Three More Book Reviews

The Tree Shepherd's Daughter
by Gillian Summers
Recommended Ages: 14+

Keelie Heartwood wants her mother. But it's no good. Mom has died in a plane crash, leaving her to be raised by her estranged father Zeke. It's a confusing change. Brought up exclusively by her ambitious, Los Angeles lawyer mom, Keelie is used to a privileged urban life, plans of going to law school, and being careful around trees - due to a rare allergy to wood, which since her childhood has caused her to hallucinate about seeing fairies. Now she is expected to live in the middle of a forest with the dad she barely knows, moving from one Renaissance Faire to another while he sells handcrafted furniture and attracts women like nobody's business.

Keelie doesn't plan to stay long. She has a plan to get back to L.A. and stay with her fashionable, preppie friends. But first she has to deal with one disaster after another, while her weird hallucinations resurface. Maybe the hardest part is coming to grips with the fact that they aren't hallucinations: Keelie can actually see fairies, tree spirits, and other magical things. She can sense the history of a piece of wood, work earth magic, and talk with trees. She has all these powers because she is half-elven; she will need them because an evil force prowls the woods around the High Mountain Renaissance Faire, a force that even her tree-shepherd father can't fight alone.

This first book in the Faire Folk Trilogy introduces us to the present-day heirs of Tolkien's elves. Evidently when they sailed west from Middle-Earth, they arrived in North America; and there they live to this day, masquerading as itinerant actors in period costumes. Not all of them are good, however. Some of them have unleashed a creature that may have sounded cute when you read about it in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but which proves decidedly nasty here.

But Keelie doesn't face it alone. She is strengthened by her growing acceptance of her father's love, her healing sorrow for her mother, the watchful eye of a too-smart-by-half cat named Knot, the friendship of a goth girl and a dwarf, a romance with an elf prince named Sean o' the Wood, and the faith of the trees. Meanwhile, your reading pleasure will be heightened by Keelie's growth as a character, her eye-opening experiences behind the scenes of a Ren Faire, and her fun sense of wit and irony. Things don't go smoothly for her; she even has some rough spots to work out of herself. But her sudden immersion in a pool of timeless magic within the modern world is as bracing for her as delightful to us.

Into the Wildewood
by Gillian Summers
Recommended Ages: 14+

Keelie and her father Zeke Heartwood have moved on to the Wildewood Renaissance Faire in upstate New York, but the magical world of elves, fairies, and tree spirits has moved with them. In this second book of the Faire Folk Trilogy, today's descendants of Tolkien's elves find themselves posing as jousters, princesses, and tradesmen for the entertainment of paying guests. But Keelie is something in between: half-human, half-elven, just beginning to come into her magical powers and learning how to use them. And when she overdoes it as a paying guest - making a thoughtlessly extravagant purchase - she is also forced to become a Rennie, donning a succession of costumes and ill-starred roles as this year's Jill of the Faire.

While her trials and failures as a faire worker are amusing, her lastest challenge as a tree shepherdess isn't. The trees surrounding the Faire are sick and angry. A nearby power plant is poisoning them, and someone is using dark magic to harm them even more. The unicorn guardian of these woods is dying. And now the other elven Rennies are getting sick, including Zeke. It's going to be up to Keelie to save everybody again, but she doesn't know what to do. Plus, she has to balance all this with the arrival of her two best friends - friends from entirely different worlds, but who for better or worse will be caught up in the adventure with her.

Here is a fantasy for your imagination to dwell on the next time you visit a Renaissance Faire. Suppose some of the actors aren't acting; suppose there is real intrigue and magic between them; suppose the drama that you don't see, playing out behind the scenes, is even better than the public show. There may be something to the hippie earth-magic and Luddite tree-hugging seemingly espoused by some Rennies... there may even be something beyond that, as distinct as the magic of Harry Potter's world from that practiced by Wiccans and pagans.

