Caleb Beldragon's Chronicle of the Three Counties

by Paul Warren

Long oppressed by the ruthless Lord Mulciber, the Gibblins hope to restore their exiled king by finding a legendary stone called the Malbigon.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens

48 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this oversized picture book, each page tells a little about the three counties, touching on history, peoples, laws, education, ailments and treatments, etc. According to the author's note on the verso, the reader can study the maps and calendar to look for the legendary gemstone--the Malbigon--that belongs to a book of the same name. However, the author never tells the reader what the Malbigon book is about. Returning the legendary gemstone to the book will free the Gibblin people of their oppressors. There is no unifying story. The beautiful illustrations are incredibly detailed, especially the maps. My copy included a bookmark with an alphabet of runes with the English letter equivalents. There are runes on the maps, which the interested reader can try to translate using the rune bookmark. The final page has a fold-out map with another intricately detailed map of the Three Counties, including a labyrinth with a tree at the center. Interested readers can try to follow the path to the tree. The back endpapers show hooded figures with torches approaching a giant tree (perhaps the one in the middle of the labyrinth?). So the book is very interesting, but I wish there was more story to go along with it. In addition, there are no solutions or translations included, which I think is a major mistake; he definitely should have included these.