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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
A great fantasy, 3 kids orphaned in their infancy, expecting their parents to one day return as they are bounced from one disgusting orphanage to another suddenly find themselves thrown into a magical world where they have a great destiny to fulfill.
I was told by a friend to listen to this on audiobook and it turned out to be a great way to hear the story. Jim Dale is the narrator and he is fantastic. I think the narration by Dale really added a lot to the overall story for me. It is one I would recommend as an audiobook.
I'm just gonna post quotes I enjoyed, as I already semi-reviewed this on my blog.
"Miss Sallow shuffled around, banging pots and pans and muttering about various character flaws the children shared with the French royal family."
"Michael had a very low opinion of elves."
"At the word 'trespassing,' there was general harrumphing among the dwarves."
“Hear me knocking the last ten minutes? Thought you’d play a joke on old Sallow? What a laugh you must’ve had! I wasn’t aware I was employed at the Comédie-Française.”
“Miss Sallow—”
“Dr. Pym is below and wishing the pleasure of your company. Will you be making an appearance or should I say their royal highnesses wish to stay in their chamber making bon mots and fa-la-la-ing at an old woman’s expense?”
I love everything Miss Sallow ever said.
"Miss Sallow shuffled around, banging pots and pans and muttering about various character flaws the children shared with the French royal family."
"Michael had a very low opinion of elves."
"At the word 'trespassing,' there was general harrumphing among the dwarves."
“Hear me knocking the last ten minutes? Thought you’d play a joke on old Sallow? What a laugh you must’ve had! I wasn’t aware I was employed at the Comédie-Française.”
“Miss Sallow—”
“Dr. Pym is below and wishing the pleasure of your company. Will you be making an appearance or should I say their royal highnesses wish to stay in their chamber making bon mots and fa-la-la-ing at an old woman’s expense?”
I love everything Miss Sallow ever said.
A great sense of humour made for a fun read, but the material was serious enough and the stakes high enough that I didn't get bored, or feel like I was reading a "comedy" book. Think Lemony Snickett with a happy ending.
Fun fantasy with three siblings dealing with a baddie and various magical races and tools. Some of the themes rubbed me the wrong way -- the children were often lousy friends to each other, and they kept keeping secrets for idiotic reasons. Which is all fairly realistic but makes reading less enjoyable for me. My son liked it.
It's a good read. It reminds me of Narnia and the Percy Jackson's. Will definitely read the rest of the series.
Emerald Atlas is a story about 3 siblings Kate, the responsible one, Michael the middle child obsessed with dwarves, and Emma, the mischievous one, who when they were young were sent away by their parents for their protection. Now years later they have moved from orphanage to orphanage, because no one seems to want them. As the last straw Kate, Michael and Emma are sent to an orphanage run by the mysterious Dr. Pym. When they arrive it seems like a very strange place for three children. They begin to explore the house and find a mysterious book, which when pictures are placed in they are transported to the place and time the picture was taken. Kate, Michael and Emma find they have been transported into the past, and an evil countess trying to find the mysterious book, is holding the town of Cambridge Falls hostage until she finds it. Can Kate, Michael and Emma, elude the evil countess and help the town? Will they learn the importance of the book and why they are involved in all this?
Emerald Atlas is a fun and exciting adventure back and forth through time. If I had to compare it to other series, I'd say its a mixture of Harry Potter, and Narnia with a dash of Lemony Snicket. Kate Michael and Emma are all very likable children to follow through the story and I enjoyed watching their adventure unfold. I did find the story a bit random and chopping in places, but overall a great first book for John Stephens. I look forward to learning more about Kate, Michael, and Emma, in the next two books and following them on their adventures to find the other two mysterious books, in order save their parents.
Emerald Atlas is a fun and exciting adventure back and forth through time. If I had to compare it to other series, I'd say its a mixture of Harry Potter, and Narnia with a dash of Lemony Snicket. Kate Michael and Emma are all very likable children to follow through the story and I enjoyed watching their adventure unfold. I did find the story a bit random and chopping in places, but overall a great first book for John Stephens. I look forward to learning more about Kate, Michael, and Emma, in the next two books and following them on their adventures to find the other two mysterious books, in order save their parents.
It took a few months but we made it! Me, my son and Katherine, Michael and Emma P. were shuttled between orphanages before finally ending up in Cambridge Falls under the care of the mysterious Dr. Pym and then straight into a fantastic adventure through dwarf kingdoms and lost cities and even time itself to find their destinies and learn the truth behind the disappearance of their parents.
If you're in the market for a great adventure fantasy to read aloud this one is perfect. My voice teachers would be pissed as hell about my throaty dwarf dialect but they'd have been deeply impressed by my Russian accent which I absolutely had to have for the children's evil nemesis the Countess who will stop at absolutely nothing to find a mysterious book called The Emerald Atlas before they can. She's willing to murder an entire town's worth of children and its a race against (and through) time to stop her.
Seriously John Stephens did a bang up job here, his writing is eloquent and evocative even if his story does sound just a little like a certain quest to destroy a certain ring of power down to the dwarves, battles, and goblinesque monsters. This is a perfect book for boys or girls that perfectly balances a deeply heart warming story of a family trying to reunite with top notch battles and fantasy adventure sequences that are seriously heart stopping. The story is told mainly from the perspective of oldest child Katherine but all the siblings are really terrific and unique.
Fair warning there's a hell of a lot of violence and quite a bit more blood and even gore than I think you tend to find in your average juvenile fantasy and we had more than a few nights where my guy was "freaked out" but he was totally riveted from first page to last.
He is eagerly awaiting the next two in the series and I gotta say...so am I.
If you're in the market for a great adventure fantasy to read aloud this one is perfect. My voice teachers would be pissed as hell about my throaty dwarf dialect but they'd have been deeply impressed by my Russian accent which I absolutely had to have for the children's evil nemesis the Countess who will stop at absolutely nothing to find a mysterious book called The Emerald Atlas before they can. She's willing to murder an entire town's worth of children and its a race against (and through) time to stop her.
Seriously John Stephens did a bang up job here, his writing is eloquent and evocative even if his story does sound just a little like a certain quest to destroy a certain ring of power down to the dwarves, battles, and goblinesque monsters. This is a perfect book for boys or girls that perfectly balances a deeply heart warming story of a family trying to reunite with top notch battles and fantasy adventure sequences that are seriously heart stopping. The story is told mainly from the perspective of oldest child Katherine but all the siblings are really terrific and unique.
Fair warning there's a hell of a lot of violence and quite a bit more blood and even gore than I think you tend to find in your average juvenile fantasy and we had more than a few nights where my guy was "freaked out" but he was totally riveted from first page to last.
He is eagerly awaiting the next two in the series and I gotta say...so am I.
I found this book while wandering through Barnes and Noble and was enchanted by the cover (because green is my favorite color). Then, I saw where the audiobook was narrated by Jim Dale and knew I had to listen to the audiobook. I love Jim Dale and have listened to every book narrated by him.
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It's the story of Kate, Emma and Michael. Three orphaned children who are constantly being moved from orphanage to orphanage. Ten years after being abandoned, they end up being the only children at an orphange in Cambridge Falls. While exploring the orphanage, they come across a green book which they later learn is called The Emerald Atlas. The Atlas allows the children to travel back in time where they end up where their adventures begin.
I loved this story. It was fun and engaging, full of magic and reminescent of so many great fantasy series (such as Narnia, Harry Potter and The Golden Compass). Jim Dale, as always, was brillant. I loved his work so much that I didn't even mind that the obviously three American orphans spoke with a British accent.
This book left me wanting for more and I highly recommend it (although you might want to wait until closer for the second book to be released).
I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It's the story of Kate, Emma and Michael. Three orphaned children who are constantly being moved from orphanage to orphanage. Ten years after being abandoned, they end up being the only children at an orphange in Cambridge Falls. While exploring the orphanage, they come across a green book which they later learn is called The Emerald Atlas. The Atlas allows the children to travel back in time where they end up where their adventures begin.
I loved this story. It was fun and engaging, full of magic and reminescent of so many great fantasy series (such as Narnia, Harry Potter and The Golden Compass). Jim Dale, as always, was brillant. I loved his work so much that I didn't even mind that the obviously three American orphans spoke with a British accent.
This book left me wanting for more and I highly recommend it (although you might want to wait until closer for the second book to be released).
The Emerald Atlas was a fun read. It originally reminded me a little of The Series of Unfortunate Events, mostly because there are three children and they don’t know where their parents are so they get shuffled around from place to place, each one being as bad as the next. However, once you actually get into The Emerald Atlas it is a completely different story.
I really liked the character interaction between the three siblings. It was realistic in that they weren’t the best of friends and getting along every minute of the day. They fought and niggled at each other. They also had sibling rivalry. It was really good because it was just like real siblings.
I liked the story line itself as well. It was fantasy so it was really good. It also had a really good lead up to the next book in the series. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book and finding out more about these Books of Beginning. My one complaint was that I felt the ending dragged out a little and that it could’ve finished earlier but I guess the little bit at the end also added to the overarching storyline so it was necessary.
Another really awesome thing was that there were the occasional funny bits, so I got a laugh in here and there. It was also really interesting how there were some parts that were quite serious as well. That definitely made things interesting.
Overall, I quite enjoyed The Emerald Atlas, it was quite an intriguing book but it wasn’t my absolute favourite middle grade book. In saying that however, I am definitely intrigued as to what is going to happen next. If you’re looking for a fun middle grade fantasy then this is definitely a good one to pick up.
I really liked the character interaction between the three siblings. It was realistic in that they weren’t the best of friends and getting along every minute of the day. They fought and niggled at each other. They also had sibling rivalry. It was really good because it was just like real siblings.
I liked the story line itself as well. It was fantasy so it was really good. It also had a really good lead up to the next book in the series. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book and finding out more about these Books of Beginning. My one complaint was that I felt the ending dragged out a little and that it could’ve finished earlier but I guess the little bit at the end also added to the overarching storyline so it was necessary.
Another really awesome thing was that there were the occasional funny bits, so I got a laugh in here and there. It was also really interesting how there were some parts that were quite serious as well. That definitely made things interesting.
Overall, I quite enjoyed The Emerald Atlas, it was quite an intriguing book but it wasn’t my absolute favourite middle grade book. In saying that however, I am definitely intrigued as to what is going to happen next. If you’re looking for a fun middle grade fantasy then this is definitely a good one to pick up.