Fablehaven, and Beyonders are two excellent young adult series. Brandon Mull does a good job of putting his characters in incredible situations and taking the reader for a ride. Five Kingdoms doesn't disappoint. Which similar to the other books in that our main character is experiences a "fish out of water" experience, the world (or worlds) of the five kingdoms gives Mull a chance to really tell different kinds of stories with each book. Here are links to the Audible pages for Sky Raiders, Rogue Knight and Crystal Keepers. They are all ready by Keith Nobbs who does a good job of it.
Plot: Cole is your normal Arizona teenager who likes to hang out with his best friend, Dalton, and has a worked his long time crush, Jenna, into a good friend (but he DOESN'T have a crush on her). Life is normal, but normal lives make boring stories. Halloween night sees them checking out a local haunted house when nightmares become real. Captured by slavers from a strange world called The Outskirts Cole, Dalton, Jenna, and a couple dozen of their classmates are hauled off to a place out of dreams. Their dream, however, is more of a nightmare. The Outskirts consists of five kingdoms, each with its own kind of magic - called shaping, and its own cultures. It turns out that people from our world tend to have extraordinary shaping abilities and the High King has a big interest in collecting those with power. Cole, however, will not meet the High King because he is bought by a representative for the Sky Raiders, a group of wild individuals that scout out and ransack floating sky castles on the edge of the world. The job is dangerous - Seriously. Cole is nearly killed in his first mission and they say it only gets worse from there.
But Cole is not only determined to survive but to find a way to free his friends. While with the sky raiders he learns of the nefarious deeds that the High King perpetrated on member of his own family that enabled him to seize control of the five kingdoms. Cole joins forces with the rebellion in an attempt to help establish a government that will stop the slavery of outsiders and free his friends. As he and his new friends travel the five kingdoms in search of those with the power to challenge the High King they uncover a hidden layer of power that is more threatening then the High King. Along the way Cole catches hints of where his friends may be and despite the challenges he is determined to free them and find a way home.
My personal favorites: Sometimes it's hard to put my finger on exactly what I like about Brandon Mull's books. His characters are good, his world building is fantastic, and his magic if fun. the same can be said of many other authors as well. As I ponder on Mull's writing I come to the conclusion that he is one of the few authors that can really pull off "surprising, yet inevitable." That is, the art of plotting a twist that comes at you sideways but leaves you saying, "I should have seen that coming." I'm never sure what to expect when our heroes come to a tight spot. He writes young adult, but is not afraid to throw more mature concepts and conflicts into his writing, while keeping the books age appropriate. He writes in an unapologetic style, meaning you may not like the ending but your desires are not going to interfere with his story. With that said, I like the direction his stories go and while Beyonders tends to garner the most ire from readers, I personally really liked it.
Considerations: Nothing in the writing itself is questionable or objectionable to young adult readers. Some of the themes of loss, death, being unable to return home, and slavery may be lost on younger readers (older middle grade). The characters don't always act their age - a common issue I have with the vast majority of young adult. But let's face it, an honest portrayal of teenagers would be hard to get through. For evidence I submit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - It took me three tries to get into that one.
Brandon Mull has another great series with Five Kingdoms. I was a little hesitant at first, I think because it sounded too much like Beyonders, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm looking forward to the last two books (Mull has mentioned that there will be five books). The first book was just over 12 and half hours, the 2nd was just over 13 and a half hours, and the third was just over 13 hours.
Plot: Cole is your normal Arizona teenager who likes to hang out with his best friend, Dalton, and has a worked his long time crush, Jenna, into a good friend (but he DOESN'T have a crush on her). Life is normal, but normal lives make boring stories. Halloween night sees them checking out a local haunted house when nightmares become real. Captured by slavers from a strange world called The Outskirts Cole, Dalton, Jenna, and a couple dozen of their classmates are hauled off to a place out of dreams. Their dream, however, is more of a nightmare. The Outskirts consists of five kingdoms, each with its own kind of magic - called shaping, and its own cultures. It turns out that people from our world tend to have extraordinary shaping abilities and the High King has a big interest in collecting those with power. Cole, however, will not meet the High King because he is bought by a representative for the Sky Raiders, a group of wild individuals that scout out and ransack floating sky castles on the edge of the world. The job is dangerous - Seriously. Cole is nearly killed in his first mission and they say it only gets worse from there.
But Cole is not only determined to survive but to find a way to free his friends. While with the sky raiders he learns of the nefarious deeds that the High King perpetrated on member of his own family that enabled him to seize control of the five kingdoms. Cole joins forces with the rebellion in an attempt to help establish a government that will stop the slavery of outsiders and free his friends. As he and his new friends travel the five kingdoms in search of those with the power to challenge the High King they uncover a hidden layer of power that is more threatening then the High King. Along the way Cole catches hints of where his friends may be and despite the challenges he is determined to free them and find a way home.
My personal favorites: Sometimes it's hard to put my finger on exactly what I like about Brandon Mull's books. His characters are good, his world building is fantastic, and his magic if fun. the same can be said of many other authors as well. As I ponder on Mull's writing I come to the conclusion that he is one of the few authors that can really pull off "surprising, yet inevitable." That is, the art of plotting a twist that comes at you sideways but leaves you saying, "I should have seen that coming." I'm never sure what to expect when our heroes come to a tight spot. He writes young adult, but is not afraid to throw more mature concepts and conflicts into his writing, while keeping the books age appropriate. He writes in an unapologetic style, meaning you may not like the ending but your desires are not going to interfere with his story. With that said, I like the direction his stories go and while Beyonders tends to garner the most ire from readers, I personally really liked it.Considerations: Nothing in the writing itself is questionable or objectionable to young adult readers. Some of the themes of loss, death, being unable to return home, and slavery may be lost on younger readers (older middle grade). The characters don't always act their age - a common issue I have with the vast majority of young adult. But let's face it, an honest portrayal of teenagers would be hard to get through. For evidence I submit Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - It took me three tries to get into that one.
Brandon Mull has another great series with Five Kingdoms. I was a little hesitant at first, I think because it sounded too much like Beyonders, but I was pleasantly surprised. I'm looking forward to the last two books (Mull has mentioned that there will be five books). The first book was just over 12 and half hours, the 2nd was just over 13 and a half hours, and the third was just over 13 hours.
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