In this book you meet both kinds - human and elven magic users - and some are good, others evil. You witness the gradual transformation of an already compelling character as she grows into her powers and purpose, and as it begins to look like she may change the magical world: a world that only half accepts her because she is also half-human. You will enjoy the human side of her, and see how far she has grown since she discovered her elven side. And you will squirm like a worm on a hook as she makes every possible mistake leading up to the book's powerful climax. Then you'll squirm some more, since you'll have to wait until June for the final book of the trilogy, The Dread Forest's Secret. Visit the author's website for more information - though it may or may not mention that "Gillian Summers" is really the writing team of Berta Platas and Michelle Roper.

The Secret Country
by Pamela Dean
Recommended Ages: 12+

By page 10, I realized that I loved the characters in this book. By page 65, I thought it might be one of my favorite books ever. And though, further on, I felt it might have moved at a brisker pace and involved less quarrelsome chatter between its five young heroes, I never lost the sense that I had stumbled upon a truly fabulous story. This is a book young book lovers will love, a fantasy about a fantasy that comes to life, a mystery about a murder that hasn't happened yet - we already know who does it, but hope that he doesn't. It is a book that, according to its author, has the ambitious mission of reminding grown-ups of the pleasure they took from the books they loved best as children, while leading young readers to still more exciting discoveries.

Can one book do all that? Not likely. It takes a trilogy at least! So it's nice to know that The Secret Country is also the title of the trilogy that begins with this book. What's nice about that becomes increasingly clear as this book nears its end, with lots of mysteries yet to be cleared up, dangers to be faced, and magical tasks to be completed before the children can go home.

Who are these children? They are cousins who have spent every summer, until now, playing make-believe together on a Pennsylvania farm. This summer, though, Ruth, Patrick, and Ellen have moved to Australia. Meanwhile Ted and Laura are stuck in Illinois, visiting another set of cousins with whom they do not agree.

Nothing suits them quite like the Secret they used to share, the game in which they invented a whole medieval world stocked with pageantry, courtly language, palace intrigue, magic, assassination, and war. How convenient it is when each group of siblings finds a magic sword that brings them to the very same, and very real, Secret Country!

Or perhaps it isn't so convenient. Now that the kids find themselves forced into the roles they created for themselves, surrounded by not-so-imaginary folks they really care about, it isn't so easy to follow through on the script they wrote. Princess Laura is supposed to be an excellent rider and dancer, but the real Laura is afraid of horses and falls down a lot. Lady Ruth is supposed to be a journeyman sorcerer, but the real Ruth knows no more magic than you or I. Prince Edward isn't supposed to know what happens in advance, but Ted knows too well - and he doesn't want it to happen.

Even while the children bicker about whether or not the world they find themselves in is real, events are marching toward foreseen and unforeseen dangers. Nobody seems to notice that the kids really aren't who they're supposed to be, but keeping up the charade is exhausting. Is it all real? Does magic exist or not? Can they change what's going to happen? And why are things happening that they didn't plan on? These mysteries are enough to keep five ordinary kids tied in knots. Throw in a couple of scheming villains, the brewing threat of another war with the fabled Dragon King of the south, the discovery of rings of power and other magical items, an unforgettable encounter with unicorns, and other surprises, and you have an adventure with as many thrilling facets as you can desire.

Wrap yourself in this book, and it will close around you and make the outside world disappear. Better could not be said of any young-adult fantasy novel - except, perhaps, that there is more to come. The trilogy continues with The Hidden Land and The Whim of the Dragon. After reading this first book, I have upgraded my plans to read the others to "Top Priority." Other titles by this Minneapolis-based author include Tam Lin; Juniper, Gentian, and Rosemary; and The Dubious Hills, which seems somehow related to this trilogy. You can find out more about Pamela Dean, a.k.a. Pamela Dyer-Bennet, at her website.

Evil Ads

Everywhere you look on the internet, you'll probably see an ad. That's all right. People want to make money somehow. What stinks is when an advertisement gets in the way of your enjoyment of a website. Or, worse, when it forces you to do something that risks exposing your computer to malware.

