Craig's review - 26 February 2009
I'm always on the lookout for good books for young readers, to read to my daughter when she is ready (and to use in my teaching). Whilst waiting for Dean Lorey's next instalment in the Nightmare Academy, I chanced upon this trilogy from Australian author Alexandra Adornetto – ‘The Strangest Adventures' (HarperCollins). For those screaming at me that this series is by no means horror, it is, for a young readers' series, a set of very dark works, with genres crossing from adventures to dark fantasy and almost horror. The second instalment, ‘The Lampo Circus' was even nominated for an Aurealis Award this year (though not shortlisted).
The first book in the series, ‘The Shadow Thief' , follows Millipop (Milli) Klompet and Ernest Perriclof in the uneventful town of Drabville. The town presents a world where free-thinking is squashed, where creativity is punished, and so on – not an original idea, but fantastic for books for the target age (~8-15), where readers will be growing and perhaps pressured into such an existence in the real world. Of course, Milli and Ernest are children who cannot cave to the town's boring ways, and one day their exploration gets them into trouble and has them taken away to a strange house on the outskirts of town. Here they are reunited with other townsfolk who refused to follow the rules, but are quickly ‘adopted' by the major and his wife and forced into embarrassing situations in preparation for a cataclysmic event, The Great Guzzle, led by an evil magician, Lord Aldor. The magician has stolen the townsfolk's shadows, a part of their soul and free-spirit, guarded by the Shadow Keepers. Lord Aldor plans to absorb all the shadows in a ‘Highlander'-style power fix and rule the world. The children must of course thwart him.
The second in the series, ‘The Lampo Circus' , begins by looking at the adjustments the townsfolk of Drabville are making after rejoining with their shadows (well, now you know what happened in the first one – sorry). A circus arrives to help celebrate the occasion, but it is of course a trap. The ringleader, Frederico Lampo, holds a ‘children only' special event and whisks all the children into a magical Conjuror's Realm where, you guessed it, Lord Aldor now lurks. The children are placed in a grim boot camp, where they train day and night for something horrible – to overthrow the magical land of Mirth, run by fairies – the only part of the Conjuror's Realm Lord Aldor does not control. To rescue the children and fairies, Milli, Ernest and twins from the circus, Finn and Fennel, escape and journey to Mirth. On the way they meet evil clowns, the ‘Grin Bandits', who collect teeth by extraction; and play a life-size game of monopoly, where the losers do more than sit out and watch.
Having lost their shadows and then children, the townsfolk of Drabville need some cheering up. In the final instalment of the series, recently released, ‘Von Gobstopper's Arcade' , legendary toy maker Gustav Von Gobstopper decides to come out of retirement and build a toy arcade in the town, just in time for Christmas. Only, when the children tour the arcade with their school, it is evident that Von Gobstopper did not make the opening, and something far more sinister is running the show. I loved this book because it gets very dark. Milli and Ernest meet toys who are alive (every child dreams of that) and help them to see what's underground from the arcade. It is a hospital for toys, only not to make them better… It seems Lord Aldor is planning a Grinch-style takeover of Christmas, complete with altered, disfigured, demonic toys. He wants to end childhood forever, and comes very close to succeeding…
The series of books have a narrative voice very similar to my favourite, Lemony Snicket, though begins to get its own style by the second instalment. It did bother me that the first two books in the series lacked emotional responses and hence depth to many of the situations (I realise this was probably because Adornetto was thirteen when she wrote ‘The Shadow Thief'). The other problem with these two books was that they were loaded with strange choices for words. I was always reminded of a writing tip, ‘If you're unsure of the word to use, choose the simplest'. It doesn't always work, but showed its relevance in these books – there were many large words that could stump young readers. Either Adornetto went through a Thesaurus and chose the strangest synonym, or it was an intentional throw-back to works such as ‘Peter Pan', which these stories have similarities to (with the never-ending quest to end childhood). That said, such a problem was corrected in the final instalment, which was written with much more depth. This made me tingle all over – it was written when Adornetto was sixteen. If she writes with such skill at this age, I cannot wait to see her future works (no pressure, Adornetto).
Make a good investment for your children and buy these books. I recommend you buy the series in their first edition, hardback formats. These are beautifully presented, with nice silhouettes throughout (to start each chapter/part) – something to keep for the future. Unfortunately, the first instalment has been reprinted in paperback format, with a cartoon-like cover, and does not do the story justice. Hunt down the original!
the novel
'The Strangest Adventures Trilogy' by Alexandra Adornetto (HarperCollings) - YA Fantasy
