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The Keepers #3
The Portal and the Veil
In the third book of Ted Sanders’s Keepers series, Chloe, Horace, April, and the other Keepers return, only to discover that their talismans of power may be dying out. Now the race is on to save their way of life—and the world as we know it.
Horace F. Andrews and his friend Chloe have worked hard to master their talismans of power and keep the world safe from the forces of evil. After rescuing April from the dangerous Dr. Jericho and the sinister Riven, they discover that it may have all been a setup—by one of their own.
When they return to confront their mentors, Horace and Chloe discover that Brian and his powerful artifact have been taken by someone they thought was their friend. The Keepers must free Brian and recover the important relic before its power can fall into the wrong hands. Reunited with the oldest Wardens for help, Horace and Chloe discover the true conflict at the heart of the long war between the Keepers and the Riven. The answer may destroy the way of life they’ve worked so hard to build— and the Keepers themselves.
Horace F. Andrews and his friend Chloe have worked hard to master their talismans of power and keep the world safe from the forces of evil. After rescuing April from the dangerous Dr. Jericho and the sinister Riven, they discover that it may have all been a setup—by one of their own.
When they return to confront their mentors, Horace and Chloe discover that Brian and his powerful artifact have been taken by someone they thought was their friend. The Keepers must free Brian and recover the important relic before its power can fall into the wrong hands. Reunited with the oldest Wardens for help, Horace and Chloe discover the true conflict at the heart of the long war between the Keepers and the Riven. The answer may destroy the way of life they’ve worked so hard to build— and the Keepers themselves.
584 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 26, 2017
29 people are currently reading
689 people want to read
About the author
Ted Sanders
13 books158 followersTed Sanders is the author of The Box and the Dragonfly, the first book in the new middle grade series The Keepers, coming in 2015 from HarperCollins Children's. His first book, the short story collection No Animals We Could Name (Graywolf 2012), was the winner of the 2011 Bakeless Prize for Fiction. His stories and essays have appeared in publications The Southern Review, Cincinnati Review, Georgia Review, and the O. Henry Prize Stories anthology. A recipient of a 2012 National Endowment for the Arts literature fellowship, he lives with his family in Urbana, Illinois, and teaches at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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October 2, 2017
I've talked to many of my book friends about this series. One question comes up over and over again. “What do you mean by Middle-Grade fantasy? Is it like Young Adult?” I just tell people that MG is the first Harry Potter and YA is the last Harry Potter. Some people say, “Oh, I get it.” Others just stare at me like I’m the idiot. Because of how often this question has come up when I'm talking about the Keepers series, I thought I'd give a more thoughtful answer to that question before starting this review.
So, what is Middle-Grade fiction? Think of MG as Young-Young Adult, stories featuring or written for pre-teens and young teenagers. Some good examples are The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Beyonders, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, Percy Jackson, and The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching is my hero).
There are a lot of differences between YA and MG. For me the big ones are:
In middle-grade, there is typically a good side and a bad side. The good guys might do some unpleasant things, but there is a clear distinction with little to no grey areas.
Romance is typically a big part of YA. There’s a lot of first love/first sexual experience stories. In middle-grade, there isn’t always a love story, and when there is, it tends to be a crush that might grow as far as a kiss.
In YA there is a strong focus on what is going on inside the characters heads. What are they thinking, feeling, fearing, loving, hating. There is some of this in MG but not to the same degree. MG is more about the adventure. We need enough of the inner life of the character to make us care about them, but the adventure is the main thing.
Foreshadowing. There are a few MG books with a huge gut punch surprise, but in general, the heavy foreshadowing makes it either easy to predict or, at least, makes the plot twists unsurprising. My favorite MG books make one twist easy to spot and then surprise the reader with a second twist.
Now, onto the Keepers!
Short Review
Read this. It's really, really good. You won't regret it.
Overly long review
I didn’t post a review for the first two books in the Keepers series, so I want to start by looking at the series.
The Keepers mainly takes place in Chicago. The main characters are young kids who find magical objects called Tanu, see below for more on the jargon unique to The Keepers. Each object has its own abilities. Some can be used by anyone, but the super cool ones required a bond. Only the person who bonds the object can use it. Mr. Meister and Mrs. Hapsteade hoard and protect Tanu. They try to make sure the right people find them and give occasional cryptic advice on how to bond the Tanu. They also fight the Riven, an intelligent race that lives alongside humans and believes only Riven have the right to use Tanu. The series is the story of the kids who bond magical instruments and the struggle against the Riven.
Important Jargon
The Medium - The medium is the magical force. All magical instruments are powered by the medium.
Tanu - Tanu is a catchall phrase for magical instruments. There are several different categories of magical instruments, but all can be called Tanu.
Tan’kindi - Tan’kindi are magical instruments that do not require a bond. A raven’s eye is a good example. It’s a marble with a black cloud inside. It absorbs unwanted attention and helps our heroes hide from the Riven. It works for anyone, whether they have magical abilities or not.
Tan’ji - Tan’ji are instruments that require a bond. Once the bond is made, both the instrument and the person who bonded it are called Tan’ji. These are the really cool magical devices that allow a person to see through time, walk through walls, travel through portals, or dozens of other cool options. See the character list for a rundown on their Tan’ji.
Tan’layn - Tan’layn are Tan’ji that don’t have an owner.
The Find - The find is the process of bonding and instrument and discovering what it can do. It is important that a keeper learn for themselves and not be taught.
Looms - Looms are bonded to one person like normal Tan’ji, but they are special. Their power is to make new Tan’ji by manipulating the medium. There is one loom and nine loomdaughters, though some have been destroyed. The loomdaughters also make new Tan’ji, but those are less powerful. The strongest Tan’ji are made by the loom.
Harps - Harps are somewhere between Tan’ji and Tan’kindi. They only work for people who could be Tan’ji, but harps are not bonded to anyone. A harp is used to manipulate the medium. It cannot create new Tan’ji, but it can be used to cut off the flow of medium, rendering someone's Tan’ji useless. This is called severing and is dangerous. If someone is dispossessed from their Tan’ji for too long, it can be fatal. A good tuner, harp user, can also cleave someone from the medium, leaving them instantly dispossessed. Harps are also used to tune Tan’layn, to clean up any magical residue left over from the last Keeper.
Riven - The Riven appear human to those who don’t have a magical affinity. But they aren’t human. They taller, have more knuckles, and are better attuned to the Medium. They believe that all tanu are rightfully theirs and do not want humans to use them. Over the centuries, the Riven have become more and more monstrous as they do everything they can to achieve their goal.
Auditors - The auditors are a special group of Riven who can use anyone’s Tan’ji. They are hard to fight because they have accesses to everyone’s powers. Their only weaknesses are tuners cutting them off from the medium or a lack of familiarity with a Tan’ji. Just because an Auditor can share Chloe's power and walk through walls, that doesn’t mean she is as good at it as Chloe.
Altari - The Altari are the makers of the Tanu. The Riven and the Altari used to be the same people but split off centuries ago over their differences. Altari have no issues with humans being Tanu, but they also aren’t out in the field, fighting against the Riven.
Wardens - The wardens are an organized resistance to the Riven. Not all Tan’ji are wardens. Some join the dark side and fight for the Riven. Others go their own way and try to avoid the conflict. If their Tan’ji isn’t very strong then the Riven might leave them alone, but a strong Tan’ji doesn’t have much choice. If they go their own way, the Riven will hunt them down and try to convert them or steal their Tan’ji. The wardens try to protect each other and all the Tanu they can gather.
Important Characters
Horace: Tan’ji - The Fel’Deara A.K.A The Box of Promises
Horace is a thoughtful young man with an overly sensitive sense of time. He doesn’t need a watch to know what time it is, down to the second. This makes him the perfect owner of the box of promises. It is a small box with a glass bottom. Anything he puts in the box travels to the future, and when he looks through the glass bottom, he can see up to a day into the future. It’s one of the most dangerous Tan’ji. Knowing the future can be helpful, but it can also be misleading. It can make someone overconfident or convince them to act differently, which might be what causes the future they saw in the first place. It takes a very logical person to figure out how to make the Fel’Deara useful. It takes Horace.
Chloe: Tan’ji - The Alvalaithen A.K.A. The Dragonfly A.K.A. The Earth-Wing
Chloe is the superhero. The dragonfly lets her go thin. She can walk through walls, swim through the ground, make other things go thin, and meld two things together. In the Portal and the Veil, she reaches into her chest and moves a broken rib, melding it back together. How badass is that?
Chloe is my favorite. She comes from a messed up family and has spent her whole life taking care of herself and running from the Riven. She is strong, daring and almost indestructible, but she’s not an emotionless warrior. Chloe has fears, big ones. She has feelings that make her stronger and some that make her weaker. She is also a snarky, sarcastic girl who can cut through all the bull and get straight to the point.
April: Tan’ji - The Ravenvine
April joins the group in book two. She is an empath. Her Tan’ji, the Ravenvine, lets her experience the world through the senses of nearby animals. She can use a dog's nose to smell or a bird’s eyes to see. It comes in pretty handy, especially when she teams up with Gabriel.
April is followed around by a raven named Arthur. He is clever, hates the Riven and very attached to April. April is kind, determined and selfless. She knows the right thing to say and the right time to say it. She is very likable, but I kinda want to see her get mad and punch someone. I think she has it in her. It's just not her style. Still, I can hope.
Brian: Tan’ji - Tunraden a loomdaughter
Brian is a secret. The Riven are unaware that the Keepers have someone who can make new Tan’ji, and Brian wants it to stay that way. He has been a self-imposed prisoner in the Warden’s stronghold for over three years. He is scrawny, very pale, and suffering a severe vitamin D deficiency. He also has a habit of wearing t-shirts with poor attempts at jokes written on them.
Neptune: Tan’ji - Devlin Tourminda
Neptune’s Tan’ji lets her control gravity. She can’t fly, but she can float. She can make herself and a few other things go weightless. She can also locate sources of gravity without seeing them, which means she can sense someone moving in the dark. Her powers make her an excellent scout. She isn’t the best character. Her power is awesome, and she is likable. She has potential but is underdeveloped. I hope she gets a larger role in a future book.
Gabriel: Tan’ji - Staff of Obro
The Staff of Obro looks like a cane for a blind man, but Gabriel uses it to create “the humor.” It’s a dark cloud that blocks out the senses of anyone inside it while allowing Gabriel to sense every detail of what’s happening in the humor. It is useful for confusing the Riven and escaping when cornered. It is especially useful when he teams up with April. She can use the Ravenvine to see what is happening outside of the humor, something Gabriel can’t do.
Gabriel is older than Horace, April, and Chloe. He knows more of the wardens’ secrets and is more dedicated to their cause. His loyalty to the wardens and his hatred of the Riven may stem, in part, from his ex-girlfriend's betrayal. She abandoned the wardens and joined the Riven.
Mrs. Hapsteade: Tan’ji - The Vora
Mrs. Hapsteade is a stern woman. The kids think of her as old, but I get the impression she is in her forties. I don’t recall if this is mentioned or just something I inferred. She is a no-nonsense woman who tells it like it is and has a healthy fear of the box of promises. Her Tan’ji is a quill that writes in a different color depending on who is writing. The color tells her something about the writer. It is used to help determine what kind of Tan’layn a person could bond.
Mr. Meister: Tan’ji - Mai’tan Oraculum
Mr. Meister is the Chief Taxonomer. He collects Tanu and is the unofficial leader of the wardens is Chicago. He is also very cryptic and secretive. His Tan’ji lets him see the medium and understand things about Tanu that most others can’t, but he is a cheat. A keeper can only have one Tan’ji, but Mr. Meister has figured out a way around that. He has a second Tan’ji, a vest made by Brian that has pockets that work like portals to his office, letting him grab things from his desk or shelves no matter where he is. How he has more than one Tan’ji and if he only has the two is still a mystery.
Joshua: Tan’ji - The Laithe of Teneves
Joshua is the youngest in these books. He is eight or nine years old and has a remarkable ability to read maps. He can glance at a map and remember every detail. His sense of direction is impeccable. He always knows where he is, even in the humor. The Laithe lets him open portals to anywhere in the world. He is a new keeper in The Portal and the Veil and still needs to learn more about his Tan’ji. He is a good kid, a by the books kind of guy. Once he’s made a promise he wants to keep it and isn’t sure how to handle things if keeping the promise, something he views as the right thing to do, might result in something bad happening. He wants to be a Warden but he is very insecure about his claim to his Tan’ji. He tries to be selfless and do the right thing, but he is young and insecure, his decisions aren’t always in his or his friends best interest.
Dr. Jericho: Tan’ji - ??? I don’t think we’ve seen the name, but maybe I missed it.
Dr. Jericho is the big baddy, a monstrous Riven who hunts Horace, Chloe, April, and Joshua. He has some connection to Tan’ji related to time and space. He can sense Horace using the box in ways that don’t make sense to the wardens. He has a Tan’ji embedded in his back, but I’m unclear on what it does. He has superhuman speed and strength and is very scary. It takes all the powers, wit, and teamwork our heroes can muster to fight him off.
What I like about the series:
You probably figured it out already, but this series has some incredible world building. The magic system is complex without being complicated. A lot is going on, but it isn’t hard to follow. The Tanu are imaginative and fun. I especially like how well they work together. One Tan’ji is pretty cool and powerful, but when the right two Tan’ji partner up, they can do amazing things.
The characters are great. The interaction between them is fun and believable. They are brave and loyal and all the things you need in heroes, but they are also kids. They do things like sending a firefly into the future and naming it rip van twinkle. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d have done with a time machine when I was twelve.
The stories are good. The series isn’t just about fighting the Riven and finding Tanu. People have things going on in their lives. The first book is the story of Horace and Chloe becoming friends, finding the wardens, and teaming up to save Chloe’s father. The second tells the story of April and Joshua coming to Chicago. April found a Tan’ji on her own, but her Tan’ji is broken, bleeding. It attracts the Riven. She has to leave her family and seek the help of the wardens. The third book is the fallout from Chloe’s mother breaking into the wardens’ stronghold and convincing Brian to try to make her Tan’ji. Chloe’s mom is a whole big ball of trouble. She has reason to be angry, but she lets it ruin her life, choosing her desires over Chloe and putting all the wardens in danger.
Time to talk about The Portal and the Veil
Elevator Pitch
Isabelle, Chloe’s mother, is still desperate to become Tan’ji. She manages to sneak into the wardens' stronghold and convinces Brian and Joshua to help her. They travel to somewhere they hope is safe and begin the attempt to turn Isabelle’s harp into a Tan’ji. Their safe place isn’t very safe, and the Riven attack. The wardens mount a rescue attempt, but there are too many enemies and too few wardens.
The Cast
The Portal and the Veil has a large cast of characters. It’s the same cast from The Harp and the Ravenvine, but Horace’s awesome mother has a more significant role. For a lot of the book, all the characters are in one place. Having everyone together and flipping back and forth between the main characters’ perspectives, makes it seem like a bigger cast than in the previous.
The large cast is a strength. Each person has a good backstory, which adds depth and allows the story to grow in more directions. The interactions between characters are one of my favorite aspects in this series, so more characters are a plus.
The only downside to large cast is it can be a bit tedious reading the same action scene from four or more perspectives. At first, I found it very immersive. In a fight scene with over a dozen people, it is hard to keep track of everyone. Switching back and forth between the perspectives of the main characters is a good way to cover a lot of ground and get details from across the entire fight scene. On the flip side, having four people describe the same moment can make the book lag, and skipping back a few minutes in time during an exciting scene is a bit frustrating. The writing technique here really brought the scenes to life but would have been better if it took up less space and felt snappier.
The Magic
I enjoyed watching this magical world grow. It can be tricky to expand a magic system in a way that feels consistent. Sanders world of magical instruments makes it easy. A new Tanu can change everything. In The Portal and the Veil, there's a new Tan'kindi that works like a flying carpet, a Tan’ji that can open portals to anywhere in the world, a sword that creates a curtain of ice at absolute zero, a bow with self-loading arrows, and a bowl of water that can tell when someone is lying. Think of all the new possibilities. Pretty cool, right? Now think of all the trouble they could cause if miss used or if controlled by the Riven.
Tha magical world is growing in a way that feels very natural. It promises to deliver some epic new magic items and change the way the wardens fight the Riven. It also will create brand new problems, and make their lives more difficult. All the Tanu seem to be a double edge sword of awesomeness and danger.
Isabelle
I feel like I have to talk about Isabelle. What happened to her as a kid was awful, painful, and completely without her consent. She has every right to be mad and feel cheated. Becoming a tuner was not her choice and kept her from becoming Tan’ji. That anger is one of the most relatable things in the whole series. If you could bond an instrument that let you do wondrous and magical things, but it never happened because the good guys ripped that power out of you to make you their tool, wouldn't you be mad?
What she became as a tuner was remarkable. Isabella could have been the strongest fighter the Wardens had, but they couldn't see a tuner as a valued warden or a warrior. I wonder how things would have turned out if she was recognized as a paragon with a harp. Imagine her fight alongside Chloe, actually working together. I think the Wardens missed a real opportunity with her.
I don't excuse her selfishness. She has reason to be mad, but she did nearly kill her daughter because she can't get over what might have been, and she decided to abandon her family instead of her harp. She consistently puts her needs and desires ahead of the needs and safety of others, even of her family. She is far from blameless, but how different would she be if the Wardens treated a talented harper like they treated a talented Tan’ji.
Plot Twist / Cliffhanger
What good is an adventure without a few surprises and a tense ending? Yes, The Portal and the Veil ends with a big reveal and a cliffhanger. As I mentioned earlier, MG is typically heavy on the foreshadowing. I’d describe the twist in The Portal and the Veil as intriguing. I wasn't stunned, but that’s a big ask for a MG book. The reveal didn't stun me but does make me wonder where things are headed and how Chloe and Horace will react. I’ve enjoyed this series enough that I don’t need an incentive to pick up the next book, but the twist at the end raises enough questions to make me all the more eager for book four.
Just Read It!
There is a lot more I'd like to say about this book, this series, and these characters, but I've gone on too long already. Let's face it, if you're still interested, if you're still reading this you should just pick up the book and read it instead. Don't let the page length or jargon put you off. Long doesn't mean hard or boring, and the jargon is easy to pick up. The Keepers series is fun, imaginative, and exciting. It is everything I look
So, what is Middle-Grade fiction? Think of MG as Young-Young Adult, stories featuring or written for pre-teens and young teenagers. Some good examples are The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Beyonders, Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, Percy Jackson, and The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching is my hero).
There are a lot of differences between YA and MG. For me the big ones are:
In middle-grade, there is typically a good side and a bad side. The good guys might do some unpleasant things, but there is a clear distinction with little to no grey areas.
Romance is typically a big part of YA. There’s a lot of first love/first sexual experience stories. In middle-grade, there isn’t always a love story, and when there is, it tends to be a crush that might grow as far as a kiss.
In YA there is a strong focus on what is going on inside the characters heads. What are they thinking, feeling, fearing, loving, hating. There is some of this in MG but not to the same degree. MG is more about the adventure. We need enough of the inner life of the character to make us care about them, but the adventure is the main thing.
Foreshadowing. There are a few MG books with a huge gut punch surprise, but in general, the heavy foreshadowing makes it either easy to predict or, at least, makes the plot twists unsurprising. My favorite MG books make one twist easy to spot and then surprise the reader with a second twist.
Now, onto the Keepers!
Short Review
Read this. It's really, really good. You won't regret it.
Overly long review
I didn’t post a review for the first two books in the Keepers series, so I want to start by looking at the series.
The Keepers mainly takes place in Chicago. The main characters are young kids who find magical objects called Tanu, see below for more on the jargon unique to The Keepers. Each object has its own abilities. Some can be used by anyone, but the super cool ones required a bond. Only the person who bonds the object can use it. Mr. Meister and Mrs. Hapsteade hoard and protect Tanu. They try to make sure the right people find them and give occasional cryptic advice on how to bond the Tanu. They also fight the Riven, an intelligent race that lives alongside humans and believes only Riven have the right to use Tanu. The series is the story of the kids who bond magical instruments and the struggle against the Riven.
Important Jargon
The Medium - The medium is the magical force. All magical instruments are powered by the medium.
Tanu - Tanu is a catchall phrase for magical instruments. There are several different categories of magical instruments, but all can be called Tanu.
Tan’kindi - Tan’kindi are magical instruments that do not require a bond. A raven’s eye is a good example. It’s a marble with a black cloud inside. It absorbs unwanted attention and helps our heroes hide from the Riven. It works for anyone, whether they have magical abilities or not.
Tan’ji - Tan’ji are instruments that require a bond. Once the bond is made, both the instrument and the person who bonded it are called Tan’ji. These are the really cool magical devices that allow a person to see through time, walk through walls, travel through portals, or dozens of other cool options. See the character list for a rundown on their Tan’ji.
Tan’layn - Tan’layn are Tan’ji that don’t have an owner.
The Find - The find is the process of bonding and instrument and discovering what it can do. It is important that a keeper learn for themselves and not be taught.
Looms - Looms are bonded to one person like normal Tan’ji, but they are special. Their power is to make new Tan’ji by manipulating the medium. There is one loom and nine loomdaughters, though some have been destroyed. The loomdaughters also make new Tan’ji, but those are less powerful. The strongest Tan’ji are made by the loom.
Harps - Harps are somewhere between Tan’ji and Tan’kindi. They only work for people who could be Tan’ji, but harps are not bonded to anyone. A harp is used to manipulate the medium. It cannot create new Tan’ji, but it can be used to cut off the flow of medium, rendering someone's Tan’ji useless. This is called severing and is dangerous. If someone is dispossessed from their Tan’ji for too long, it can be fatal. A good tuner, harp user, can also cleave someone from the medium, leaving them instantly dispossessed. Harps are also used to tune Tan’layn, to clean up any magical residue left over from the last Keeper.
Riven - The Riven appear human to those who don’t have a magical affinity. But they aren’t human. They taller, have more knuckles, and are better attuned to the Medium. They believe that all tanu are rightfully theirs and do not want humans to use them. Over the centuries, the Riven have become more and more monstrous as they do everything they can to achieve their goal.
Auditors - The auditors are a special group of Riven who can use anyone’s Tan’ji. They are hard to fight because they have accesses to everyone’s powers. Their only weaknesses are tuners cutting them off from the medium or a lack of familiarity with a Tan’ji. Just because an Auditor can share Chloe's power and walk through walls, that doesn’t mean she is as good at it as Chloe.
Altari - The Altari are the makers of the Tanu. The Riven and the Altari used to be the same people but split off centuries ago over their differences. Altari have no issues with humans being Tanu, but they also aren’t out in the field, fighting against the Riven.
Wardens - The wardens are an organized resistance to the Riven. Not all Tan’ji are wardens. Some join the dark side and fight for the Riven. Others go their own way and try to avoid the conflict. If their Tan’ji isn’t very strong then the Riven might leave them alone, but a strong Tan’ji doesn’t have much choice. If they go their own way, the Riven will hunt them down and try to convert them or steal their Tan’ji. The wardens try to protect each other and all the Tanu they can gather.
Important Characters
Horace: Tan’ji - The Fel’Deara A.K.A The Box of Promises
Horace is a thoughtful young man with an overly sensitive sense of time. He doesn’t need a watch to know what time it is, down to the second. This makes him the perfect owner of the box of promises. It is a small box with a glass bottom. Anything he puts in the box travels to the future, and when he looks through the glass bottom, he can see up to a day into the future. It’s one of the most dangerous Tan’ji. Knowing the future can be helpful, but it can also be misleading. It can make someone overconfident or convince them to act differently, which might be what causes the future they saw in the first place. It takes a very logical person to figure out how to make the Fel’Deara useful. It takes Horace.
Chloe: Tan’ji - The Alvalaithen A.K.A. The Dragonfly A.K.A. The Earth-Wing
Chloe is the superhero. The dragonfly lets her go thin. She can walk through walls, swim through the ground, make other things go thin, and meld two things together. In the Portal and the Veil, she reaches into her chest and moves a broken rib, melding it back together. How badass is that?
Chloe is my favorite. She comes from a messed up family and has spent her whole life taking care of herself and running from the Riven. She is strong, daring and almost indestructible, but she’s not an emotionless warrior. Chloe has fears, big ones. She has feelings that make her stronger and some that make her weaker. She is also a snarky, sarcastic girl who can cut through all the bull and get straight to the point.
April: Tan’ji - The Ravenvine
April joins the group in book two. She is an empath. Her Tan’ji, the Ravenvine, lets her experience the world through the senses of nearby animals. She can use a dog's nose to smell or a bird’s eyes to see. It comes in pretty handy, especially when she teams up with Gabriel.
April is followed around by a raven named Arthur. He is clever, hates the Riven and very attached to April. April is kind, determined and selfless. She knows the right thing to say and the right time to say it. She is very likable, but I kinda want to see her get mad and punch someone. I think she has it in her. It's just not her style. Still, I can hope.
Brian: Tan’ji - Tunraden a loomdaughter
Brian is a secret. The Riven are unaware that the Keepers have someone who can make new Tan’ji, and Brian wants it to stay that way. He has been a self-imposed prisoner in the Warden’s stronghold for over three years. He is scrawny, very pale, and suffering a severe vitamin D deficiency. He also has a habit of wearing t-shirts with poor attempts at jokes written on them.
Neptune: Tan’ji - Devlin Tourminda
Neptune’s Tan’ji lets her control gravity. She can’t fly, but she can float. She can make herself and a few other things go weightless. She can also locate sources of gravity without seeing them, which means she can sense someone moving in the dark. Her powers make her an excellent scout. She isn’t the best character. Her power is awesome, and she is likable. She has potential but is underdeveloped. I hope she gets a larger role in a future book.
Gabriel: Tan’ji - Staff of Obro
The Staff of Obro looks like a cane for a blind man, but Gabriel uses it to create “the humor.” It’s a dark cloud that blocks out the senses of anyone inside it while allowing Gabriel to sense every detail of what’s happening in the humor. It is useful for confusing the Riven and escaping when cornered. It is especially useful when he teams up with April. She can use the Ravenvine to see what is happening outside of the humor, something Gabriel can’t do.
Gabriel is older than Horace, April, and Chloe. He knows more of the wardens’ secrets and is more dedicated to their cause. His loyalty to the wardens and his hatred of the Riven may stem, in part, from his ex-girlfriend's betrayal. She abandoned the wardens and joined the Riven.
Mrs. Hapsteade: Tan’ji - The Vora
Mrs. Hapsteade is a stern woman. The kids think of her as old, but I get the impression she is in her forties. I don’t recall if this is mentioned or just something I inferred. She is a no-nonsense woman who tells it like it is and has a healthy fear of the box of promises. Her Tan’ji is a quill that writes in a different color depending on who is writing. The color tells her something about the writer. It is used to help determine what kind of Tan’layn a person could bond.
Mr. Meister: Tan’ji - Mai’tan Oraculum
Mr. Meister is the Chief Taxonomer. He collects Tanu and is the unofficial leader of the wardens is Chicago. He is also very cryptic and secretive. His Tan’ji lets him see the medium and understand things about Tanu that most others can’t, but he is a cheat. A keeper can only have one Tan’ji, but Mr. Meister has figured out a way around that. He has a second Tan’ji, a vest made by Brian that has pockets that work like portals to his office, letting him grab things from his desk or shelves no matter where he is. How he has more than one Tan’ji and if he only has the two is still a mystery.
Joshua: Tan’ji - The Laithe of Teneves
Joshua is the youngest in these books. He is eight or nine years old and has a remarkable ability to read maps. He can glance at a map and remember every detail. His sense of direction is impeccable. He always knows where he is, even in the humor. The Laithe lets him open portals to anywhere in the world. He is a new keeper in The Portal and the Veil and still needs to learn more about his Tan’ji. He is a good kid, a by the books kind of guy. Once he’s made a promise he wants to keep it and isn’t sure how to handle things if keeping the promise, something he views as the right thing to do, might result in something bad happening. He wants to be a Warden but he is very insecure about his claim to his Tan’ji. He tries to be selfless and do the right thing, but he is young and insecure, his decisions aren’t always in his or his friends best interest.
Dr. Jericho: Tan’ji - ??? I don’t think we’ve seen the name, but maybe I missed it.
Dr. Jericho is the big baddy, a monstrous Riven who hunts Horace, Chloe, April, and Joshua. He has some connection to Tan’ji related to time and space. He can sense Horace using the box in ways that don’t make sense to the wardens. He has a Tan’ji embedded in his back, but I’m unclear on what it does. He has superhuman speed and strength and is very scary. It takes all the powers, wit, and teamwork our heroes can muster to fight him off.
What I like about the series:
You probably figured it out already, but this series has some incredible world building. The magic system is complex without being complicated. A lot is going on, but it isn’t hard to follow. The Tanu are imaginative and fun. I especially like how well they work together. One Tan’ji is pretty cool and powerful, but when the right two Tan’ji partner up, they can do amazing things.
The characters are great. The interaction between them is fun and believable. They are brave and loyal and all the things you need in heroes, but they are also kids. They do things like sending a firefly into the future and naming it rip van twinkle. It’s exactly the kind of thing I’d have done with a time machine when I was twelve.
The stories are good. The series isn’t just about fighting the Riven and finding Tanu. People have things going on in their lives. The first book is the story of Horace and Chloe becoming friends, finding the wardens, and teaming up to save Chloe’s father. The second tells the story of April and Joshua coming to Chicago. April found a Tan’ji on her own, but her Tan’ji is broken, bleeding. It attracts the Riven. She has to leave her family and seek the help of the wardens. The third book is the fallout from Chloe’s mother breaking into the wardens’ stronghold and convincing Brian to try to make her Tan’ji. Chloe’s mom is a whole big ball of trouble. She has reason to be angry, but she lets it ruin her life, choosing her desires over Chloe and putting all the wardens in danger.
Time to talk about The Portal and the Veil
Elevator Pitch
Isabelle, Chloe’s mother, is still desperate to become Tan’ji. She manages to sneak into the wardens' stronghold and convinces Brian and Joshua to help her. They travel to somewhere they hope is safe and begin the attempt to turn Isabelle’s harp into a Tan’ji. Their safe place isn’t very safe, and the Riven attack. The wardens mount a rescue attempt, but there are too many enemies and too few wardens.
The Cast
The Portal and the Veil has a large cast of characters. It’s the same cast from The Harp and the Ravenvine, but Horace’s awesome mother has a more significant role. For a lot of the book, all the characters are in one place. Having everyone together and flipping back and forth between the main characters’ perspectives, makes it seem like a bigger cast than in the previous.
The large cast is a strength. Each person has a good backstory, which adds depth and allows the story to grow in more directions. The interactions between characters are one of my favorite aspects in this series, so more characters are a plus.
The only downside to large cast is it can be a bit tedious reading the same action scene from four or more perspectives. At first, I found it very immersive. In a fight scene with over a dozen people, it is hard to keep track of everyone. Switching back and forth between the perspectives of the main characters is a good way to cover a lot of ground and get details from across the entire fight scene. On the flip side, having four people describe the same moment can make the book lag, and skipping back a few minutes in time during an exciting scene is a bit frustrating. The writing technique here really brought the scenes to life but would have been better if it took up less space and felt snappier.
The Magic
I enjoyed watching this magical world grow. It can be tricky to expand a magic system in a way that feels consistent. Sanders world of magical instruments makes it easy. A new Tanu can change everything. In The Portal and the Veil, there's a new Tan'kindi that works like a flying carpet, a Tan’ji that can open portals to anywhere in the world, a sword that creates a curtain of ice at absolute zero, a bow with self-loading arrows, and a bowl of water that can tell when someone is lying. Think of all the new possibilities. Pretty cool, right? Now think of all the trouble they could cause if miss used or if controlled by the Riven.
Tha magical world is growing in a way that feels very natural. It promises to deliver some epic new magic items and change the way the wardens fight the Riven. It also will create brand new problems, and make their lives more difficult. All the Tanu seem to be a double edge sword of awesomeness and danger.
Isabelle
I feel like I have to talk about Isabelle. What happened to her as a kid was awful, painful, and completely without her consent. She has every right to be mad and feel cheated. Becoming a tuner was not her choice and kept her from becoming Tan’ji. That anger is one of the most relatable things in the whole series. If you could bond an instrument that let you do wondrous and magical things, but it never happened because the good guys ripped that power out of you to make you their tool, wouldn't you be mad?
What she became as a tuner was remarkable. Isabella could have been the strongest fighter the Wardens had, but they couldn't see a tuner as a valued warden or a warrior. I wonder how things would have turned out if she was recognized as a paragon with a harp. Imagine her fight alongside Chloe, actually working together. I think the Wardens missed a real opportunity with her.
I don't excuse her selfishness. She has reason to be mad, but she did nearly kill her daughter because she can't get over what might have been, and she decided to abandon her family instead of her harp. She consistently puts her needs and desires ahead of the needs and safety of others, even of her family. She is far from blameless, but how different would she be if the Wardens treated a talented harper like they treated a talented Tan’ji.
Plot Twist / Cliffhanger
What good is an adventure without a few surprises and a tense ending? Yes, The Portal and the Veil ends with a big reveal and a cliffhanger. As I mentioned earlier, MG is typically heavy on the foreshadowing. I’d describe the twist in The Portal and the Veil as intriguing. I wasn't stunned, but that’s a big ask for a MG book. The reveal didn't stun me but does make me wonder where things are headed and how Chloe and Horace will react. I’ve enjoyed this series enough that I don’t need an incentive to pick up the next book, but the twist at the end raises enough questions to make me all the more eager for book four.
Just Read It!
There is a lot more I'd like to say about this book, this series, and these characters, but I've gone on too long already. Let's face it, if you're still interested, if you're still reading this you should just pick up the book and read it instead. Don't let the page length or jargon put you off. Long doesn't mean hard or boring, and the jargon is easy to pick up. The Keepers series is fun, imaginative, and exciting. It is everything I look
November 24, 2023
11/23/23: LMAOO "probably will write a real review later" no you will not, 13 year old christine, thank you very much. this is not a real review, this is me screaming into the void at 12:30am, yet again. maybe i really should reread aogg.
i freaking love adjectives. it is very apparent.
once again 5* rating left almost six years ago and will remain untouched. bc i feel insane about this book. of course.
if i had one question answered about this entire series, it would simply be WHO IS BECK? that's all.
okay. i dont know what i meant to begin this with, but..
oh holy crap okay i guess that about sums it up. I don't have a SINGLE COHERENT THOUGHT about this book and it is going to SHOW so badly here. also i need sleep.
i'd forgotten how utterly INSANE this book is. i remembered it being the "hey help what is going on" book with all the cool fight scenes involving time and space but i'd forgotten SO MUCH. oh man OH MAN OH MAN.
my notes look completely unreadable for this one. as they should be.
JUST- OKAY. okayokayokay
ISABEL. i want to THROW HANDS WITH HER. so badly. as does everybody apparently lol. well, she got her comeuppance. help that was all so insane.
SANGUINE HALL. the sa'halvasa are so cool TOO BAD they didn't WORK MEISTER SIDEEYE
joshua and the laithe!! oh man i love joshua. he is so special this eight year old with the weight of the world almost literally. LOVE him. poor kid. the laithe is epic and awesome ayieee the rabbit <33
huge fan of Jessica Andrews she carries all of this somehow.
everything just coming to light is wild. because of course secrets must come to light, but .. oh man.. there is so much going on in the middle of unstopping fight scenes. the timeline in these books is geniunely impossible to me because of course horace is lookding forwrda all the itme but at the same time literally only a couple days have passed - what! !!!! love the fihght scenes eheheh i dont care if the multiple POVS are redundant, they're COOL!!!
brian and tunraden !!! !!!!! a YEAR in the find??? without talking to anyone? man i really want to hear more about that lolll also how'd he get to the mothergates w Tunraden without the Laithe back then?
gotta love the animal love in these books im such a huge fan of it.. arthur and baron and loki especially of course.
H&C&A popped off this book of course they would but AYOO !! esp with the breach fixed Horace was so cool and Chloe is unstoppable as always and April finding herself because she had to in order to deal w Isabel and Joshua - ! i appreciate them more everytime i come back to these books. is chloe super snarky and randomly over the top about it? yes? do i still love her? absolutely. meanwhile H is jus trying to science everything out of curiosity. amazing. and then April's new level sensibility coming into the mix is really funny.
on that note the April & Isabel & Gabriel bits get me everytime. man what even is going on the way a couple of teenagers are far more mature than a mother of two (questionably)... yeah. A &G really do work together SO well i love their dynamic esp when he stayed back for her like yea!! ofc he would! and then their collective ???about Isabel. they are cool.
freakin love Ka'hokia yeeheeeeee Goth en'Sethra is crazy and fusion is utterly maniacal but super cool the Altari are epic (ngl i always think of the pokemon altaria when i read altari) always been a huge fan of Dailen (:() and Teokas and Ravana and Go'nesh are neat and Brula is dubious but FALO SHOWIN UP!! forgot she even DID that lolol it's been so long. the Ro'ha was awesome too. i just really love learning about tan'ji and their powers. this magic system has been rotating in my head for almost six years man i am allowed to be insane about it.
HATE AUDITORS TO NO END!!! die die die die die
the destruction of the Warren gets me. it is So Sad and ad;sgkljwgqowq;gkjdag <- tired keyboard slam. thinking about it too hard just makes me sadder bc all those lost and destroyed tanu... aaaaa.... everything lost in what was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress..ksjfd;fs;ajkdgj also just all the Wardens in thise scenes :( joshua :(
ravids are cool love how they jus randomly show up out of nowhere
(i had many thoughts about the purpose of this series being middle grade and i mean yeah i get it but also there's a part of me that thinks it would've worked just as a YA series too simply if it would have made the characters more real somehow. sanders can certainly write adults in my 19 year oldopinion which is probably not very useful)
sigh
okay. here is the bulk of my actual insanity about this book: NEPTUNE AND GABRIEL!!! I really do love the main characters they're AMAZING but i am me and i am violently attached to side characters w like, zero background all the time it's a problem and it annoys me to no end. but when i was 13 i kinda latched onto those two just because they were so .. side character-y. and full disclosure because i could ship them. because i had to do SOMETHING when i was 13. "i don't like romance" you little fool you LOVED shipping characters
im going to be so for real the awkward teenage drama that is Ingrid and those two is. Bro you've gotta be kidding me. i mean ofc there had to be drama of some sort but help it is SO AWKWARD jsfw;qotuwtoujl;avksdgjw wuiejeeeeeeeeee it is barely there but also it is very there especially when it's just starkly like. well N likes G and G and I were once really close and N particularly hates I et cetera HELP! it is simultaneously funny adn also just.... i have got to stop talking i am really stupid and have no words lol. anyway i get the purpose of it but also i'm just mad because there's no actual resolution to any of these characters aside from H&C and all of it seems redundant and pointless by the end of TSL simply bc we just dont know anything about them. it sorta does add a flavor of "well. these are teens, after all" which is fine and normal and kind of interesting actually but just the way Ingrid is a PLOT POINT and really nothing more (freeing G in bk1? acting as the Lostling foil to Joshua? The Traitor(tm) of the Wardens? she just serves to further the plot and add a bit of Spice into certain scenes) and then N also becoming one in bk4. And then Gabriel literally is just. He's held apart from them in the first place, anyway. His role is - well, his namesake, Gabriel, the guardian angel. He plays the part of the far too responsible one (aintnoway bro is 17), burdened w/ the staff and information and everythin else and always there all the time bc he has to be bc of the humour and sticking it through everything and it really geniunely does feel like he simply isnt in the drama at all even tho it technically centers on him LMAOO also as i said, almost backstory-less. Neptune has ~some~ as a legacy (ayo her dad throwing her off the building is c r a z y) but G has ZERO BACKSTORY quite literally none even Brian has more helppp??? epitome of w great power comes great responsibility but absolutely not a SHRED of backstory. whered he come from how'd he go through the Find et cetera all teh usual questions and then also just what in the absolute heck man. and yea, sure, Ingrid's a Lostling who turned who held no particular liking for anything except Gabriel apparently (lmao) but that doesn't really... sigh. oh well. did she evn know about the existence of Brian?? when did she turn? how long was she with the Wardens? how long with the Riven? it sounde like it must've been more recent eh? but also sometimes it feels like it wasn't. meister said he played a part in creating a Lsotling - was it her? her tan'ji would've been super useful for them, and now it's working against them. i also want to know more about her tan'ji - it's one of the only ones never named. even Dr Jericho's Raka has a name. she has to have a spitestone in the warren, but they also take her straight into it - what's going on there i wonder. also i wonder what her color is idk what category the flute would fit into aaaa. what even truly caused her to turn? it must've been bc the riven are trying to save the mothergates bc she does talk about it, but also it has to run deeper than that - "better a riven nest of brimstone than one night in a tinker prison stinking of surrender" girliepop WHAT!!! you are SEVENTEEN!!!!!! what in the HECK HAPPENED??
also i wonder why Mrs Hapstead is Mrs
also i wonder so much about Meister. mysterious to the end. egads.
i am just insatiably curious and spoiled on tolkien so it becomes a real problem when i read other books because i just want to Know Everything and obviously that is impossible. but oh man if it WERE! aaaa
lmaoofsooooo the scene of Neptune and Joshua has been unforgotten by me for all tihs time because the first time i read it i went so red in the face (partly from laughter) my dad asked me if i was ok. i was not ok at all. it is AWESOME i LOVE their interactions there lolll tfw you're 15 and trying to help this precocious 8 year old out but you don't really know how and he out of nowhere accuses you of having a crush on your friend. so yea. but also those two, in that brief scene, was simply just enjoyable. not really in the same way A & G work together, but kinda like .. both are odd and sorta lost and awkward somehow. love that scene sm. FINALLY some neptune personality esp as she promptly gets shanked the next book pretty much.
(the parallel that is "We are all fond of Gabriel, aren't we?" and "Everybody likes Zeke" from 100 Cupboards is genuinely making me laugh. btw. hello mg novels i love you so much)
--
Jan 2018: AGHHHH <3333
*probably will write a real review later*
i freaking love adjectives. it is very apparent.
once again 5* rating left almost six years ago and will remain untouched. bc i feel insane about this book. of course.
if i had one question answered about this entire series, it would simply be WHO IS BECK? that's all.
okay. i dont know what i meant to begin this with, but..
oh holy crap okay i guess that about sums it up. I don't have a SINGLE COHERENT THOUGHT about this book and it is going to SHOW so badly here. also i need sleep.
i'd forgotten how utterly INSANE this book is. i remembered it being the "hey help what is going on" book with all the cool fight scenes involving time and space but i'd forgotten SO MUCH. oh man OH MAN OH MAN.
my notes look completely unreadable for this one. as they should be.
JUST- OKAY. okayokayokay
ISABEL. i want to THROW HANDS WITH HER. so badly. as does everybody apparently lol. well, she got her comeuppance. help that was all so insane.
SANGUINE HALL. the sa'halvasa are so cool TOO BAD they didn't WORK MEISTER SIDEEYE
joshua and the laithe!! oh man i love joshua. he is so special this eight year old with the weight of the world almost literally. LOVE him. poor kid. the laithe is epic and awesome ayieee the rabbit <33
huge fan of Jessica Andrews she carries all of this somehow.
everything just coming to light is wild. because of course secrets must come to light, but .. oh man.. there is so much going on in the middle of unstopping fight scenes. the timeline in these books is geniunely impossible to me because of course horace is lookding forwrda all the itme but at the same time literally only a couple days have passed - what! !!!! love the fihght scenes eheheh i dont care if the multiple POVS are redundant, they're COOL!!!
brian and tunraden !!! !!!!! a YEAR in the find??? without talking to anyone? man i really want to hear more about that lolll also how'd he get to the mothergates w Tunraden without the Laithe back then?
gotta love the animal love in these books im such a huge fan of it.. arthur and baron and loki especially of course.
H&C&A popped off this book of course they would but AYOO !! esp with the breach fixed Horace was so cool and Chloe is unstoppable as always and April finding herself because she had to in order to deal w Isabel and Joshua - ! i appreciate them more everytime i come back to these books. is chloe super snarky and randomly over the top about it? yes? do i still love her? absolutely. meanwhile H is jus trying to science everything out of curiosity. amazing. and then April's new level sensibility coming into the mix is really funny.
on that note the April & Isabel & Gabriel bits get me everytime. man what even is going on the way a couple of teenagers are far more mature than a mother of two (questionably)... yeah. A &G really do work together SO well i love their dynamic esp when he stayed back for her like yea!! ofc he would! and then their collective ???about Isabel. they are cool.
freakin love Ka'hokia yeeheeeeee Goth en'Sethra is crazy and fusion is utterly maniacal but super cool the Altari are epic (ngl i always think of the pokemon altaria when i read altari) always been a huge fan of Dailen (:() and Teokas and Ravana and Go'nesh are neat and Brula is dubious but FALO SHOWIN UP!! forgot she even DID that lolol it's been so long. the Ro'ha was awesome too. i just really love learning about tan'ji and their powers. this magic system has been rotating in my head for almost six years man i am allowed to be insane about it.
HATE AUDITORS TO NO END!!! die die die die die
the destruction of the Warren gets me. it is So Sad and ad;sgkljwgqowq;gkjdag <- tired keyboard slam. thinking about it too hard just makes me sadder bc all those lost and destroyed tanu... aaaaa.... everything lost in what was supposed to be an impenetrable fortress..ksjfd;fs;ajkdgj also just all the Wardens in thise scenes :( joshua :(
ravids are cool love how they jus randomly show up out of nowhere
(i had many thoughts about the purpose of this series being middle grade and i mean yeah i get it but also there's a part of me that thinks it would've worked just as a YA series too simply if it would have made the characters more real somehow. sanders can certainly write adults in my 19 year oldopinion which is probably not very useful)
sigh
okay. here is the bulk of my actual insanity about this book: NEPTUNE AND GABRIEL!!! I really do love the main characters they're AMAZING but i am me and i am violently attached to side characters w like, zero background all the time it's a problem and it annoys me to no end. but when i was 13 i kinda latched onto those two just because they were so .. side character-y. and full disclosure because i could ship them. because i had to do SOMETHING when i was 13. "i don't like romance" you little fool you LOVED shipping characters
im going to be so for real the awkward teenage drama that is Ingrid and those two is. Bro you've gotta be kidding me. i mean ofc there had to be drama of some sort but help it is SO AWKWARD jsfw;qotuwtoujl;avksdgjw wuiejeeeeeeeeee it is barely there but also it is very there especially when it's just starkly like. well N likes G and G and I were once really close and N particularly hates I et cetera HELP! it is simultaneously funny adn also just.... i have got to stop talking i am really stupid and have no words lol. anyway i get the purpose of it but also i'm just mad because there's no actual resolution to any of these characters aside from H&C and all of it seems redundant and pointless by the end of TSL simply bc we just dont know anything about them. it sorta does add a flavor of "well. these are teens, after all" which is fine and normal and kind of interesting actually but just the way Ingrid is a PLOT POINT and really nothing more (freeing G in bk1? acting as the Lostling foil to Joshua? The Traitor(tm) of the Wardens? she just serves to further the plot and add a bit of Spice into certain scenes) and then N also becoming one in bk4. And then Gabriel literally is just. He's held apart from them in the first place, anyway. His role is - well, his namesake, Gabriel, the guardian angel. He plays the part of the far too responsible one (aintnoway bro is 17), burdened w/ the staff and information and everythin else and always there all the time bc he has to be bc of the humour and sticking it through everything and it really geniunely does feel like he simply isnt in the drama at all even tho it technically centers on him LMAOO also as i said, almost backstory-less. Neptune has ~some~ as a legacy (ayo her dad throwing her off the building is c r a z y) but G has ZERO BACKSTORY quite literally none even Brian has more helppp??? epitome of w great power comes great responsibility but absolutely not a SHRED of backstory. whered he come from how'd he go through the Find et cetera all teh usual questions and then also just what in the absolute heck man. and yea, sure, Ingrid's a Lostling who turned who held no particular liking for anything except Gabriel apparently (lmao) but that doesn't really... sigh. oh well. did she evn know about the existence of Brian?? when did she turn? how long was she with the Wardens? how long with the Riven? it sounde like it must've been more recent eh? but also sometimes it feels like it wasn't. meister said he played a part in creating a Lsotling - was it her? her tan'ji would've been super useful for them, and now it's working against them. i also want to know more about her tan'ji - it's one of the only ones never named. even Dr Jericho's Raka has a name. she has to have a spitestone in the warren, but they also take her straight into it - what's going on there i wonder. also i wonder what her color is idk what category the flute would fit into aaaa. what even truly caused her to turn? it must've been bc the riven are trying to save the mothergates bc she does talk about it, but also it has to run deeper than that - "better a riven nest of brimstone than one night in a tinker prison stinking of surrender" girliepop WHAT!!! you are SEVENTEEN!!!!!! what in the HECK HAPPENED??
also i wonder why Mrs Hapstead is Mrs
also i wonder so much about Meister. mysterious to the end. egads.
i am just insatiably curious and spoiled on tolkien so it becomes a real problem when i read other books because i just want to Know Everything and obviously that is impossible. but oh man if it WERE! aaaa
lmaoofsooooo the scene of Neptune and Joshua has been unforgotten by me for all tihs time because the first time i read it i went so red in the face (partly from laughter) my dad asked me if i was ok. i was not ok at all. it is AWESOME i LOVE their interactions there lolll tfw you're 15 and trying to help this precocious 8 year old out but you don't really know how and he out of nowhere accuses you of having a crush on your friend. so yea. but also those two, in that brief scene, was simply just enjoyable. not really in the same way A & G work together, but kinda like .. both are odd and sorta lost and awkward somehow. love that scene sm. FINALLY some neptune personality esp as she promptly gets shanked the next book pretty much.
(the parallel that is "We are all fond of Gabriel, aren't we?" and "Everybody likes Zeke" from 100 Cupboards is genuinely making me laugh. btw. hello mg novels i love you so much)
--
Jan 2018: AGHHHH <3333
*probably will write a real review later*
August 7, 2020
4 star book, but 5 star ending scenes.
Overall not as great as the first two but close to the end it got wild again: Fusion, the Ro'ha, Paragons, meeting Falo, ISABEL!!, the Mothergates, the final scene in the Warren??!!, Joshua :(, the freaking Altari, honestly just everything was incredible.