Two of these eeevil types of ad have come to my attention in the last few weeks.

First there's the one that pops up in the middle of your screen, flogging I-care-not-what product or service. When you do the little right-click/"close" maneuver to get rid of it, it gives you a pop-up message asking you to confirm, yes or no, whether you're absolutely sure you want to close this life-changing commercial message. Now you are in a quandary. Do you click OK or not? Will clicking OK have hidden consequences, like exposing your computer to a security risk or consenting to an unspecified offer? Why must it be so hard to make the lousy thing go away?

Then there's the ad that comes up instead of the page you intended to navigate to. You just clicked a link, and suddenly you're looking at an ad with animation and sound. And you have to keep looking at it, because there's no way to move on to the page you were aiming for until the "Skip this ad" link appears, around 15 seconds later. And again, you're wondering: "What really happens when I click this link?" Because we've all had the experience of discovering that what appeared to be a button to close something was actually the button to open something else.

These noxious ads join the ranks of numerous marketing gimmicks that make the internet an irritating and scary place. They're right up there with the screen-hogging pop-ups that force you to look very carefully for the "X" that marks the close button; the jittery, repetitively animated banner ads that make you want to surf somewhere else before you barf; and the embedded ad buried 85% of the way down of a long scroll-down, that starts talking or playing obnoxious music over your speakers when you'd just as soon not have everyone looking over the top of his or her cubicle at you.

I can't believe site owners would knowingly sell advertising space to such jerks. I can only assume these advertisers are stealing what they can't buy. The burden then falls to site owners and their programmers to stamp out these commercial squatters, so that their viewers and legitimate advertisers can have a more enjoyable experience.

The last ad in the "real world" that made me this cranky was the one that appeared on my windshield while my car was parked in a public lot. At first glance it appeared to be a citation for illegal parking. Only, where there was supposed to be a list of possible violations, the one with a check-mark turned out to be something like "missing the big sale at Snidely & Twerp's." By the time I had read that far, I was already ticked off by the very idea of getting a ticket for parking in a perfectly legal spot. I wasn't in any mood to think positively about Snidely & Twerp's.

I wonder how many people laughed off their initial shock and anger, and followed through on the store's invitation? Evidently some advertisers are banking on the theory that irritating people is as good away as any of getting their attention. I, for one, think there are better ways.

Loaded Question

I recently filled out an employment application that included a True-False questionnaire. The instructions said to go with your gut and assign a T or F to each statement based on your first reaction. How unrealistic! When you're aware that someone is going to evaluate you, and your prospects for employment, based on these answers, you're going to give each one a moment of careful thought!

Well, careful as my moments of thought were, some of those questions really had me stumped. Several of them left me shaking my head, wondering what the questionnaire was getting at. For example, "True or False: I've gotten into my share of trouble in the past."

Is that a loaded question, or what? How are you supposed to make a good impression either way? If you say "True," then you've admitted being a troublemaker. How much trouble, and what kind of trouble, are up to your prospective employer's imagination. Did you TP a few houses? Did you get a girl pregnant? Did you get caught cheating on an exam? Did you knock over a convenience store and do a stint in juvie? Were drugs and alcohol involved? How many people did you kill?

On the other hand, suppose you answer "False." What does that tell the examiner? Maybe you think you're still entitled to a bit more hellraising? You expect to wreak more havoc and mayhem? Or maybe you're saying you've never been in trouble in your life? Yeah, right...

Two Book Reviews

Eclipse
by Stephenie Meyer
Recommended Ages: 14+

Book 3 in the Twilight Series brings the hottest undead teen love triangle of this moment to an emotionally explosive climax. Judging by the success of this book and film franchise, this book is being clutched by more white-knuckled 16-year-old girls than all the student-driver vehicles in the U.S.A. put together. But that's all right. The pages keep turning even for 36-year-old Hagrid-lookalike bachelors, who desperately want to know whether Bella Swan chooses the gorgeous vampire or the studly werewolf.

