I read and reviewed the first book in December and featured it as a Holiday Pick. This one did not come to my library in time for me to feature the review, so here it is now.
Arthur and Wally continue to move further and further apart in this sequel to the first book, both because of the decisions they make (not always the best) and because of their growing differences in how they view the Wardens of Weirdwood.
Wally's older brother Graham is sneaking him messages to guide his younger brother's actions. The Lady of Weirdwood asks about them, but Wally is loathe to share them with her, as he knows the Lady is trying to capture the future-seeing Graham and put him back in the mental institution from which he's escaped.
Arthur struggles with the fact that he has no magic at all and Lady Weirdwood dumps him back in the "real" city of Kingsport to get him out of Wally's way (who she's training to be a Warden).
It's a bad set of moves, all around.
The book starts with a young girl, not Wally or Arthur, who discovers her monster drawings are coming to life and some have been caged in a freak-show exhibit run by Silver Tongue, Rustmouth and Astonishment. They're three evil adults who've been given attributes / magic from the imaginary world by the Order of the Eldar and are exploiting a rift between the worlds for profit. They capture the little girl and force her to draw more and more monsters for them with the aim of caging them, at least at the beginning. (You know that won't last.)
Arthur discovers them while Wally trains rather unsuccessfully with his gauntlets. Wally tells himself Arthur's best off in the real world, while Arthur catches on to the freak-show and suspects the dragon quill (from the first book) is the source of the images' life.
Arthur ends up going back to the Rook's daughter, Liza, hoping she's forgiven him for battling her father and essentially killing him (she hasn't). When push comes to shove, he also hopes the Queen of the Dragons will forgive him for using a bone from her son, Huamei, (she doesn't) to make the quill.
Wally makes decision after decision while supposedly fighting the seemingly undefeatable Silver Tongue, Rustmouth and Astonishment for Lady Weirdwood and the Wardens that will lead him even further astray from the Wardens' ideals of keeping the real and imaginary separate.
There's also a new creature, a moving shadow called the Eraser, that can snuff out characters and imaginary lives with little or no effort. It's the shadow of a character who refuses to be erased, and it's … well, I won't say, as that's one of the big reveals.
There's a set-up for another book and we're looking forward to that. Enjoy!
If you're interested in the series, start with the first book, The Thieves of Weirdwood.
