Reviews - Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

353 reviews for:

Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King

This was incredibly male-dominated. There were two named female characters, the purpose of one being to seduce evil men with wealth (mr. joyce, you okay?), and the other was the child, Katherine. All the other characters, the horse, the kids, the freaking moombeams, were male. There were a few mothers hanging around, and now and then some random little girl would be like "what do we do" or something, but no one else gets a name.
Alarmingly, Katherine was also the token child in this, as she's the only kid who goes on the adventure. This leaves her the unenviable task of being both all females and all children to everyone. There is also the Spectral Boy, but it's later revealed that he is very old, he's just young at heart.
Katherine has a dagger that she never uses. Her primary contribution to this story is that she believes. She shows up just in time to pull the men's sorry asses out of the snow and, uh... that's about it. Then it's back to the self-assured, cocky white guys (there are three) to save the day.
Since Katherine represents both female and child, it's really hard to tell if this is a commentary on the uselessness of women or children.

I really love these books. I do. They're imaginative, beautiful, and engaging. I just wish that, in a story about children facing their deepest fears, they didn't have to rely so heavily on being rescued. I'm all for giving children heroes, I'd just like it to be themselves once in a while. I get tired of waiting for the heroic dude-bro to struggle back to his feet and save the day. It's boring.

But I love these books. I love the mythos of them, I love the fairytale atmosphere. I will definitely read, and probably buy the rest.

blbstorey's review against another edition

4.0

This is a beautiful, old-style sort of children's book, full of whimsy and darkness and fantastical things. Not as much . . . substance to it as I'd hoped, for lack of a better word, but I enjoyed it, and I love the author's art. This is the first in a series of books, I'm about to start the second one.

I did find one thing a bit . . . distressing. Maybe it's because I've been an editor and proofreader for thirty years, but I really was disappointed that this kind of mistake got through the whole publishing process. Twice in this book, the author used a word wrongly: "muslim" when he meant "muslin" and "allusive" (which isn't even a word) when he meant "elusive". It's puzzling enough that a writer wouldn't know they were using a completely wrong word, but that such obvious errors escaped detection throughout the whole editing process? I used to work for Simon & Schuster, once upon a time, and it's sad to think their standards have fallen even this much.

But basically, I loved the book, and look forward to reading the second one!

izzywitchandbooks's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

schottjm's review against another edition

4.0

Quite entertaining. The story is clever, and the illustration (drawn by the author) add a truly artistic layer to the tale. Can't wait to read the next installment!

lilylverick's review against another edition

5.0

I was first introduced to North in Rise of the Guardians (2012, by DreamWorks Animation), but here I met Nicholas St. North, the swashbuckling young warrior, and Bandit King.
All the characters are adorable, the Spectral Boy is my favourite in particular! And discovering Pitch's past, gradually and piece by piece, is wonderful, he is my second favourite character in Rise of the Guardians.
I felt like the words were creating a film in my head, the wording was magical to say the least! I laughed out loud many times and couldn't put it down until I finished the book!
I have now gone straight into reading the Book Two of the Guardians of Childhood! And can't wait to get and read the rest of them!

zombeesknees's review against another edition

5.0

This may just be one of the most charming things I've read in memory. The language and tone is so perfectly fairy tale, I could imagine this being an authentic set of legends passed down from the Brothers Grim, only with much more whimsical flails and details. The story is fun, the characters lovely, and the illustrations are just the final drop of magic to make me truly love this world. I will not be truly happy until the Lunar Lamas and their Yeti Army actually exists, that's all I'm saying.