They both love her madly and fight for her survival - though they all know that Bella becoming a vampire will be the end of her natural life. In fact, Bella's survival is the only thing that brings her two mortal-enemy beaux together. In this book we see an unlikely pact forged between the bloodsucking Cullen family and the shapechanging wolfmen of the Quileute tribe. The bridge between them is a common enemy: a huge coven of ravening, savage, newborn vampires that has been growing and terrorizing the Seattle area. And now they are coming for Bella.

Bella: hard-headed, soft-hearted, determined to be with Edward Cullen forever, yet equally determined not to break the heart of alpha male Jacob Black - who would have been her alpha male if Edward hadn't come along. Bella: who hurts most deeply when she can't help hurting the ones she loves. Bella: who would rather give up her own life than let her friends and family risk theirs for her. Bella: who grapples with an aversion to marriage even while she plans to give herself to Edward for all eternity.

I know you're supposed to be turned on by Edward's tragic ardor and Jacob's testosterone-rich sizzle. I know you're supposed to hate Bella for not being able to choose between them, just as Bella hates Cathy from Wuthering Heights. But for my money, Bella is Stephenie Meyer's most magical creation: a young woman who hardly understands how special she is to the men who know her, and who deeply cares about the pain she cannot help putting them through. Bella's vulnerability is - can I say this without being scary? - delicious. And the fact that 20-odd evil vampires agree is enough to set your hair on end over the suspenseful and increasingly action-filled last third of this book.

In New Moon, Jacob pledged to fight for Bella. He does in this book, though not always in ways you will sympathize with. Nevertheless, you have to be moved by his heartbreak, his inevitable heartbreak, at the end of this book. If you want to know more about the background of many of the vampire characters you met in the previous books, check out Eclipse. If you want to relish the provocative concept of imprinting on a mate, and the bittersweet results for teen lycanthropes, check out Eclipse. If you can handle an undead teen love triangle with a wide streak of danger and foreboding, check out Eclipse. Then prepare to wonder what happens in the fourth book of the series, Breaking Dawn.

The Secret Hour
by Scott Westerfeld
Recommended Ages: 14+

Jessica Day has just moved from Chicago to the small town of Bixby, Oklahoma. On her first day at Bixby High School, she attracts the notice of three weird kids who dress in goth clothing. They call themselves the Midnighters, and they have spotted Jessica as one of their own. Even before she knows it herself, this normal, bright, vivacious girl has a destiny in a strange, dark world known only by a handful of teenagers.

Rex, Melissa, and Dess share a spooky secret. Every night at precisely midnight, time stops in Bixby, Oklahoma. For one hour, the world is filled with an eerie blue light and ancient, evil creatures stir: an hour that passes like an instant for the rest of the world. Except for the Midnighters. The blue hour has opened up for them.

Not coincidentally, they have other powers as well. Rex is a seer who can spot anyone and anything touched by the midnight hour; he reads the ancient lore left behind by the seers of yore. Melissa is a mindcaster who can taste the thoughts and feelings of everyone around her; she finds it hard to function in crowds, and cannot bear to be touched. Dess is a polymath who specializes in crafting weapons to guard against the shape-changing slithers and darklings that lurk in the blue time, weapons based on the old ones' terror of steel and the number 13.

There is another Midnighter in town who doesn't hang out with this trio. Handsome, acrobatic Jonathan Martinez could be Jessica's favorite, but he could also get her into the most trouble. Meanwhile, this troubled, conflict-torn little group of teen superheroes has to find out what Jessica's special talent is, and fast. Because the darklings already seem to know...and they won't rest until they have destroyed her.

This book opens the Midnighters series, which continues in Touching Darkness and Blue Noon. It is a promising first volume, to say the least. It introduces a totally unique, knock-out spooky fantasy world and a group of characters entangled in a complex web of motives and conflicts. Once you start reading it, you won't want to quit. Texas-born Scott Westerfeld, the author of the Uglies and Peeps series and other sci-fi/fantasy novels, is married to Australian author Justine Larbalestier.

