News, Press & Reviews

andon Snow is back in the second of what promises to be any number of adventures based on his success so far. R.K. Mortenson provided a great first volume to this series with The Auctor's Riddle. Can he keep up the same level of quality for succeeding stories?

The answer is yes. Book two picks up with Landon some months later. The mystery of his entry into the otherworld from book one is tied in with his grandparents' house and their local library, so adventures have to be tied in with visits to the grandparents, too.

And since this is book two, Mortenson does what every children's author is compelled to do, for one reason or another: bring the little sister into the adventures. (When I was a young boy, that always irritated me. Why bring the girl into things?) Holly, Landon's sister, comes along on the adventure this time, keen on the search for knowledge. Unfortunately for them both, the shadows of Malus Quidam (Satan, basically) are infiltrating the Wonderwood, and Holly quickly falls under a spell. It's up to Landon and his friends from book one to rescue her and defeat the shadows.

This time around, the adventure is set almost entirely in the Wonderwood "world," which only occupied about half of the first book. While that allows for more development of specific concepts and characters, it also changes the style of this book somewhat dramatically. Whereas book one had very much of an Alice in Wonderland or The Phantom Tollbooth feel to it, with a variety of locales and numerous puns related to language and such, book two comes across as much more of a straightforward "adventure in another world" story, ala Narnia. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but for those who enjoyed all the plays on words from book one, it's a bit of a disappointment not to find as many this time.

The lesson in book one (about God's sovereignty) was very clearly tied in with the Auctor's riddle, thus emphasizing it over and over. The lesson this time is more focused on the nature and power of evil, its seductive properties and its destructive potential. And yet it's still told in a very all-ages-friendly way, neither overemphasizing the dark power or de-emphasizing it.

When book one came out, it was described as the first of a new trilogy, but with all the marketing material for book two, the word "trilogy" is nowhere to be found. Can this mean that the publishers now believe Landon Snow can have more than just three adventures? His fans will certainly be hoping such is the case. Highly Recommended.

Related Authors

• R. K. Mortenson

Related Books

• Landon Snow & Shadows Of Malus Quidam #2 (Hard Cover)