Author: William Ritter
Genre: fantasy
Similar books: The Unicorn Quest by Kamilla Benko
Beyond the Deepwoods by Paul Stewart
Rating:
 |
| a great new series |
Summary (provided by publisher): Magic is fading from the Wild Wood. To renew it, goblins must perform an ancient ritual involving the rarest of their kind—a newborn changeling. But when the night arrives to trade a human baby for a goblin one, something goes terribly wrong. After laying the changeling in a human infant’s crib, the goblin Kull is briefly distracted. By the time he turns back, the changeling has already perfectly mimicked the human child. Too perfectly: Kull cannot tell them apart, so he leaves both babies behind.
Tinn and Cole are raised as human twins, neither knowing what secrets may be buried deep inside one of them. When they are thirteen years old, a mysterious message arrives, calling the brothers to be heroes and protectors of magic. The boys must leave their sleepy town and risk their lives in the Wild Wood, journeying through the Deep Dark to reach the goblin horde and uncover who they truly are.
My opinion: To my mind, changelings are a vastly under-explored mythological creature so I'm thrilled to read any book that examines the life of a changeling. Especially when the resulting book is as charming as this one. Ritter shows us several perspectives and motivations: the changeling, the human raised alongside him, the mother that raised them, and the goblin that attempted the swap. We see a world that is in flux, magic perilously hanging on and a darkness that threatens everything. And each character has a motivation. Sometimes these motivations intertwine, sometimes they are at odds with one another. And perspectives that are at odds one chapter may align the next. That sounds messy and confusing but the flow is nearly seamless.The ideas are complex but accessible even for a young middle grade audience. I look forward to seeing the directions Ritter will take this series.
More information: Changleling releases July 16.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
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