Inkheart & Paul Blart

My Wehrenberg Theatres frequent-flyer card finally came through with a free movie ticket, so this afternoon I treated myself to two flicks for the price of one.

The first movie was Inkheart, based on the young-adult fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke. It's a fantasy about people with the power to read literary characters out of their books and into the real world. This causes problems when: (a) real people disappear back into book-world; (b) some fictional people want to go back; and (c) other, really nasty characters decide to stay and set up a real-world criminal empire.

I went to Inkheart with a little trepidation, having read some discouraging reviews: chiefly by curmudgeonly critics who hadn't read the book. Roger Ebert actually claimed that a child having seen this film might never read a book again. This just shows what a colossal shmuck he is. Kids have been crazy about this book (and its two sequels) for years, judging by the feedback I have received from my review and the bestseller status of the whole series. If reading the book hasn't stopped them wanting to read, certainly seeing the movie won't do it. I mean, kids deserve a little respect. Their ability to distinguish fantasy from reality is stronger than some adults realize.

Another criticism leveled at this movie was that it didn't have any magic in it. If that's true, I don't know what magic is. It absolutely bursts with magic, humor, action, and warmth towards its main characters, even the particularly flawed ones. It strains at the seams, so loaded with fairy-tale and storybook imagery is it, from the tornado that swept Dorothy into Oz to the raft that carried Huck Finn down the Mississippi. Up to a certain point, it seems to follow the plot of Inkheart as faithfully as could be expected while necessarily pressing it into a cinematic mold. My only quibble is the very weak ending, which I'll wager was the result of an eleventh-hour decision to put the kibosh on any possibility of a sequel. It does suffer a bit from wrapping-up-too-neatly-itis and, again, from "when the #$%& is this movie going to end" syndrome.

But it fares very well in the special effects department, and the actors are all up to the job. Brendan Fraser was chosen to play Mo, the "silvertongue" whose reading ability started the whole adventure, not because he is typecast as a "hero dad" (cf. Journey to the Center of the Earth and the whole Mummy series), but because Cornelia Funke had him in mind when she wrote the books, and even dedicated one of them to him. Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany, Sienna Guillory, and young Eliza Bennett are only some of the talent that fills this film with enjoyable faces and memorable characters. And if the story seemed to tie itself up too easily, well...that would be the fault of whoever decided to end it just when it was beginning. Look out for my reviews of the subsequent books, Inkspell and Inkdeath, coming soon.

My second feature was a freebie. Even so, I was loath to walk out of it before the movie ended. It seems I always pick a movie I hate when I have a free pass. This time my regrettable choice was Paul Blart: Mall Cop. I assumed it would be good for two reasons. First: because it got decent reviews (compared to Inkheart, anyway). Second: because the showing I tried to see last weekend was sold out. It was so sold out, in fact, that there was a huge queue pouring out of the building (which has room inside it for a rope line of considerable length), even longer than the line for Christmas Day. I gathered it must have been a smash hit. So I went to see it and spent the first half-hour struggling with an urge to get up and leave.

Eventually, the movie settled into a semi-enjoyable spoof of Die Hard, featuring a gang of nasties dressed as Santa's Helpers who take over a New Jersey mall on Black Friday, and Kevin James as the lone, lonely, sad-sack mall cop who battles hypoglycemia, an inferiority complex, and his own crushing mediocrity while trying to save his daughter, a girl he likes, and other hostages from the robbers.

Yes, there is a certain cleverness to the way Paul Blart uses everyday items that you can buy at the mall to thwart a team of extreme-sport thugs and their ludicrous plan. There are a few laughs - you have to appreciate the filmmakers' flair for absurdity - but even as it consciously razzes the eminently razzable Die Hard formula, it follows said formula to the last jot and tittle. The result is that you feel more like squirming than laughing most of the time. You may even get one of those crawly feelings Andy Kaufman specialized in giving, the feeling that the joke is on you.

