What do you think?
Mesmerian Annals #1
The Dark Green Tunnel
Guided by a huge owl, Barnaby, his twin sister Lara, and their cousin William explore the Florida Everglades and discover a magical world of wizards, kings, queens, and unusual creatures
216 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
About the author
Allan W. Eckert
86 books326 followersAllan W. Eckert was an American historian, historical novelist, and naturalist.
Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended college. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous books for children and adults. His children's novel, Incident at Hawk's Hill, was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1972. One of his novels tells how the great auk went extinct.
In addition to his novels, he also wrote several unproduced screenplays and more than 225 Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television shows for which he received an Emmy Award.
In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."
Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011, in Corona, California, at the age of 80.
Eckert was born in Buffalo, New York, and raised in the Chicago, Illinois area, but had been a long-time resident of Bellefontaine, Ohio, near where he attended college. As a young man, he hitch-hiked around the United States, living off the land and learning about wildlife. He began writing about nature and American history at the age of thirteen, eventually becoming an author of numerous books for children and adults. His children's novel, Incident at Hawk's Hill, was a runner-up for the Newbery Medal in 1972. One of his novels tells how the great auk went extinct.
In addition to his novels, he also wrote several unproduced screenplays and more than 225 Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom television shows for which he received an Emmy Award.
In a 1999 poll conducted by the Ohioana Library Association, jointly with Toni Morrison, Allan W. Eckert was voted "Favorite Ohio Writer of All Time."
Eckert died in his sleep on July 7, 2011, in Corona, California, at the age of 80.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 6, 2009
Artificial and rather sterile children's fantasy by a Floridean who read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe too many times.
August 3, 2024
This book was my introduction to the fantasy genre, and the sequel (The Wand) was my introduction to the deep disappointment of a series that gets cut off too soon! I actually emailed with the author in 2005 or so begging to know what happens next, but, of course, he kindly declined to say and shared that he, too, was annoyed that his publisher had cut off the series. (Allen W Eckert wrote lots and lots of books/series that feature the natural world and was pigeonholed into that category)
The book is set in the Everglades, where a brother/sister twin set, along with their cousin, are mysteriously transported to a parallel world where things are very different from our world. They discover political intrigue and are forced to take part in its resolution (how’s that for a non-spoiler-vague description? Haha). The world building in this short series is as amazing as you might expect from an author whose primary genre heavily features the natural world (he even wrote a few hundred episodes of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom series).
It is very definitely a children’s book, and as with every children’s fantasy, it gets lumped in with Narnia. I don’t find that to necessarily be a helpful comparison given the broadness of the category (Narnia may be OG, but its heavy-handed religiosity makes it far from the best of its kind, IMO), but nonetheless, it is a fantasy where children are mysteriously transported to a new world and then play a role in resolving the conflicts found there— parallels are obvious. And with the modern interest in YA fantasy as a category, you have to be careful to not expect the same kind of depth/maturity/nuance in a book published for children in 1982 as you would in modern fantasy series published 40 years later. In spite of that, it’s still worth a read, and is a great candidate for teacher-read-aloud for grades 4-7.
The book is set in the Everglades, where a brother/sister twin set, along with their cousin, are mysteriously transported to a parallel world where things are very different from our world. They discover political intrigue and are forced to take part in its resolution (how’s that for a non-spoiler-vague description? Haha). The world building in this short series is as amazing as you might expect from an author whose primary genre heavily features the natural world (he even wrote a few hundred episodes of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom series).
It is very definitely a children’s book, and as with every children’s fantasy, it gets lumped in with Narnia. I don’t find that to necessarily be a helpful comparison given the broadness of the category (Narnia may be OG, but its heavy-handed religiosity makes it far from the best of its kind, IMO), but nonetheless, it is a fantasy where children are mysteriously transported to a new world and then play a role in resolving the conflicts found there— parallels are obvious. And with the modern interest in YA fantasy as a category, you have to be careful to not expect the same kind of depth/maturity/nuance in a book published for children in 1982 as you would in modern fantasy series published 40 years later. In spite of that, it’s still worth a read, and is a great candidate for teacher-read-aloud for grades 4-7.
January 10, 2026
This story introduces readers to William and his twin cousins, Lara and Barnaby. The cousins are visiting William's family in Florida for a month.
One ay, Willaim takes the twins on an excursion into the Everglades in his motorboat. The twins are somewhat frightened of the dark swamp, until Lara suddenly spies an owl, who seems to be directing them towards a tunnel. Willaim steers the boat down a long, dark tunnel, which ends at a pool with a tiny beach on which stands an ordinary turnstile. The children soon discover that the turnstile is an entrance into a land called "Mesmeria" or "Brightland," where the sun always shines. Unwillingly, the children are drawn into a war between the evil ruler King Thorkin and Mag Namodder, the beneficent ruler of an underground country known as Twilandia.
In a surprise twist, the twins find out that they were actually born in Twilandia, and their mother had excaped with them when they were babies at the time when King Thorkin first usurped rule in Mesmeria. The twins are therefore the true heirs to the throne of Mesmeria. In a final great battle, the forces of King Thorkin are defeated, and the King dies when he sees his evil nature reflected in Lara's pocket mirror. Lara, Barnaby, and William remain in Mesmeria for many years. When they eventually return to Florida, they find to their amazement that no time has passed in this world.
The story is exciting and suspenseful ahd wil keep readers turning the pages until the end.
One ay, Willaim takes the twins on an excursion into the Everglades in his motorboat. The twins are somewhat frightened of the dark swamp, until Lara suddenly spies an owl, who seems to be directing them towards a tunnel. Willaim steers the boat down a long, dark tunnel, which ends at a pool with a tiny beach on which stands an ordinary turnstile. The children soon discover that the turnstile is an entrance into a land called "Mesmeria" or "Brightland," where the sun always shines. Unwillingly, the children are drawn into a war between the evil ruler King Thorkin and Mag Namodder, the beneficent ruler of an underground country known as Twilandia.
In a surprise twist, the twins find out that they were actually born in Twilandia, and their mother had excaped with them when they were babies at the time when King Thorkin first usurped rule in Mesmeria. The twins are therefore the true heirs to the throne of Mesmeria. In a final great battle, the forces of King Thorkin are defeated, and the King dies when he sees his evil nature reflected in Lara's pocket mirror. Lara, Barnaby, and William remain in Mesmeria for many years. When they eventually return to Florida, they find to their amazement that no time has passed in this world.
The story is exciting and suspenseful ahd wil keep readers turning the pages until the end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 16, 2018
Billed as a tale in the vein of Chronicles of Narnia, and dedicated to CS Lewis. Nice story, but not on the scale of Narnia. Some lovely color plates to illustrate it, though.
September 3, 2019
I probably decided to read this after having read and enjoyed another novel by Eckert called "The Crossbreed." My journal from 1985 says "I liked it."
September 2, 2020
One of my favorite books when I was a young adult.
August 9, 2012
so this was not good. i'm not even going to bother talking about the book. what i WILL say is how wonderful that tiny, little thrill was when i saw and half-barely remembered the cover. i didn't remember anything about the book itself (and didn't remember anything while reading it either), but when i saw the cover it triggered a brief flash of discovering something magical. what i don't know is if i was REMEMBERING the thrill from when i saw/read the book years and years ago (4th grade is when luke read it, so i'm guessing it was then for me too) or if the thrill came from the remembering of something soooooo long forgotten. luke and i youtubed the 80's commercials for Big Red and Doublemint Gum last night (my new toothpaste reminds me of Big Red, as if that makes this anymore relevant to my Dark Green Tunnel review) and watching them was SHEER DELIGHT. "A double pleasure's waiting for you! A double pleasure with Doublemint Gum!"
March 18, 2015
a reread of a young adult fantasy book. My 6th grade teacher read this (and its sequel) aloud to us and we were all rapt. Something made me think about it and track it down. Very similar to the Narnia/ CS Lewis books, but nowhere near as well written. Sad to say, but it doesn't really work to read as an adult, as it is too formulaic and superficial. (Unlike CS Lewis who writes for all ages). I'm still going to reread the sequel too.
December 17, 2015
Great book that my parents read to me when I was younger. I remember reading it a bit when I was in 5th grade as well. I always thought it was weird how they were grown-up in the world they went to but then came back and were kids again.
When you're young, things like that are magical. I remember the wonderful full-page color images in this book too. For someone that didn't have cable TV, that was pretty cool.
When you're young, things like that are magical. I remember the wonderful full-page color images in this book too. For someone that didn't have cable TV, that was pretty cool.
July 26, 2010
Mom read this to us when we were kids. Had to check it out when I saw it at the library. But you need to find the out-of-print version at libraries because the ones do not have the pictures in them.
Read
January 22, 2010not in the ccpl system - got it from toledo
owen enjoyed - has memorized the spell names and uses them in his "wizard" duels w/ friends
owen enjoyed - has memorized the spell names and uses them in his "wizard" duels w/ friends
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews