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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 13, 2016
I received this book for free from the publisher. All content and opinions are my own.
The Questory of Root Karbunkulus, Reid’s first novel, is a delightful YA fantasy book (with an awesome website). Anyways, we first meet Root, our hero, living in a halfhouse (a house split in half) with two horrid aunts that definitely bare a resemblance to the horrid aunts of James and the Giant Peach fame. As the book opens, fourteen-year-old Root finds that she is not related to the aunts (whew!) and is actually an orphaned citizen of DreAmm, a magical land. She, along with hundreds of other DreAmm kids have been called on a Quest:
“[T]his Quest is not for the faint of heart. . . . Each and every one of you will face inevitable hardship and peril. Most of you, after enduring these grueling tasks of great danger and sever loss, will fail. . . . But among you, from the depths of despair, pain and fear will rise heroes! This Quest will find you not beaten, not broken, but rebirthed. . . . You will earn a seat in the throne room of Legend where your courage, your loyalty, your determination shall be recorded for infinite glory.”
Whew! With a stirring speech like that, heck, I’ll join the quest. Root, our hero, does, of course, join the quest. She’s paired with Lian and Dwyn to find the Miist of Kalliope. They set off on their quest with only their unique talents, their guide Jorab, and . . . their Hovermutts!! Hovermutts were definitely my favorite part of the DreAmm world. Hovermutts are pony-sized puppies that hover (fly) and bond with only one magical personal for life, never allowing another on their back. I want one!
Anyway, this book was pretty fun and very creative (though very influenced by Harry Potter). The adventure was fun and unexpected. The elements of DreAmm (the Hovermutts in particular) were unique and yet familiar. My only complaint, if one is to complain, is that I wanted more background information. Why is this quest (one with a series of stages) being held? What are the stages (and how many are there)? Why were some of the quest participants raised on Earth? Who/what is the enemy? The enemy is not even mentioned until page 143 and then he is only partially and vaguely identified. Though I had questions, I was still caught up in the story and wanted to see how it ended.
I liked this book, and I think those who enjoy YA will too. I look forward to the next installment.
The Questory of Root Karbunkulus, Reid’s first novel, is a delightful YA fantasy book (with an awesome website). Anyways, we first meet Root, our hero, living in a halfhouse (a house split in half) with two horrid aunts that definitely bare a resemblance to the horrid aunts of James and the Giant Peach fame. As the book opens, fourteen-year-old Root finds that she is not related to the aunts (whew!) and is actually an orphaned citizen of DreAmm, a magical land. She, along with hundreds of other DreAmm kids have been called on a Quest:
“[T]his Quest is not for the faint of heart. . . . Each and every one of you will face inevitable hardship and peril. Most of you, after enduring these grueling tasks of great danger and sever loss, will fail. . . . But among you, from the depths of despair, pain and fear will rise heroes! This Quest will find you not beaten, not broken, but rebirthed. . . . You will earn a seat in the throne room of Legend where your courage, your loyalty, your determination shall be recorded for infinite glory.”
Whew! With a stirring speech like that, heck, I’ll join the quest. Root, our hero, does, of course, join the quest. She’s paired with Lian and Dwyn to find the Miist of Kalliope. They set off on their quest with only their unique talents, their guide Jorab, and . . . their Hovermutts!! Hovermutts were definitely my favorite part of the DreAmm world. Hovermutts are pony-sized puppies that hover (fly) and bond with only one magical personal for life, never allowing another on their back. I want one!
Anyway, this book was pretty fun and very creative (though very influenced by Harry Potter). The adventure was fun and unexpected. The elements of DreAmm (the Hovermutts in particular) were unique and yet familiar. My only complaint, if one is to complain, is that I wanted more background information. Why is this quest (one with a series of stages) being held? What are the stages (and how many are there)? Why were some of the quest participants raised on Earth? Who/what is the enemy? The enemy is not even mentioned until page 143 and then he is only partially and vaguely identified. Though I had questions, I was still caught up in the story and wanted to see how it ended.
I liked this book, and I think those who enjoy YA will too. I look forward to the next installment.
