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A review by ricksilva
Carnival at Candlelight by Mary Pope Osborne
4.0
The Merlin Missions.
This new expansion of the Magic Treehouse series delves deeper into fantasy, bringing in fantastical settings, or in this case, historical settings with magical beings and more spellcasting.
Jack and Annie are being tested to prove their worthiness to train as wizards under the tutelage of Merlin and Morgan Le Fey. They must complete four missions, and their wizard friends Teddy and Kathleen have provided them with a handy spellbook full of magical rhymes. There are ten spells, though, and each may be used only once.
The power level of these stories has been amped way up here. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Jack and Annie are summoning mythological gods before all is said and done.
Also amped up: The complexity of the plot. And in this story, it works pretty well. The kids arrive in the 18th Century, on Carnival Night. They have a cryptic rhyme to decipher, and a disaster to prevent.
They meet some good supporting characters along the way. A young artist who they encounter was particularly interesting. The pacing is good, a nice mix of excitement and puzzle-solving, but with enough breathing room for the author's love for the city of Venice to really show in the descriptions.
I read this out loud to the Kiddo, and I should note that he particularly loved a scene with quick bits of dialogue and description punctuated by the booming toll of a clock bell striking midnight.
This was clever and fun, and I look forward to more Merlin Missions.
This new expansion of the Magic Treehouse series delves deeper into fantasy, bringing in fantastical settings, or in this case, historical settings with magical beings and more spellcasting.
Jack and Annie are being tested to prove their worthiness to train as wizards under the tutelage of Merlin and Morgan Le Fey. They must complete four missions, and their wizard friends Teddy and Kathleen have provided them with a handy spellbook full of magical rhymes. There are ten spells, though, and each may be used only once.
The power level of these stories has been amped way up here. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Jack and Annie are summoning mythological gods before all is said and done.
Also amped up: The complexity of the plot. And in this story, it works pretty well. The kids arrive in the 18th Century, on Carnival Night. They have a cryptic rhyme to decipher, and a disaster to prevent.
They meet some good supporting characters along the way. A young artist who they encounter was particularly interesting. The pacing is good, a nice mix of excitement and puzzle-solving, but with enough breathing room for the author's love for the city of Venice to really show in the descriptions.
I read this out loud to the Kiddo, and I should note that he particularly loved a scene with quick bits of dialogue and description punctuated by the booming toll of a clock bell striking midnight.
This was clever and fun, and I look forward to more Merlin Missions.