Overall not as great as the first two but close to the end it got wild again: Fusion, the Ro'ha, Paragons, meeting Falo, ISABEL!!, the Mothergates, the final scene in the Warren??!!, Joshua :(, the freaking Altari, honestly just everything was incredible.
December 13, 2017
These characters are so much fun! I'm enjoying the journey Sanders is taking us on and the way the magical world seems to get larger and larger with each book. Looking forward to #4.
August 28, 2024
Wow, amazing! The evolution of this series has been so exciting. I just didn't learning how the nevren were created. That was pretty horrifying. 4.5 stars
Want to read
August 6, 2017Wow. Two books from my most favorite series are coming out in September! Next month will be a fun one! :D
September 14, 2021
This book series is just getting BETTER AND BETTER AND MORE INTENSE the more I read but I am literally CRAVING the books when I don't read them and I think about them all the time when I am not reading them it's amazing and insane. This book series is one of the best I have ever read and I love it so much I am not ready for it to end.
This book itself is FRICKING CRAZY. First off we have so much family drama and long held secrets that I just can't even begin to explain how amazing they are like Isabel being Chloe's mom, all of the drama of her coming back and leading the Riven to them MORE than once. I loved April and her new found powers and how well she uses them in the fight scenes and how attuned she has become. I love that we get more glimpses of the other characters, their powers, and how well attuned they are as well. It's awesome we get to see Gabriel practicing in the Warren before they eventually have to go fight the Riven. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that Joshua was forced into picking his instrument and his instrument forced into picking him and the "lostling" drama that ensues. I think it was an amazing plot twist I didn't expect but should have with Isabel's character. However, I loved the growth she was showing before we saw her last in this book. I enjoy the more we learn about the Riven as well as Dr. Jericho it was shocking and amazing and I love the introduction of the Ravid. I think they are incredibly creepy but also really cool to add to the universe. I AM BEYOND IN LOVE with the Altari and Dailen and his introduction I think it was perfect. I also am absolutely DUMBFOUNDED that Horace was never supposed to connect with his instrument as it was supposed to have been destroyed. I think that really was amazing and I loved that the Altari came for Joshua because of his forced entering into The Find and found Horace and Chloe fighting the riven and the golem. It was amazing and I LOVED when they got to Ka'hoka and the Council wanted to witness their powers and how well they can use them etc. it was amazing and I loved the scene with Chloe in particular wowing everyone and shutting Brula up lol. I also was in love with Horace for getting the hold of grounding himself so well and being able to use his powers with the box so effectively to see Brula drinking the water and writing the sarcastic note in the dirt that was amazing!!!! I also fricking LOVED Jessica (Horace's mom) being introduced and brought back to the Warren and the Warden and going along with the rest of them to Ka'hoka and seeing Si'falo Teneves again it was so wholesome and lovely and I love Brian escaping the Warren to try to fix Isabel and make her Tanji with her Harp it was so wholesome and sweet and when he finally stepped back outside his reaction was heartwarming. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this book so much they keep getting better and better each one I read and I am beyond sad I am starting the last one :( But eternally grateful I found the books after they all came out so I can binge read them lmfao.
This book itself is FRICKING CRAZY. First off we have so much family drama and long held secrets that I just can't even begin to explain how amazing they are like Isabel being Chloe's mom, all of the drama of her coming back and leading the Riven to them MORE than once. I loved April and her new found powers and how well she uses them in the fight scenes and how attuned she has become. I love that we get more glimpses of the other characters, their powers, and how well attuned they are as well. It's awesome we get to see Gabriel practicing in the Warren before they eventually have to go fight the Riven. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that Joshua was forced into picking his instrument and his instrument forced into picking him and the "lostling" drama that ensues. I think it was an amazing plot twist I didn't expect but should have with Isabel's character. However, I loved the growth she was showing before we saw her last in this book. I enjoy the more we learn about the Riven as well as Dr. Jericho it was shocking and amazing and I love the introduction of the Ravid. I think they are incredibly creepy but also really cool to add to the universe. I AM BEYOND IN LOVE with the Altari and Dailen and his introduction I think it was perfect. I also am absolutely DUMBFOUNDED that Horace was never supposed to connect with his instrument as it was supposed to have been destroyed. I think that really was amazing and I loved that the Altari came for Joshua because of his forced entering into The Find and found Horace and Chloe fighting the riven and the golem. It was amazing and I LOVED when they got to Ka'hoka and the Council wanted to witness their powers and how well they can use them etc. it was amazing and I loved the scene with Chloe in particular wowing everyone and shutting Brula up lol. I also was in love with Horace for getting the hold of grounding himself so well and being able to use his powers with the box so effectively to see Brula drinking the water and writing the sarcastic note in the dirt that was amazing!!!! I also fricking LOVED Jessica (Horace's mom) being introduced and brought back to the Warren and the Warden and going along with the rest of them to Ka'hoka and seeing Si'falo Teneves again it was so wholesome and lovely and I love Brian escaping the Warren to try to fix Isabel and make her Tanji with her Harp it was so wholesome and sweet and when he finally stepped back outside his reaction was heartwarming. I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE this book so much they keep getting better and better each one I read and I am beyond sad I am starting the last one :( But eternally grateful I found the books after they all came out so I can binge read them lmfao.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2021
Guys, if ur reading this review to see if the book is good, then, don't read this book...1st read 'The box and the Dragonfly' then 'The Harp and the Ravenvine', and THEN read this book, or else you won't get the book's storyline.
I absolutely LOVE how the author weaves the story from book 1 to book 2 to book 3 and book 4, but since I have just started reading book 4 (-The Starlit Loom-), so I'm writing the review on the 3rd book, so...
I read all books all in order because, well...I wanna understand the books.
I got book 1 at a bookstore but when I started reading the book I couldn't stop and when it ended in a cliff-hanger I always wondered what she meant, I looked up on amazon and the sequel was the and the next AND THE NEXT!!🤯🤯
So after months of begging my parents to get book 2, I finally got it from amazon, but I realized I was about to finish the book in 2 days so I REALLY controlled myself and finished it in 4 days🤣
After that was done, for Christmas I asked for book 3&4, which came a week or 2 ago and I'm already starting to book 4 and I'll write a review on that too.
Onto the actual review:
The thing I like most about the book is the friendship between Horace & Chloe and it's just beautiful how Sanders shows it throughout the book or actually throughout all the books.
Another thing I am really surprised about is how he comes up with terms and the terms are mysteriously hidden with other terms but when they are revealed to the story the terms are looped, interconnected with each other terms.
And back to Horace and Chloe, in the book1 I wondered if they both are such good friends why don't they have a secret greeting or something like that?
well, book 2 solved that question, they do have a secret greeting.
book 3&4 show how they both trusted each other and what they would do to help each other.
Even in the 1st chapter of the book4 in Chloe's thoughts, she said she trusted Horace with all her life, (which can be seen on multiple occasions in the series) and trusted Horace more than herself.
I could tell the same for Horace but for that, I have to read till the conclusion of book 4 which unfortunately is the last book :(
I think more people should read this series and comment on it:
1: Because it's a Great Fantastic ABSOLUTELY Fantastic series.
2: Because I like to read what other people think about the series.
And also partly because all my family members just stare at me confused, because I am so so so so so so so so hyped about the series and blabber about it almost all the time.
Overall ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTICALLY FANTASTIC SUPERB series.
Deserves a 5 star rating.
I absolutely LOVE how the author weaves the story from book 1 to book 2 to book 3 and book 4, but since I have just started reading book 4 (-The Starlit Loom-), so I'm writing the review on the 3rd book, so...
I read all books all in order because, well...I wanna understand the books.
I got book 1 at a bookstore but when I started reading the book I couldn't stop and when it ended in a cliff-hanger I always wondered what she meant, I looked up on amazon and the sequel was the and the next AND THE NEXT!!🤯🤯
So after months of begging my parents to get book 2, I finally got it from amazon, but I realized I was about to finish the book in 2 days so I REALLY controlled myself and finished it in 4 days🤣
After that was done, for Christmas I asked for book 3&4, which came a week or 2 ago and I'm already starting to book 4 and I'll write a review on that too.
Onto the actual review:
The thing I like most about the book is the friendship between Horace & Chloe and it's just beautiful how Sanders shows it throughout the book or actually throughout all the books.
Another thing I am really surprised about is how he comes up with terms and the terms are mysteriously hidden with other terms but when they are revealed to the story the terms are looped, interconnected with each other terms.
And back to Horace and Chloe, in the book1 I wondered if they both are such good friends why don't they have a secret greeting or something like that?
well, book 2 solved that question, they do have a secret greeting.
book 3&4 show how they both trusted each other and what they would do to help each other.
