Customer Reviews

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My son Timothy, age 11, devoured a book this week, a magical mystery featuring a boy wizard written by Kaleb Nation, age 20. The book, Bran Hambric: The Fairfield Curse, was published in September, and, judging from sales and Timothy's enthusiasm about the book, I suspect we have, if not the "next Harry Potter" (how many times have we heard that prediction?), perhaps another Artemis Fowl or Percy Jackson. Which would be very good news indeed.

The recommended age range for the book is 9-12 so I thought you might be interested in Timothy's thoughts about the book which is touted as a book by a very young man. Timothy wrote the review as a Hogwarts Professor dot com guest post. He read all 464 pages of Bran Hambric in three days and has this to say:

Timothy's Bran Hambric Review

When I first saw the book, Bran Hambric, I did not think, frankly, that it was anything I would be interested in. But then, when I asked Dad what the book was about, he read the back cover to me and I was immediately curious. I mean who is not intrigued when they hear the questions, "What if Your Mother was a Criminal? What if Her Crime was Magic? What if Magic ran in the Family?"

So I started to read the book and found that it reminded me of Harry Potter, the books along with Redwall, Eragon, and Artemis Fowl, that I know best. In the beginning, for example, Bran's only parent dies, he has his mother's eyes, and Bran is taken into the care of two of the meanest people in the city. These parents give their greedy little children everything they wanted (except, of course, the MEGAMES MAXIMAS that Balder wanted so much). Bran can do magic, but he does not know it. Just like Harry, right?

In the second chapter, my Dad told me who he thought that the Shambles character would turn out to be. He was right, though I was surprised when it was revealed much later in the story (it wasn't obvious). I guessed correctly that there was something like a Horcrux in one of the major characters (I don't want to spoil the story for you) but when it turned out I was right, I confess I was still surprised, again.

The story, though, is not just Potter echoes like surprise identities and boy wizards.

The best part? The 'Missives of Magic.'

Netora the Physical, Comsar the Mental, Archon the Elemental, Illian the Illusional and Drimra the Mortal: these are the five Missives of Magic mentioned in Chapter 10 of Bran Hambric. Without giving too much away, each of the Missives is a certain type of magic.

If you have Netora magic, then you are master of things that can be touched. If you have Comsar magic, then you are master of the mind and can control other people. If you have Archon magic, then you can control the four elements; fire, water, earth and air (and as a favorite character says in Chapter 20, "Yes, always good to keep a flowerpot handy for the miniature tasks"). If you have Illian magic, then you have the power of illusions; you make images of yourself or of other people, but if you are Drimra, then you have the power over life and death and can place your very soul in another body. The variety of magic in Bran Hambric is unique and very well done, I thought.

Best, if you have all five kinds of magic, then you are more powerful than any of them. But with great power comes great hardship, as Bran finds out. Fortunately he has good friends like Adi, Astara and Polland. I enjoyed reading their conversations and about their adventures.

Do I look forward to the next book in the Bran Hambric series? Yes, I do. The first book was amazing; it was full of new friends, mages, magic books and much more. Some of the reasons that I would like to read the next book is to see what really happened to Baslyn and Shambles. Could anyone have survived the finish in Fairfield Tower? I would really like to find out, too, what the `S' on Astara's bracelet stands for. I'm assuming that it is not the first letter of her last name, as she thinks.

One of the many things that I like about this book are the "Forty Winks." I love their detecting powers that give them the ability to reveal things about the Mages (read the book to find out what!). When I first heard of the `Fairfield Curse,' I had two ideas of what it might be. The first idea was that it was a plague of some sort that would make you burst into flame or age really fast. The second idea was that it was a sentient being of fire, shadow and energy. What I did not guess it could be - was what it turned out to be! Kaleb Nation wrote a very satisfying and surprising conclusion.

I recommend Kaleb Nation's Bran Hambric to readers my age who like wizard stories and mysteries. A fascinating book filled with magic and mystery, Bran Hambric is guaranteed to cast a spell over you that you will never forget!

Timothy

Summary
Bran Hambric has no memory of his life before he was found in a locked vault in the bank at the age of 6. We catch up to Bran, 14, living with the Wilomas on Bolton Rd. Bran's not so much a son but closer to a servant. He lives with the Wilomas' and helps out his Accidental Dad, Sewey, with bank business. One night, while helping Sewey, Bran meets Shambles and starts on the journey to finding out who he really is.

My Thoughts
Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse has a very strong start. The prologue opens with action that pulls you into the mystery. Then we jump to Bran at home on the roof with Sewey. We meet Shambles who seems to know more about Bran than Bran himself. He has a sinister air about him and leaves behind a piece of paper that covers up as much as it uncovers.

Things slow down a little as we get into more of the story. We're introduced to Sewey, who found Bran, Mabel, his wife and their two spoiled children. Sewey is obviously "dimwitted" and is determined to find an outlawed gnome. Mabel is obsessed with cleanliness. Rosie, the maid, is stuck in what she sees as her heritage. Her family has always served the Wilomas family. We also meet a host of other characters - the good guys - Adi, Astara, and Polland as well as the bad guys - Joris and his gang. My main problem was the sheer number of characters. There were so many that none of them felt fully formed.

