Okay guys, I have made a huge and somewhat devastating
discovery. I was horribly misled. All this time I’ve been thinking I just
needed to read four books to discover how the evil Pitch is defeated and how The Guardians books compare to the
movie.
Alas! ‘Tis not so!
As I was getting closer and closer to the final pages of the
book, I was starting to get worried. There were so few pages left and there was
no clear, full resolution in sight. What was happening! And then, to top it all
off, I get some cryptic message at the end of the book placed there
specifically to tease me, telling me all about the magnificent climax that is
clearly out of my reach—AND THEY DON’T EVEN TELL ME THE NAME OF THE CLIMATIC
BOOK! I mean really. The audacity!!!!
Most likely, the final book was not completed and therefore
didn’t have a name. After some expert Google searching, I’ve discovered that
the final book is called Jack Frost: The
End Becomes the Beginning. The saddest part of this whole ordeal is that
the final book doesn’t come out until October 2018!
*exaggerated sigh*
So, I guess that means a whole year of waiting before I can
finish my final remarks on this book series.
*even bigger exaggerated sigh*
Well, this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has
happened or the first time I’ve been forced to wait for a long time to find out
the next portion of a story (Here’s looking at you BBC and the creators of
Kingdom Hearts III. Why do you make me wait so long? I’ll get over it. And yes
I realize those aren’t books, but they’re just different storytelling
techniques. It counts!).
No more use in whining. Let’s get on with talking about the
fourth (but certainly not last) book of The
Guardians
The Sandman and the War of Dreams
Sequel to: Nicholas
St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King, E. Aster Bunnymund and the
Warrior Eggs at the Earth’s Core, and Toothiana:
Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies
Rating: 3.5/5
Author: William Joyce
Pages: 222
Genre: Children’s Fiction/Fantasy
Synopsis:
When we last saw the guardians, things weren’t quite so
hunky dory. Another faceoff against Pitch proved less than satisfactory as
Pitch along with their beloved Katherine were mysteriously swept away by none
other than Mother Nature!
Now the guardians are in a race to find Katherine before
Pitch or Mother Nature does something dreadful and they lose her forever! At
the same time, they have no idea where to look or what to expect. It will take
another guardian to help them understand more of Pitch’s past and to help them
rescue Katherine. Enter Sanderson Mansnoozie, or as you and I know him, the
sandman!
But will his added power be enough to defeat Pitch once and
for all, or will they once again be thwarted?
My Reaction:
Besides my reaction of utter betrayal as so obviously stated
above, William Joyce continues to craft a brilliant, original, adventurous
tale. In his defense, I'm pretty sure he never said anywhere that book four was
the last book. Just from what I’d seen and heard, I was under the impression
that it was the last book. So really the only person I have to blame is myself.
Moving on.
I really enjoy that we keep getting more and more little
insights to Pitch’s character. I am really curious to see how his part of the
story will eventually wrap up. At the end of the last book, Katherine showed a
bit of mercy towards this dark character as she saw him not just how he was at
the moment, but also as the good man he had once been. This maybe was a bad
move as she ended up in a not very nice predicament. However, I’m wondering if
this will be one of those cases where a little bit of mercy or helping someone
see the better version of themselves will be enough to make the bad guy see the
error of his ways. There could still be a shred of good in him…possibly…even
though he was consumed by darkness and nightmares and such…
Or, you know, he could always have a Darth Vader moment of
clarity where he tosses The Emperor into a giant pit and redeems himself with
his few remaining breaths (all metaphorically of course since this isn’t in
fact Star Wars).
Or maybe he just stays evil and is simply defeated after one
epic, final battle.
I’ll let you know in October 2018.
The other character who is possibly my favorite and who I
really want to see how his character continues to develop is Nightlight.
Because of things that happen in the story that I will not reveal, we’re pretty
much told that Nightlight cannot remain the same.
Overall, this book remains true to the themes of the series.
It keeps up the same pace and action, and North is finally starting to seem
more like Santa Claus. I’m satisfied.
P.S. I’m super stoked that come the next book we finally get
to meet Jack Frost. He was my favorite in the movie, and I’ve been hoping this
whole time that he would show up!
Reader Guidance:
The biggest thing of concern in this book is a moment when
we learn more about Pitch back in the days before he became the Nightmare King,
and in his anger and sorrow he beheads a group of dream pirates one by one with
his sword. This is described in simple terms that aren’t super graphic—“...he
drew his sword and cut the captain’s head from its body.”
Similar Books:
Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Orbert Skye
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Next Book:
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