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A review by abitofmoxie
Dandelion Fire by N.D. Wilson
2.0
This was a disappointing sequel. I give it two stars because the ideas were exciting and could have been something really great, but the execution just.. doesn't take it where it needed to go.
The main concept of the cupboards in book one was really cool and my daughter and I were excited to learn more about the cupboards, but it turns out there's not a whole lot left to learn. There's 99 in the wall, and most of them go to different parts of the same world, so that kind of kills that. Then they go through to the other world and just kind of stay there.
Another interesting concept introduced is some of the cupboards are linked to a moment and some to a world, but that is never really explored or taken to any sort of conclusion. It seems that a water source was needed in a later book, so this bit was added in to introduce it for later.
Finally, the idea of the 7th son having special powers was an additional plot development in the second book that sets it firmly in the fantasy genre and opened the door for further interesting developments. But there didn't really seem to be any guidelines for how the magic worked. We were confused about the limits of it, and why he wasn't using it in certain circumstances, and was in others.
In fact, it felt like a lot of the characters, settings, and plot developments introduced seem like they were just added on the spot to satisfy a need in the book. They aren't thought-out or woven into the story at all, just kind of plopped down in the middle. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions and (double spoiler alert) they aren't answered in the next book either.
I want someone to take these ideas and make them awesome, please.
The main concept of the cupboards in book one was really cool and my daughter and I were excited to learn more about the cupboards, but it turns out there's not a whole lot left to learn. There's 99 in the wall, and most of them go to different parts of the same world, so that kind of kills that. Then they go through to the other world and just kind of stay there.
Another interesting concept introduced is some of the cupboards are linked to a moment and some to a world, but that is never really explored or taken to any sort of conclusion. It seems that a water source was needed in a later book, so this bit was added in to introduce it for later.
Finally, the idea of the 7th son having special powers was an additional plot development in the second book that sets it firmly in the fantasy genre and opened the door for further interesting developments. But there didn't really seem to be any guidelines for how the magic worked. We were confused about the limits of it, and why he wasn't using it in certain circumstances, and was in others.
In fact, it felt like a lot of the characters, settings, and plot developments introduced seem like they were just added on the spot to satisfy a need in the book. They aren't thought-out or woven into the story at all, just kind of plopped down in the middle. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions and (double spoiler alert) they aren't answered in the next book either.
I want someone to take these ideas and make them awesome, please.