Sunday, 22 July 2012

204. The Elsewhere Chronicles Book 1: The Shadow Door words by Nykko, art by Bannister and colours by Jaffre


The Elsewhere Chronicles Book 1: The Shadow Door words by Nykko, art by Bannister and colours by Jaffre
Published June 2009 Lerner Publishing

From the publisher:
Four friends discover a movie projector that opens a passageway into a world threatened by creatures of shadow, where their only weapon is light.

When this series came in I was excited.  Excited by the fact that a graphic novel actually caught my eye.  According to our records, it was a June New Release, so that was good too, fits into my criteria.  I was disappointed to find (after I had read it) that it was actually published in 2009!  A book that’s 3 years old really shouldn’t be included in my year of reading, but as I have now read it, and I really only have time to read books that I can include here…it’s in.  I promise it’s not something I read 3 years ago, and have just been waiting to spring on you now!


If I had read it and found that I didn’t actually like it much, added to the fact that it’s NOT NEW, I might have tossed it aside, and written it off as 30 minutes I will never get back.  The truth is I really did enjoy it.  I also like the fact that there are 5 books out, at the same time, which means that the compelling need to work through a series can be satisfied without having to wait years and years for the subsequent books to be released.

Book 1, works almost like an introduction.  We meet the characters, three boys, Theo, Max and Noah who seem to be magnets for trouble and Rebecca, a younger girl they befriend because of who her Grandfather was.

We meet the characters at a funeral, the boy are there because they want to make sure Old Man Gabe was really dead, Rebecca is there because Old Man Gabe was her Grandfather, a man she had never met,  When the boys tell her that her Grandfather's house is haunted naturally she wants to see for herself, and the boys finally get a chance to see inside the mysterious house.  The house is pretty much empty, except for a huge library filled with books, many of which Old Man Gabe seemed to have written, there's also a big old projector that doesn't exactly show old movies.

This is where the book gets interesting, and also where it ends...bring on book 2, because at the end of this book Rebecca and Max get transported to another world, and they need to find out how to make their way back.

It was a good book, but as I mentioned, it was like an introduction to a much bigger story, so I recommend you get all of the five books at once if you can, because it really is one story broken into five parts, and I guarantee the readers will be asking for Book 2, as soon as this one is finished.


Who will like this book: Boys and boys age 10 +
Read it if you like: Rondo series by Emily Rodda

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