Authors: John Barrowman and Carole E. Barrowman
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Aladdin
ISBN-10: 1442489286
ISBN-13: 978-1442489288
Synopsis:
In this thrilling sequel to Hollow Earth, Matt and Emily must stop someone from unleashing an army of mankind’s worst nightmares.
In the Middle Ages, an old monk used his powers and a bone quill to ink a magical manuscript, The Book of Beasts. Over the centuries the Book, and the quill, were lost.
Twins Matt and Emily Calder are Animare—just like their ancestor, the monk. The things they draw can be brought to life, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Now Matt and Em are being watched—hunted—because only they can use The Book of Beasts and the bone quill to release the terrible demons and monsters their ancestor illustrated.
And someone is tracking down the lost Book of Beasts, page by page, and reassembling it. Matt and Emily have no choice: They must get to the bone quill first…before somebody gets to them.
This is a continuation of our coverage on a great children’s series (ages 8 and up) that was written by John Barowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood) and his sister Carol E. Barrowman. It is the second book in the series. You can find our review of the first book Hollow Earth here. The following will contain mild spoilers if you haven’t read the first book, but won’t spoil you’re reading of the second book.
Hollow Earth: Bone Quill continues right where we left off with twins Matt and Em back at the abbey and it follows them on their search for their mother who mysteriously disappeared. What’s great is that the book very quickly expands on their ability to bring drawings to life, and shows what else they can do with their drawings.
In addition to finding their mother, they must also locate the Bone Quill and the Book of Beasts which they discover someone else is after as well. The combination of these two items in the wrong hands could unleash all the creatures of the Hollow Earth.
It’s a great continuation of the first book and as I was nearing the end I could feel that a resolution was not coming. There will most certainly need to be another book, though news of that has yet to be released.
The only downside I found to the book was that it felt more like it could have been added on to the first book (and yes I realize that 700 pages would have seemed daunting to an 8 year old). I don’t necessarily need the book to stand alone from the series, but I didn’t feel there was a definite beginning and end to this second installment, though I still highly recommend the series so far and can’t wait to read the third book.
I give Hollow Earth: Bone Quill Four Out of Five Stars
Hollow Earth: Bone Quill is available from Amazon! Here’s a link!
[AMAZONPRODUCT=1442489286]