Even in the 1st chapter of the book4 in Chloe's thoughts, she said she trusted Horace with all her life, (which can be seen on multiple occasions in the series) and trusted Horace more than herself.
I could tell the same for Horace but for that, I have to read till the conclusion of book 4 which unfortunately is the last book :(
I think more people should read this series and comment on it:
1: Because it's a Great Fantastic ABSOLUTELY Fantastic series.
2: Because I like to read what other people think about the series.
And also partly because all my family members just stare at me confused, because I am so so so so so so so so hyped about the series and blabber about it almost all the time.
Overall ABSOLUTLEY FANTASTICALLY FANTASTIC SUPERB series.
Deserves a 5 star rating.
November 12, 2017
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway...
...and I'm so glad I did. Since I only won the third book in this series, I decided I would have to read the first two as well. I put off reading the series for a few days, since middle-grade fiction doesn't appeal to me as much anymore, but I would highly recommend this series and wish this had been around when I was younger.
The pacing, plot, and structure of this and the previous two books are amazing. I'm honestly impressed. Everything flowed together without feeling too cut short or overly drawn out. There is a unique cast of (many) characters that are all memorable and there's no way to mix them up (which gets harder with a larger cast).
One of the problems I had with this series is that sometimes it feels like some moments are especially infuriating (because character development or whatever), but others may like that sort of thing, because how else would a book move along?
I like how the magic (?) in this book is based in science, which encourages curiosity. I like how there are illustrated pages at every major section of the book-- just the right amount to form a starting point for what the characters/settings might look like, but not enough to force you to imagine it a specific way.
I was hoping this would just be a trilogy since I hate waiting, but I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series.
...and I'm so glad I did. Since I only won the third book in this series, I decided I would have to read the first two as well. I put off reading the series for a few days, since middle-grade fiction doesn't appeal to me as much anymore, but I would highly recommend this series and wish this had been around when I was younger.
The pacing, plot, and structure of this and the previous two books are amazing. I'm honestly impressed. Everything flowed together without feeling too cut short or overly drawn out. There is a unique cast of (many) characters that are all memorable and there's no way to mix them up (which gets harder with a larger cast).
One of the problems I had with this series is that sometimes it feels like some moments are especially infuriating (because character development or whatever), but others may like that sort of thing, because how else would a book move along?
I like how the magic (?) in this book is based in science, which encourages curiosity. I like how there are illustrated pages at every major section of the book-- just the right amount to form a starting point for what the characters/settings might look like, but not enough to force you to imagine it a specific way.
I was hoping this would just be a trilogy since I hate waiting, but I'll definitely be reading the rest of this series.
November 19, 2018
Wow. This book was absolutely riveting – so much happens within its covers. Between the nonstop action and the characters discovering answers to their questions about themselves, this book is an absolute powerhouse. It hits you like a steamroller going well over its normal speed capacity. Everything just fits together so cleanly, the plot never feeling forced a bit as everything goes incredibly wrong for the characters at frightening speeds. An interesting factor was that we are following several groups of characters at different locations at the same time. This can be tricky sometimes. It can be hard to follow if done inadequately- but Sanders is everything but inadequate.The book is one of the best ones I’ve read in a while. Sanders is a master of his craft, able to keep readers hanging onto his every word while he is in the midst of continuously dashing their hope against dangerously large pillars hanging over a cliff with rapidly moving water and sharp rocks waiting below it. He’s that good – trust me. Sanders has a clear writing style that I wish to be able to emulate some day. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series! Please note I received a free review copy of this book.
October 1, 2017
I couldn't wait to get my hands on the third book in The Keepers series and The Portal and the Veil doesn't disappoint.
Sanders continues to masterfully weave a story so realistic that you feel like you know Horace and Chloe and you're a keeper yourself.
Book three picks up right where book two left off. Sometimes when a book picks up exactly where the last book left off it never gains traction and feels like a continuation more than its own book, but The Portal and the Veil doesn't feel merely like a continuation of events. It feels like its own tale and Sanders does a great job of reminding readers of what happened previously without doing info dumps.
All in all The Portal and the Veil was everything I didn't realize I wanted a third book to be. And the ending. . .you'll never see it coming.
Sanders continues to masterfully weave a story so realistic that you feel like you know Horace and Chloe and you're a keeper yourself.
Book three picks up right where book two left off. Sometimes when a book picks up exactly where the last book left off it never gains traction and feels like a continuation more than its own book, but The Portal and the Veil doesn't feel merely like a continuation of events. It feels like its own tale and Sanders does a great job of reminding readers of what happened previously without doing info dumps.
All in all The Portal and the Veil was everything I didn't realize I wanted a third book to be. And the ending. . .you'll never see it coming.
March 22, 2018
An intoxicating read, as always with the Keepers series. Ted Sanders has an incredibly unique voice that never fails to capture my attention. A lot more religious imagery in this particular book, however. I am never entirely sure how I feel about Christian imagery and allusions being used in decidedly non-Christian books, as well as references to "The Universe", which have become quite annoying due to their popularity in sit-coms. Anyway, fellow Christians, just be wary, and be prepared to possibly be minorly annoyed.
Minor spoiler...
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I just had to vent a little: I am very upset at the cliffhanger ending! Now I have to wait nearly a year before learning how this plays out!
Minor spoiler...
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I just had to vent a little: I am very upset at the cliffhanger ending! Now I have to wait nearly a year before learning how this plays out!
June 4, 2018
I've always admired Sanders' series for its level of intelligence and originality. I think this is the least impressive book of the Keepers so far. The novel suffers from some flat or confusing characters (i.e., Isabel and Joshua) and the plot does not really contribute to the overall narrative of the series because of its episodic nature and its cliffhanger ending. I still like the series overall, though.
February 14, 2021
This book was the easiest to get into in the beginning out of all the other books in this series I've read so far. It was also probably the most exciting. I found the middle part of the book to be more interesting than the climax, but that's just because I really liked seeing everything happen all at once in all the different perspectives. A lot of new things were introduced, just like in the other books. I am super excited to read book 4, especially after that ending.
April 12, 2020
This series keeps getting better. The characters continue to grow as multi-faceted people that I connect with more with each book. The secret history of the world gets more surprising and logically thought out (and little hints in the first book are being revealed). I'm excited for the last book in the series.
February 28, 2023
Much as I enjoyed this, dare I say that it was just a touch too much like The Harp and the Ravenvine in places. It does add much to the mythology and backstory of the series, though. The ending felt a little contrived, but I'm still looking forward to reading the final installment.
June 18, 2023
I’m really enjoying this series. The ending on this one confused me, but I think the author did that on purpose to build up the desire to read the next book. I’m excited to read the next one and find out how the series ends. :)
October 20, 2017
Not done with it yes; it is a read-aloud, but it is already living up to expectations.
November 21, 2017
Can't wait for next book!!!!
August 13, 2018
Much better than both books that preceded it! Sanders is really growing as an author. love it!
October 18, 2018
Falo, making yet another dramatic entrance: Fuck you, Brula.
Everyone else: not this shit again.
Everyone else: not this shit again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2020
It was a good children's book. My children, ages 15, 13, 11, and 9, really enjoyed it. Recommended for ages 9 and up, simply for the comprehension level.
April 29, 2020
4.5/5 stars!!!
November 2, 2022
A great, book but for me it's purpose is passage for the final series of the story
did-not-finish-or-start
October 30, 2023DNS 10/30/23
July 22, 2024
3.25 stars
December 6, 2024
FINALLY I FINISHED IT AND WHAT IS GOING ON I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING
JOSHUA???????????
sanders PLEASE we are all fond of gabriel aren't we
JOSHUA???????????
sanders PLEASE we are all fond of gabriel aren't we
January 27, 2022
suddenly the whole world is turned on its head again. once more, Ted Sanders takes a different path than we expected with a doozy of a plot twist and we're off again. it's so fun to watch things unfold through the eyes of different characters, each with very distinct opinions and attitudes. Ensemble casts are popular and everyone likes to tell stories from different POVs now, but not everyone does it as well as Ted Sanders. I particularly loved being able to put myself in the position of Horace's mom.
December 2, 2024
I was SO impressed with the first two books, I didn't think anything could top them. But boy, was I wrong! This book, the Portal and the Veil is SO DARN GOOD. DEFINITELY at the top of my favorites list. Ted Sanders does such a good job portraying the characters and letting them grow. It's all so realistic. The reader feels like they themselves are literally written into the story. Like they are there with the characters. Can't wait for the fourth book!
January 29, 2023
Hvyftdrsfuvy I love this series so much 💕
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