Keys to the Demon Prison

Keys to the Demon Prison is the fifth and final installment in Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series.

The Sphinx has been gathering artifacts necessary to open the demon prison Zzyzx. Kendra and Seth, working with the Knights of the Dawn, are in a desperate race to keep him from opening the prison.

Alliances the Kendra and Seth have developed in previous novels upset the Sphinx's plans. Seth learns there is a price to be paid for trusting demons and Kendra's past with the fairies provides unexpected assistance.

Mull did a great job resolving the mysteries and questions raised during the series. The final book does cram quite a bit of action into one novel. New characters emerge, one very important to Kendra's future.

Fablehaven was a series that lived up to the promise of the first novel.

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary is the fourth book in the five book Fablehaven series. I already have the last book on loan from the library.

Seth and Kendra each have a journey and find different allies in this book. Seth fears the worst over news about Kendra. However, his sense that all was not right with Kendra helps his family to learn the truth.

While we learned about Kendra's fairy powers in previous Fablehaven adventures, in Dragon Sanctuary we learn Seth has a path, too. Both will need their powers to survive the Sphinx as they have a quest.

Once again Kendra is crushed when someone she trusted betrays her. Instead of being a friend the Sphinx has a trusted mole on the journey to Wyrmroost. When all seems lost Kendra finds that not all are unworthy of trust.

We learn more about the nature of the Sphinx and Kendra is suprised to discover the truth. One of Grandpa's promises to Kendra and Seth about the family is broken with the reader left waiting for the next novel to find out what happens.

One of my younger relatives is getting the Fablehaven Complete Set(Boxed Set) for her birthday. I always liked getting a complete set of books when I was a child. It was frustrating to start a series and have to wait to get the next book.

Grip of the Shadow Plague

Grip of the Shadow Plague is the third book in Brandon Mull's Fablehaven Series.

Mull has chosen a traditional fantasy plot, a plague, to create a conflict in his third novel. War has come to the magical world of Fablehaven and creatures of light are being infected with a dark plague that is changing their nature. Humans are becoming shadows.

As Kendra and Seth return to Fablehaven they find that the issues that were left off in the previous novel have not improved. Through Kendra's involvement with the Knights of the Dawn and her previous exposure to the Fairy Queen, we finally discover answers to some of the questions from the previous novel. We discover the true nature of the Sphinx. Readers learn if the Sphinx is on the side of light or darkness.

Kendra learns that even children are not immune to danger and death. As the war continues, sacrifices are made in an effort to secure the safety and future of all the creatures.

A previous friend lost is found and more of her story revealed. Her story provides readers with an interesting romantic story that leaves readers with a time travel circular ending that takes some processing.

As we enter Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary the race continues to find the artifacts. I have this book on reserve at the library and am interested to see how the characters process through the journey.

Rise of the Evening Star

Rise of the Evening Star is the second book in Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series.

Those who have challenging experiences with classmates will appreciate Kendra and Seth's experience at the end of the school year. Their challenge really is a monster that wants to do nothing but cause them harm. Since they cannot share their knowledge of creatures with their friends or reach their grandparents who understand, they must figure out how to deal with the situation on their own. The children come to realize this transfer student is part of a larger plot from the Evening Star to cause problems for Fablehaven.

The children manage to reach their grandparents who provide assistance in removing the children from the local dangers. The children's grandparents arrange for the children to spend the summer at Fablehaven where they deal with new challenges and challenges left over from the first Fablehaven book.

People keep trying to compare this series to Harry Potter and I must admit I do not see the comparison. The series have completely different attractions. It stands as a strong series without bouncing of the popularity off Harry Potter. I love helping kids make connections between characters and novels. However, I do think the Harry Potter comparison has become a crutch to get kids to read something new. It is time to encourage children to read new series on the series merit, not hoping that kids will find it Harry Potter like.

Fablehaven

Fablehaven is the first book in a fantasy series written by Brandon Mull.

Fablehaven shares traditional fantasy series elements and creates new twists to entertain readers. Kendra and Seth provide the traditional brother and sister who arrive in a magical family situation and learn of a connection to magic that they were previously unaware of prior to their visit. This premise is not new to fantasy. Kendra and Seth are sent to visit their grandparents at Fablehaven, a sanctuary for magical creatures. Grandmother is strangely not present and grandfather has a list of rules that the children must follow.

As is usual in most fantasy novels the children are not able to follow the rules leading to magical chaos. The children unleash forces and discover Grandma's fate. The forces they unleash kidnap Grandpa and force the children to manage circumstances they could never have imagined.

While many people compare this series to Harry Potter, I do not. I see this more as a transitional series to the more complicated adult fantasy series. While Harry Potter pulled adults into reading children's literature, this series seems more designed to prepare young adult readers to become audiences for adult fantasy series. As I have been reserving the other books in the series, this opinion has become stronger. The themes and plots seem to be moving more towards adult fantasy series traditions and less towards children's fantasy novels. It is a great marketing strategy to attract new readers to a genre.

I checked this book out from the library at the suggestion of a younger relative who is eagerly waiting to get a copy of the second book. I have the second book from the library to read so we should be able to discuss the series this summer.

Free Fablehaven Resources:

Online Quiz

Teacher's Guide from Brandon Mull

Writing questions answered by Brandon Mull