Inaugural Tackiness

Apropos yesterday's inauguration of President Obama, the ever-opportunistic Tacky Church Sign at the neighborhood ELCA edifice says:

NO LONGER JUDGED BY COLOR OF SKIN
BUT BY CONTENT OF CHARACTER

...which is a very timely sentiment, but not a Lutheran one. As sinners, we'd better hope not to be judged by the content of our character. At least, not when God is doing the judging.

But I guess religious tackiness is the theme of the week. I watched the inauguration, and took particular note of the benediction. Now the red man can get ahead, man; etc. Yes, indeed: now that Obama's president, there are finally going to be opportunities for people of color! If only it had happened earlier, why, our nation might have had a holiday devoted the memory of a black leader... Oh, wait. We did. This Monday.

Well, anyway, now that Obama is here, we might one day even have a black president! ...Er... So what was that guy saying about minorities finally having a chance thanks to Obama? Hmmmm....

My Interview with P. W. Catanese

A lot of exciting perks come with writing the reviews on MuggleNet's Book Trolley. I love being able to share the joy of books with people, especially hungry young readers who are just starting to appreciate how much fun the world of literature holds for them. I appreciate their feedback and suggestions. It makes my day when authors let me know they appreciated my review of their books. And of course, I don't mind getting a free book now and then - though I only accept offers of books that I would have read regardless.

But when an author whose work I respect and enjoy grants me an interview, my excitement overflows the boundaries of verbal description. It's only happened once before now. This time it is P. W. Catanese, answering my questions about his latest book, Happenstance Found, book one of "The Books of Umber." Thanks again, Paul! And now for the Q&A...

RF: How far ahead have you planned the "Books of Umber"?
PWC: All the way to the very end, including the last scene. (I can vividly recall walking down a street in New York City when the final twist popped into my head.) I had to provide a synopsis for the entire series to my publisher, Simon and Schuster, as part of the process of selling the idea. It was for my own good, too, since I really wanted to be sure I knew where the story was going. This series is very tightly plotted with a lot of threads coming together and resolving. So, while I don’t always outline my novels, I did outline all the books in this series.

Is the series open-ended, or do you have a certain number of books in mind? How many?
Right now the plan is for three books. There will be a very definitive end.

Can you identify any stories or people who inspired you or served as models for the people and events in this book?
For me, the inspiration really came from the stories I had already written, and then adding the unique twist of another genre that sets the Books of Umber apart. I tend not to use real people as models for my characters – bits and pieces of people, but rarely an actual person that I know. For me, characters start with a distinguishing trait – shy, exuberant, cranky, things like that – and then other more complex layers of personality are added the more I think about them.

What specific idea led you to tell this story?
When I was writing The Brave Apprentice, probably around 2004, I included a scene where someone refers to a historian named Umber who has written about monstrous creatures. I just pulled that name out of nowhere. But the name, and more importantly the idea of a sort of ‘paranormal investigator’ in a fairy tale world, stuck with me. That was five years ago, and the story has been growing in my head ever since, even while I was writing books like The Mirror’s Tale.

What was the last piece that clicked into place before you knew this story was going to "work"?
It was not enough for Umber to run around investigating the weird and monstrous – he needed a quest of his own. That arrived in the form of the young hero Happenstance, who is just as important to the story as Umber. Once I figured out the back story and destiny of Hap, and how that intersected with Umber’s past, I had my story arc.

What rules did you set for yourself to guide your decision-making as the story unfolded? For example: This character must never be allowed to ____, etc.
I don’t know that I think of it this way as I write, but certainly there are certain traits that particular characters will exhibit. Keeping characters true to themselves is crucial – if everyone is working toward their own goal, the story can almost write itself. But there are other ‘rules’ at play I suppose – for example, the kind of knowledge that the amnesiac Hap exhibits is a very specific type of knowledge, as readers of the book will discover. And there are limits to his powers, which are specific in my mind.

Have you given a detailed backstory to many of your characters, including information the books may never reveal?
For certain characters, I definitely conceive a backstory. But it’s a fluid, unofficial thing, which I will revise internally as needed to suit the evolving story. Those things are revealed as needed. And if the character’s personal history isn’t essential to the story, I don’t bring it up.

How important will the background of characters such as Sophie and Oates be in upcoming books?
I don’t want to say too much but I will say this: In the second book, Sophie’s background – where she came from and why her hand is missing – will be revealed, and are very important to the plot.

Is it my imagination, or does the scene at the palace (with all the tension between Umber and the three princes) foreshadow troubles to come?
The first book is an adventure unto itself but it also introduces the players and sets the table for the rest of the story. A lot happens in book two, and the princes play a large part. So that’s not your imagination, lots of trouble ahead.

What is your general theory of magic as it operates in Umber's world?
There is no magic where Umber comes from. In the world where this story takes place, magic is just like technology. It can be used to improve the world and make lives better, or it can be used by wicked people for wicked reasons. But while technology is scientific and predictable, magic is mysterious and unpredictable.

Where would Umber draw the line between what technologies he can and cannot reveal to the people of Kurahaven?
Umber is extremely cautious about his inventions – for obvious reasons, given where he came from. He wants to uplift, enlighten and improve.

Will the elopement of Smudge's brother Caspar become more important in later books?
Caspar took off with all of the information about the Meddlers – you will meet him before long and find out where he’s been. (And just wait until you do!)

Was the storm that hit Kurahaven in this book entirely natural, or was there some magic behind it?
That was Mother Nature at her worst, and not a magical occurrence.

What can you tell us about the kingdom of Kurahaven - its extent, what else it contains besides the port city, etc.?
Kurahaven is the chief city of the kingdom of Celador. It’s the true source of the kingdom’s wealth, and it sits at the northernmost point of the kingdom on the Rulian Sea. Aside from a few islands and ports near and far, the rest of the kingdom sprawls south. The great forest, which provides lumber for its vast shipbuilding enterprises, lies at the heart of the kingdom. By the way, that forest is the same scary place where my story The Eye of the Warlock took place. Farther south, the borders are defined by mountains and other natural features – but it hardly matters in those sparsely populated hinterlands.

Will we see more creatures like the Tyrant Worm?
Lots of creatures ahead! There are more beasties in Book Two than in any story I’ve written – including some really creepy ones.

Where does Hoyle live, and will we see more of her?
Hoyle, who presides over Umber’s business interests and is the ultimate capitalist, would certainly have a home in the residential area, but knowing her often sleeps on a cot right at the Umber Shipping Company offices.

Besides Umber and Hap, who is your favorite character in this book?
This story is chock full of characters that I really enjoy depicting. Oates is great fun though, with his uncompromising honesty.

How did you dream up the Creep?
The creative process is often unexplainable. Without revealing too much: There’s something very distinctive about the Creep that makes him, for me, an especially horrible villain. That unique trait is born out of necessity, since I wanted to avoid comparisons to other cloaked figures that appear in other works of fantasy. So I ask myself, ‘What can I do with this guy that’s different?’ and wait for inspiration to strike.

What part of this book was the most fun to write?
The action scenes are always the easiest and most fun for me. The words fly fast and furious.

What part of this book was the most difficult to write?
Exposition is the hardest for me – when a couple of characters have a conversation that will deliver crucial information to the reader. It takes extra work to do that in an economical and interesting way.

While you were writing this book, what were you most tempted to do instead of writing?
So many answers to this question! Free time is the hardest thing to come by for me. I was most tempted to sleep, watch a great movie, or get some fresh air.

Do you ever have dreams or odd incidents in real life that your mind connects with this book?
No dreams that connected with this particular book. A dramatic event that happened in my childhood works its way into the story, mostly the second book. When I’m writing a story, I’m very tuned into everything I see, hear and learn, and little bits and pieces can find their way into the story.

Is there an idea you would like thoughtful young readers to take away from this book?
What you do with your abilities really matters.

IMAGES: Illustrations from Happenstance Found, courtesy of P. W. Catanese; a photo of the author. Check out the Books of Umber website and the author's website for more information.