August 27, 2010
A child who does not feel loved, who does not feel like she fits in learns that there is a bigger destiny for her. She finds herself on a journey of self discovery, she tries to find out who she is, where she came from and what her future holds. She faces many challenges that come with growing up, about learning to be who you are and being alright with that, about making hard choices and learning that life is not always fair, about learning what true family means. Root learns about working with other people and about the power of friendship but that friendship isn’t always easy. And the relationships are written well and have the ring of true and reality. Though friends they don’t always agree or even like each other very much. There is jealousy and vindictiveness among the friends and the between the teams. Like there would be with any group of teenagers. But it isn’t just a coming of age story it is also an adventure story. There are dangers, conspiracies, riddles, magic, monsters, the fight against evil, redemption. You can feel the characters fear, apprehension and excitement. And the mix makes you care about the characters and keeps you turning the pages to find what excitement they will encounter next. Reid writes with vivid descriptions like ‘as if someone had taken a brush, dipped it in liquid marble and spread its exquisite alabaster brilliance up along each ornate spindle’, or ‘Carblotta, on the other hand, was lank and scrawny as a dried up bean, with spindly arms and legs that dangled from her body like crooked branches’ so you can really see the world she has created. I love the way she using language. It is written with a lot of humor and interesting words you don’t see very often like hoarked, flocculent, or gewgaw or an unexpected turn of phase like ‘evening decided to show up in a black starless gown’, or ‘Root released her breath content to acknowledge the collision of coincidence’, that made it a lot of fun to read. Reid has created an interesting concept that takes place in an interesting world full of interesting characters that you can really get involved with. There are more books to come so even though Reid does bring this chapter in the story to a satisfying end there are many things left unexplained and many questions left unanswered. But they are all things that Root herself does not have the answers to and you can look forward to learning them along with her.
November 30, 2010
The Questory of Root Karbunkulus review for readersfavorite.com
This is the most charming tale I have read in a while. A master author writes it beautifully. The story moves flawlessly from beginning to end.
Two old sisters, both uneducated and lazy, live together in a place far away from others. The sisters like it that way; no one meddles in their affairs. One day when they are coming back from the market, where they sell all their vegetables, which they steal from others, they have the scare of their life. A woman that seems to be from another dimension appears with a baby that she leaves on the forest floor. Then she returns to what it appears to be her death.
The lazy women take the baby and keep her to be their servant, in spite of a note that said to take her to the orphanage. She grows as Root, to become a garden thief. She hates her life with the women who tell her they are her aunts.
One day, after a terrifying experience stealing, she comes home to find it empty. Without much thought, she keeps walking until she trips on a rug that is askew on the floor. For the first time in her fourteen years, she sees a trap door hidden under it. She opens it and steps down the stairs.
At the bottom she finds her two aunts in conversation with a miniature man. He has come to invite Root on a treasure hunt in her real dimension. He wants her to return there to the hundreds of children who have been left orphans because of a terrible war.
She also hears him tell them about a key that is with the item she had when she was brought as a baby. So she discovers the two women aren’t her aunts after all.
She is so excited. Finally she is going to change her life and become better than a garden thief. Yet, with horror, she sees her so-called aunts tear up the invitation after the man leaves. They don’t see her. She waits until they are asleep that night and goes down the trap door again. She heard the little man say that she needed a key and the invitation, so she figures they will be with the items she had with her when she was found. But where can she find them? She looks all over the cellar for a long time. Finally, she discovers them in the least likely place, inside a watering can.
With the door open, she is ready to go on to a future that holds great promise for her. That is until she turns to climb the stairs and finds the two sisters there.
This is a very easy and entertaining read. I like the story and the way the author tells it.
This is the most charming tale I have read in a while. A master author writes it beautifully. The story moves flawlessly from beginning to end.
Two old sisters, both uneducated and lazy, live together in a place far away from others. The sisters like it that way; no one meddles in their affairs. One day when they are coming back from the market, where they sell all their vegetables, which they steal from others, they have the scare of their life. A woman that seems to be from another dimension appears with a baby that she leaves on the forest floor. Then she returns to what it appears to be her death.
The lazy women take the baby and keep her to be their servant, in spite of a note that said to take her to the orphanage. She grows as Root, to become a garden thief. She hates her life with the women who tell her they are her aunts.
One day, after a terrifying experience stealing, she comes home to find it empty. Without much thought, she keeps walking until she trips on a rug that is askew on the floor. For the first time in her fourteen years, she sees a trap door hidden under it. She opens it and steps down the stairs.
