θύμισε το τρόπο που οι ήρωες στα παραμύθια και τις παλιές παιδικές ταινίες καταλήγουν να λύνουν τα προβλήματα τους, μα δε παύω να πιστεύω πως μερικά επιπλέον κεφάλαια θα βοηθούσαν στη πιο απρόσκοπτη κύληση της πλοκής.

[Davon Godwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed my advanced copy of Brown's Mooncussers, maybe even more than it's prequel! When we first met our protagonist, Clover, in Oddity, I described her thusly: "Clover’s resilience, wit, and compassion are inspirational reminders that even in the worst of times our connections to each other will be how we heal, overcome our challenges, and live more fulfilling lives. Clover Elkin joins an admirable and growing list of bold female characters like Anne of Green Gables, Scout Finch, Pippi Longstocking, Hermione Granger, Paikea Apirana, Katniss Evergreen, Rey Skywalker, Starr Carter - who shatter traditional boundaries and expand all our horizons." These comparisons endure as Clover continues to inspire as she courageously faces new dangers and is joined by favorite old friends and fascinating new ones.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Αρχικά να πω πως σίγουρα αυτό το βιβλίο δεν απευθύνεται στην δική μου ηλικία. Θα έλεγα πως είναι περισσότερο για 14+ και ναι ξέρω πως το + πιάνει και τα +23 χρόνια που έχω εγω. Anyway, αν και λιγάκι αργό στην αρχή ήταν ένα σκοτεινό και δυνατό βιβλίο. Οι χαρακτήρες εξελίσσονται και η ιστορία έχει αρκετή αγωνία, χωρίς όμως να χάνει τη φαντασία και την ατμόσφαιρα της. Ο κόσμος είναι παράξενος αλλά ενδιαφέρον, με μαγεία και αλλόκοτα πλάσματα. Σταματάει σε ένα πολύ καλό σημείο που σε αφήνει σε αναμμένα κάρβουνα.

[mila ⋆˚꩜｡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Oddity so much so I was very excited to read this sequel!! The writing was impeccable as always, though the plot was a little difficult to follow. I was pretty worried about the girlboss-ey cover and tagline, but I shouldn’t have been. I loved the mushroom heavy descriptions too 🍄

[Doug Robertson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very much like an extended epilogue to Oddity.