Posts tagged ‘100 Cupboards’

March 16th, 2011

The Chestnut King (Book 3 of the 100 Cupboards) by N.D. Wilson

by Kevin Holtsberry
Cover of "The Chestnut King: Book 3 of th...

Cover via Amazon

If you have been scoring at home, we are working our way through the 100 Cupboards Series by N.D. Wilson.  The aptly titled 100 Cupboards started the series and Dandelion Fire was the middle book. Which brings us to The Chestnut King – the final book in the trilogy.

For each book I have offered the advice to dive and in and enjoy the series. The books do not start fast but they repay effort.  I also suggest that readers try to clear expectations and assumptions about the books prior to reading. This is hard, yes, but I think you will enjoy them more if you can manage to just let the books come to you rather than trying to impose expectations and preconceived notions of how books of this sort should work.

For those unfamiliar with the series here is the publishers tease:

When Herny York found 99 cupboards hidden behind his bedroom wall, he never dreamed they were doors to entirely new worlds! Unfortunately, Henry’s discovery freed an ancient, undying witch, whose hunger for power would destroy every world connected to the cupboards–and every person whom Henry loves. Henry must seek out the legendary Chestnut King for help. Everything has a price, however, and the Chestnut King’s desire may be as dangerous as the witch herself.

N. D. Wilson concludes a remarkable, worlds-spanning journey that began with one boy and one hundred avenues to adventure.

What I love about these books is the depth and complexity. There are worlds within worlds and texts within texts.  It is a coming of age novel; a good versus evil fantasy epic; it is a hero quest; etc.  It is full of beautiful and witty prose and has allusions and nods to literature throughout.

The characters have been developed across the books and I found myself intrigued and concerned about almost all of them – even the most frustrating of them. Action happens across worlds and battles are engaged even as the larger war is unclear. Events flow toward a final confrontation but there are twists and turns along the way. There are traditional narrative arcs and some things that just seem thrown in for fun.

The world building is exciting and the cast of characters outside Henry’s family are creative and imaginative and yet firmly within the fantasy and literary mythology if you will. It is a mix of reinvention and homage to the classics.

That is not to say the books are not a challenge at times. The review for Children’s Literature reflects this sentiment best:

This story is just weird. Perhaps the preceding books in the “100 Cupboards” series can ease the mystery and confusion of this work. This is not a standalone work. Henry, a teenager from Kansas is playing baseball in the first chapter, then wavering between reality and augmented realities in subsequent chapters. Though most reviews of this work and series are stellar, without the basis of the trilogy this entry is confusing, bewildering, and disturbing. Heads have fingers in the back of them that can be manipulated like puppets, peoples can shape-shift and change identity, fairies dismiss one another. If that sounds like an attractive escape this is your book. It takes more than dandelion magic to finish this!

I can agree that if you just picked this third book up cold and started reading it would throw you.  It is not that kind of book.  And at times even with the previous books it can be bewildering and disturbing – but in a good way!

But with caveats noted, Kirkus  captures my experience with this book and this series:

This refreshingly American fantasy trilogy plants one of its feet squarely in Kansas and the other in magical realms. Henry York has rediscovered his true home, his true parents and the power of his dandelion-fire magic. Unfortunately he’s also discovered that the blood of the witch Nimiane has infected his face, and if he doesn’t find a way to destroy her he’ll soon be dead (or worse). Leaping through different worlds and perils, Henry’s family is split apart once again and he is forced to answer the unanswerable: How do you kill something that cannot die? Wilson ratchets up the tension, which is fortunate since readers will need it to get through the first 100-page slog. Undeniably the most visceral of the 100 Cupboards series, this title takes some time to find its feet yet ends with an entirely satisfying finish. A word of warning: Do not hand this book to anyone who hasn’t read the previous books. The story moves at a fast clip and doesn’t bother to catch newbies up.

All of the advice contained within the above is worth taking: build up momentum to get past through the first 100 pages and you will be richly rewarded and be sure to read the series in order – they are not stand alone books.

But if you like large, complex and imaginative fantasy series this one is a must read.  And as I noted previously, I think it is exciting that this series has enough depth and details to reward re-reading.  It is great to have a series you can return to and share with family and friends – young and old.

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March 11th, 2011

Dandelion Fire (Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards) by N.D. Wilson

by Kevin Holtsberry
Cover of "Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 1...

Cover via Amazon

As any avid reader will tell you, one of the great things about discovering a series late is the ability to jump from one book immediately to the next book in the series.  If you are reading them when they are first released you instead have to impatiently wait for the next book to be published.

So it was with great joy that I jumped from N.D. Wilson‘s 100 Cupboards (the first book in the series of the same name) to Dandelion Fire.  The second book picks up where the first one left off.  Here is the publishers blurb:

Henry York never dreamed his time in Kansas would open a door to adventure—much less a hundred doors. But a visit to his aunt and uncle’s farm took an amazing turn when cupboard doors, hidden behind Henry’s bedroom wall, revealed themselves to be portals to other worlds. Now, with his time at the farm drawing to a close, Henry makes a bold decision—he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he’s from and who his parents are. Following that trail will take him from one world to another, and ultimately into direct conflict with the evil of Endor.

The thing to note about this second book is that it grows in seriousness if you will – there is a maturity and thus more violence and suffering – and also a complex plot narrated from a variety of viewpoints.

This all combines to make it disappointing for some who enjoyed the shorter more quirky first book. While the first book took some time to get to the magical aspect, the plot was relatively straightforward. In this second book, the plot threads grow and can be hard to follow at times.

My opinion is that series rewards readers who both are up to the challenge and who can just “let go and enjoy the ride.”

Read in a Single Setting captures this well in her review and sums up my feelings almost exactly:

Dandelion Fire marks ND Wilson’s second foray into the complex, fantastical world first introduced to us through his excellent middle years novel 100 Cupboards (see our review). Like its predecessor, it’s full of rich, voluptuous language, and takes an almost languid approach to narrative, giving it the same sense of the organic, the natural, in terms of plotting. Indeed, I’m pleased to be able to note that this middle book of the trilogy stands well on its own two legs, rather than acting as a bridge between an introductory first novel and the inevitable denouement that is the third–although I would recommend reading its predecessor before attempting this book. While Dandelion Fire is considerably longer than the aforementioned 100 Cupboards, it does not feel bloated: rather, Wilson rather admirably uses the additional space not only to subject his poor characters to rather a lot of intrigue and violence, but also to make salient certain contrasts and themes–although to its credit rarely in a didactic manner.

[...]

It’s probably clear from the above that Dandelion Fire does not quite have the quirky kookiness that characterizes Cupboards, but it’s not without its moments of levity. Wilson’s at once rich and laconic prose is a pleasure to read, and it’s full of winking allusions and asides that add both depth and breadth to the novel without resulting in turgidity. In terms of the narrative, there are moments of familiarity that readers of classic children’s fantasy works may find somewhat derivative, and it’s true that occasionally the plot does become a little lost in itself, particularly when Wilson is working to weave together multiple simultaneous viewpoints, but it’s just so difficult not to fall for the worlds that Wilson has created: I’m entirely enamoured of that little attic room bristling with its cupboards.

As we say in church, Amen!

This series is something that I just enjoy being a part of - immersing myself into the world and characters the author is building and enjoying the adventure. Their are flaws and discordant moments – rarely is everything just as you would have it – but their is something fundamentally enjoyable about the creation so  that you don’t begrudge the faults.

Eva Mitnick, for school library journal, has a similar take:

The plot is complicated, and readers not familiar with the first book will be hopelessly confused. The shifting locations and the many characters and factions are bewildering, but most of the characters have such deliciously flawed and fascinating personalities that fans of that book will go with the flow, waiting to see what the next bend of plot might bring. A quiet and quirky humor warms up the proceedings as well, leavening even the most intense scenes. The ending is satisfying enough to serve as a series closer, but luckily for fans of this challenging but rewarding trilogy, there is still one more installment to come.

So my advice? Challenging, yes but rewarding too.  Dive in and enjoy it.

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March 7th, 2011

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

by Kevin Holtsberry
Cover of "100 Cupboards: Book 1 of the 10...

Cover via Amazon

I had been wanting to read the 100 Cupboards series by N.D. Wilson for some time. I loved Leepike Ridge, and wanted to read more from the author, but for some reason it took me awhile to get around to the series.

I wish I hadn’t take so long! What a great series. It has to rank up there with one of my favorites; and one of those rare ones that have the depth and character to repay re-reading for many years.

The series starts, not surprisingly, with 100 Cupboards.  Here is the publisher’s blurb:

Twelve-year-old Henry York wakes up one night to find bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall above his bed and one of them is slowly turning . . . Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room–with a man pacing back and forth! Henry soon understands that these are not just cupboards, but portals to other worlds.

The most important advice I can give to those contemplating reading this engaging series: have patience. The book takes a while to set up the characters and the setting. Enjoy the language and background and don’t worry about the action; it will come.

And once it does I think you will come to love this complex and mysterious story as much as I did.  More below. read more »

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