At the bottom she finds her two aunts in conversation with a miniature man. He has come to invite Root on a treasure hunt in her real dimension. He wants her to return there to the hundreds of children who have been left orphans because of a terrible war.
She also hears him tell them about a key that is with the item she had when she was brought as a baby. So she discovers the two women aren’t her aunts after all.
She is so excited. Finally she is going to change her life and become better than a garden thief. Yet, with horror, she sees her so-called aunts tear up the invitation after the man leaves. They don’t see her. She waits until they are asleep that night and goes down the trap door again. She heard the little man say that she needed a key and the invitation, so she figures they will be with the items she had with her when she was found. But where can she find them? She looks all over the cellar for a long time. Finally, she discovers them in the least likely place, inside a watering can.
With the door open, she is ready to go on to a future that holds great promise for her. That is until she turns to climb the stairs and finds the two sisters there.
This is a very easy and entertaining read. I like the story and the way the author tells it.
May 11, 2008
Reviewed by Marta Morrison for TeensReadToo.com
When I received this book in the mail I was immediately drawn to it. It looked like a fun book to read. Well, my intuition was right and I loved this book!
This is the story about a young girl named Root. She was brought to our world by someone from another and had to live with two grotesque women named Carblotta and Octavia. They reminded me of the aunts in JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl. Well, these aunts wanted Root to be their servant girl. When Root is fourteen she finds out that she is from Dre'amm, a land that is magical and is also troubled, and is to go on the greatest quest there ever was.
She and two others, the studious Liam and the charismatic Dwyn, make one team of many who have to see if they can find the Miist of Kalliope. There are six miist, so only six teams will win.
Root is a very well-written character and is very likable. She is smart, kind, and lovable. The boys on the quest have many layers. Liam is studious and, because he was raised in Dre'amm, very informative. He is also very loyal. Dwyn, like Root, was raised on Earth. He is also learning about how to be a good friend and is not what he seems to be.
While on this quest we learn along with Root and Dwyn the history of Dre'amm and also what magic they possess. We learn about hovermutts, road, chorm, simps, and many other awesome creatures. There are also villains here that are fantastic. You really want to hate them. Kor is just plain mean and is very cocky like only the rich can be. The main one, though, is Korkus, who is a powerful magician who is trying to take over Dre'amm.
There are also many questions that haven't been answered yet about this world and about Root and Dwym. I believe that there is more to their stories than meet the eye. There should be at least five more stories written in this series and I will be first in line to find out what happens to Root.
When I received this book in the mail I was immediately drawn to it. It looked like a fun book to read. Well, my intuition was right and I loved this book!
This is the story about a young girl named Root. She was brought to our world by someone from another and had to live with two grotesque women named Carblotta and Octavia. They reminded me of the aunts in JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH by Roald Dahl. Well, these aunts wanted Root to be their servant girl. When Root is fourteen she finds out that she is from Dre'amm, a land that is magical and is also troubled, and is to go on the greatest quest there ever was.
She and two others, the studious Liam and the charismatic Dwyn, make one team of many who have to see if they can find the Miist of Kalliope. There are six miist, so only six teams will win.
Root is a very well-written character and is very likable. She is smart, kind, and lovable. The boys on the quest have many layers. Liam is studious and, because he was raised in Dre'amm, very informative. He is also very loyal. Dwyn, like Root, was raised on Earth. He is also learning about how to be a good friend and is not what he seems to be.
While on this quest we learn along with Root and Dwyn the history of Dre'amm and also what magic they possess. We learn about hovermutts, road, chorm, simps, and many other awesome creatures. There are also villains here that are fantastic. You really want to hate them. Kor is just plain mean and is very cocky like only the rich can be. The main one, though, is Korkus, who is a powerful magician who is trying to take over Dre'amm.
There are also many questions that haven't been answered yet about this world and about Root and Dwym. I believe that there is more to their stories than meet the eye. There should be at least five more stories written in this series and I will be first in line to find out what happens to Root.
June 15, 2011
This book takes you on a fun and exciting adventure with well-developed characters that you come to love and want to see succeed. The level of imagination by this author rivals JR Rowling as every page was a new discovery of magical whimsy and delight. Loved it!
May 31, 2014
I Think this was one of the best books I have read in a while. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews