Pixiepalace

Emily Fiegenschuh

Sign of the Shapeshifter
Dale Donovan and Linda Johns
Illustrator: Emily Fiegenschuh
2004

This is the third in the “Knights of the Silver Dragon” series. It isn’t the worst I’ve read from the series so far, but it is far from the best. There were a number of problems with the book, but the most glaring was the lack of a good plot. There just wasn’t much there to work with. The characters were done alright, they managed to remain pretty much the same people they were in the first two books, which was good. Overall, this book was unsatisfying and disappointing.

The idea of this series, as I understand it, is to provide stories about kids having Dungeons and Dragons adventures. The problem with this novel is that they aren’t having much of a D&D adventure. Only one of the monsters they meet in the book is one from the official Dungeons and Dragons books. There are literally hundreds of official monsters, many possessing the qualities needed for the plot, so I really don’t see any excuse for not using them.

The other big thing that is required in a D&D adventure is that the heroes seem at least marginally heroic (it really doesn’t take much), but this book makes it painfully clear that the writers don’t think the kids could have this very un-heroic adventure unless the adults are safely out of the way. The excuses for the adults to not be remotely involved are flimsy and feel contrived. That isn’t necessary and it felt artificial and cheapened the accomplishments of the main characters. The ending was very frustrating in this book. It felt extremely rushed and slapped together. There wasn’t a lot of plot to wrap up, but it still felt like the authors weren’t sure how to end the story. It was awkward.

The illustrations in the book were good; as good as they have been in the rest of the series. The cover is probably my least favourite so far, but the interior illustrations were extremely well done. The chapter heading illustration (one small picture that heads each chapter and is different in each book) is probably my favourite in the series thus far. It is a symbol that is important to the plot and very interesting to look at. I continue to wonder about he fact that the kids wear the same clothing every single day, but that is pretty typical of D&D (where you can’t change the clothing on the little metal figure that represents your character), so it actually fit with the concept very well.

This book isn’t very good, and I wouldn’t recommend it (even for people who don’t care about the Dungeons and Dragons aspect of the book). If you are going to read the series, read the first book and the fourth. Skip the second, third and fifth.

- Publisher’s Description

- Buy it from Amazon

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Eye of Fortune
Denise R. Graham
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2004

This is the fourth book in the “Knights of the Silver Dragon” series. I very much disliked the books immediately before and after it in the series, as is probably evident to anyone who read my reviews of them, but this one was much better. It is my favourite of the first five books. Not only does it feel like a good Dungeons and Dragons adventure, but the characters are accurately portrayed and the writing excellent.

I loved how the characters were shown in this book. They were very much their character class (wizard, rogue and bard), but also very three-dimensional. They made logical conclusions and put pieces together intelligently. The plot flowed well. There were no breaks for sneaking out scenes or other unimportant filler scenes. They even managed to logically create a balanced party by running into a fighter and a cleric. The cleric was one of the most amusing characters I remember encountering in recent books. He was a half-orc who seemed totally unaware of his powers (intelligence far below average). I would love to see someone run such a character in a game.

The illustrations were wonderful. I loved the cover illustration with the fortune teller gazing into her magic eye as Kellach looks on critically and Driskoll looks on amazed. It captures the characters wonderfully. The interior art is just as good. I am continually impressed at Miss Fiegenschuh’s ability to capture the characters and essence of what this series strives to be (and occasionally achieves).

This book is wonderful. The adventure is beautifully done and could make a wonderful Dungeons and Dragons campaign. The characters are perfectly portrayed and the writing and illustrations complement each other quite well. This book I would definitely recommend!

- Publisher’s Description

- Buy if from Amazon

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Figure in the Frost
Lana Perez
Illustrator: Emily Fiegenschuh
2005

I had very high hopes for this series when I saw it for the first time at GenCon a little over a year ago. And the first title, Secret of the Spiritkeeper by Matt Forbeck, was excellent. Each book thus far has been written by a different author, so each has a very different flavour. The second and third books were not terribly good, but the fourth was wonderfully creative and well done. The qualities that have made the first and fourth book in the series so good included excellent writing, respect for the characters, a coherent world with realistic people in it, a sense of heroism in the adventures and overall a very Dungeons and Dragons feel to the stories. The second and third books lacked some of those qualities, but neither was anywhere near as bad as this, the fifth book in the series. It is absolutely dreadful and I was actually offended by the time I got to the end of it.

The first and most glaring problem with the book is a fundamental lack of respect for the central characters and for the readers. The characters were most definitely not the same people they were in the first four books (throughout all four they were fairly consistent in character) and many things made me wonder if the author had even read the first books. Moyra, the rogue, was decidedly not rogue-like and somehow became exceedingly girly between the last book and this one. Driskoll, who had begun to have distinctive bard skills in the last book, lost all useful skills, all useful intelligence and most of his personality. The three children not only couldn’t figure out what was going on when the answers were dropped in their laps, but they also seemed oblivious to the most obvious clues. And the adults were totally useless. Throughout all of this there was the implicit understanding that the readers would make the same nonsensical leaps of “logic” that the children made and be just as clueless. Nothing was presented well or with really any sense.

The plot really has potential. It is interesting, connected to perfectly interesting and valid historical information in the series world, and full of danger and potential adventure. The mysterious parts could have been a great treasure hunt. However, it doesn’t work the way it is written at all. The plot is confusing, it feels very random and contrived and the reader is kept totally and completely in the dark until the very end of the book when the adults return to save the day. Where exactly is the heroism in that and why would I want to read it when it assumes I’m so dumb? Even if I were the target audience, kids aged 9-13 or so, I would have been offended by the lack of respect for the readers. None of the first four books had that little respect for their audience.

The high point of this book was the wonderful illustrations. There weren’t many, but the ones that were fit the story exceptionally. This illustrator has been excellent throughout the series and her work remains wonderful in this book. The characters look very appropriate and very Dungeons and Dragons and the backgrounds are wonderfully done. Each picture is clearly drawn to match a particular part of the text, and the illustrator clearly read the whole book. The pictures match each scene in nearly every detail, from clothing to setting to little background details. I am constantly impressed with Miss Fiegenschuh’s work for this series.

One peculiar thing about this book that I feel bears mentioning is something from the author’s bio inside the back cover. It says “Lana Perez is the pen name for an author of novels for older teens”. I have not been able to discover who Lana Perez is, but she has written this book and two “Star Sisterz” novels for Mirrorstone under this pen name and nothing else. I’m not sure that I would want to read her “novels for older teens” if I did know who she was, but I do wonder if the lack of respect is a problem she only has for children. If she is used to writing for teenagers, perhaps she is so used to their mindset that she can’t imagine younger people having any intelligence to speak of. But then why did she decide to write this and her “Star Sisterz” books? I really wonder if she is too embarrassed to take credit for this book, because that is really the only thing that I can think of! But then why admit that it is a pen name and she writes “real” books under a different name? That seems odd to me.

This book is terrible and insulting. Don’t read it. In fact, don’t read anything with “Lana Perez” on it. The pictures are wonderful, but they are just as wonderful in the better books from the “Knights of the Silver Dragon” series. Hopefully Mirrorstone will realize the mistake this book was and publish better children’s books in the future!

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog Post

- Marlene (A.K.A. Lana) Perez’s Website
- Marlene (A.K.A. Lana) Perez’s LiveJournal

- Buy it from Amazon

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Dagger of Doom
Kerry Daniel Roberts
Illustrator: Emily Fiegenschuh
2005

This is the sixth book the “Knights of the Silver Dragon” series. It continues with the adventures of Driskoll, Kellach and Moyra. The story is set up with Driskoll hearing a tale about two brothers who lived long ago. The story says that one brother gave the other a dagger. Then the brother with the dagger killed the other. The knife is supposed to be cursed and the name of each victim appears on the blade prior to his death by it. The knife now has Kellach’s name on it. The entire story is focused on Driskoll and his point of view throughout the story. As readers we are never given even a glimpse into what the other two kids are thinking, which is unusual for the series, but necessary for this book.

This book confused me a lot. For most of it I couldn’t decide if it was intriguing or ridiculous. I honestly couldn’t have said if I liked it or not! Because of the unique point of view, it was hard to say if the kids were actually acting out of character or if Driskoll just thought they were. Along the same lines, it was difficult to know what information to trust and what to doubt because everything was filtered through Driskoll’s perception of it. Part way through the book I was almost convinced that everything was in Driskoll’s imagination!

The story was very interesting. I remained interested throughout the book while simultaneously being very annoyed at the oddities in the children’s behaviour. I’m convinced at this point that this was deliberate. I was as suspicious as everyone as Driskoll was. I was very worried that the ending would be stupid and it would prove the book to be mostly just annoying with what could have been an interesting plot, but that didn’t end up being the case. The ending was completely not what I expected (although in hindsight there were clues throughout the book) and that turned out to be a good thing. The end was interesting and the explanation for the kids acting out of character was sound. This was excellently well written. This couldn’t be the first book in a series or a stand-alone book, but as a book several volumes into a series it was absolutely brilliant. I was impressed that the ending even works D&D mechanics wise. It was incredibly well done.

Like the last few books, there were few internal illustrations in this book. That said, the quality of the illustrations that were there was as good as I have come to expect from this illustrator. The cover in particular was brilliant. It is simple, but after completing the book it becomes obvious just how clever the design of the cover illustration is! I think this may be my most favourite cover yet. It is so perfect for the book it’s incredible.

This is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it, but read at least two books in the series first (my suggestions would be the first and fourth books since the others were not as good).

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog Post (Initial Impressions)
- Book Blog Post (Reflex Saves!)
- Book Blog Post (Slooooow)
- Book Blog Post (Cluelessness)
- Book Blog Post (Driskoll’s Imagination?)
- Book Blog Post (Final Response)

- Buy it from Amazon

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The Hidden Dragon
by Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2005

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog Post: Boring Adults
- Book Blog Post: Tests

- Lisa Trutkoff Trumbauer’s Website

- Buy it from Amazon

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The Silver Spell
by Anjali Banerjee
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2005 (Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast)

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog: First Post (First Impressions)
- Book Blog: Second Post (Predictability!)
- Book Blog: Third Post (Basics)
- Book Blog: Fourth Post (Skills)
- Book Blog: Fifth Post (Lessons)
- Book Blog: Sixth Post (Yay!)
- Book Blog: Seventh Post (Strange Ending)

- Anjali Banerjee’s Website

- Buy it from Amazon

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Key to the Griffon's Lair Key to the Griffon’s Lair
by Candice Ransom
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2005 (Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast)

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog: First Post (First Impressions)
- Book Blog: Second Post (Prose)
- Book Blog: Third Post (Respect)
- Book Blog: Fourth Post (Memory)
- Book Blog: Fifth Post (Magic)
- Book Blog: Sixth Post (Final Thoughts)

- Candice Ransom’s Website

- Buy it from Amazon

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Curse of the Lost Grove
by Denise R. Graham
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2005 (Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast)

- Publisher’s Description

- Book Blog: First Post (First Impressions)
- Book Blog: Second Post (Scattered)
- Book Blog: Third Post (Clues)
- Book Blog: Fourth Post (Moyra)
- Book Blog: Fifth Post (Fey)
- Book Blog: Sixth Post (Final Thoughts)

- Buy it from Amazon

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Mystery of the Wizard's Tomb Mystery of the Wizard’s Tomb
by Rachel Plummer
illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh
2006 (Mirrorstone/Wizards of the Coast)