The action picks up again towards the end as we start pieceing together clues to Bran's past. We find out more about his mother and how Bran is tied to the things she'd been involved in. Bran discovers his talents and eventually uses them to great success.

I thought Kaleb's writing showed a sense of humor and creativity.

"What an odd and unusual notion...a store that sells nothing but books..." (105)

I admired the magical language he invented and enjoyed trying to figure out the translations.

"lite yirou diyestini lidea you...adni micagi geuida yirou wiya." (113)

Bran Hambric was found locked in a bank vault at six years old, with no memory of his past. For years, he has lived with one of the bankers, wondering why he was left behind -- until one night, when he is fourteen, he is suddenly confronted by a maddened creature, speaking of Bran's true past and trying to kidnap him.
Bran finds that he is at the center of a plot which started years before he was even born: the plot of a deadly curse his mother created...and one that her former masters are hunting for him to complete.
Haunted by the spirit of his mother's master and living in a city where magic is illegal, Bran must undo the crimes of his past...before it is too late.
Bran Hambric reminded me a lot of Harry Potter. He is an orphan. He has magical powers, and has little knowledge about his parents. His personality was even similar. I am hoping that he develops away from that in future books. I really liked Astra and Adi. They were really interesting and I hope that they are in the book later on. The plot was pretty good. I liked it, but it was really slow until about halfway through and kind of hard to get in to. It was fairly original, but it reminded me a lot Harry Potter. It had very similar components. Nation's writing was pretty good. The style was fairly good. I think that this book would appeal more to Middle Grade readers, then Young Adult readers.

I've had a long history with Kaleb Nation's blog where he's accounted his experience with reading "Twilight," as a male. From that, I've always seen that he has the skills for writing and has the ability to greatly entertain his readers with his unique sense of humor. With that, I really wanted to love this book and very much tried to find some pro's. But being a scrupulous reader definitely causes one to sight the flaws more so than the pro's within any piece of writing. And with this one, there were some very noticeable flaws that greatly detracted from my enjoyment of the story. I appreciate the effort that Kaleb Nation put within this story and understand the ardor of writing. Hopefully I'll be able to point out some of the positive elements of the story to not overwhelm the readers of this with a listing of all the negatives.

First off, the story begins with Embry Hambric futilely trying to run from a pair of men who seem to be chasing her for some unknown reason. This beginning initially brought to my attention the dryness of the writing. Everything seemed more like an instructional guide to inform readers of essential information for understanding the story. Rather than providing a beginning that immediately immerses the reader into the action of the story, it's a very cliche ridden beginning that seemed to lack excitement and emotion. The dialogue especially seemed stale and noticeably uninspired.As a reader, it was hard for me to grasp the intensity of Embry emotions as she desperately decides how to save her son. Instead, I felt that I had to formulate those feelings myself. Since Kaleb's writing seemed not able to evoke those feelings. Writing beginning chapters is definitely a difficult task because there's so many options for a writer to choose from on how to begin the story. It was definitely a great way to starting the story but due to the poor execution of it; I did feel compelled to continue reading.

After the introduction, we are introduced to Bran, the protagonist of this story. Bran encompasses every aspect of "the" common protagonist. Nothing about his personality seems fresh to the target audience. He's basically a normal fourteen year old boy, whose unaware at this point of the great abilities he possesses. Sounds a bit like another boy wizard, who also had no knowledge of their magical abilities. Along with Bran, we're also introduced to the family that has decided to house him. If anyone whose reading this has read Harry Potter, you already have foreknowledge of the mannerisms of the family members, who have a striking resemblance to the Dursleys. There were a few slight variations as there are two additional members. One example of a similarity though is Sewey's temper and extreme animosity of gnomes which is reminiscent of Vernon's hatred of magic and anger. Now, I must admit that the interaction between the family members was very funny. Especially Sewey's paranoid wife whose fears seemed identical to mine. Since I happen to be somewhat of a germaphobic.

As the plot of the novel begins to progress, things do get a tad bit more interesting as we're introduced to characters such as Adi and her gnome. I would like to note that Bran's interaction with the gnome was one of the more refreshing aspects of this story. And it's where Kaleb Nation really shines. He seems to be well skilled in creating some truly great comedic moments. Yet his writing greatly falters when it comes to conveying emotions.

If there's one element that seemed lacking it was the emotion of the characters. Right from the beginning, none of the characters are entirely three dimensional. Instead they are two dimensional and their development is greatly contrived. We're never really able to comprehend the weight of Bran's feelings of betrayal or sadness because Kaleb tells these feelings instead of showing them. When Kaleb does try showing these feels rather than telling them, he recycles the same words, similes, or descriptions. Now many veteran authors make these mistakes occasionally because we all have words or similes that we love. But Kaleb does it too often to dismiss. Sometimes the same description's used every chapter or even within the same page. Referring back to my mention of being a very scrupulous reader, these mistakes are far too many to not note.

Towards the end, my earlier mixed feelings about this story soon developed into a feeling of great disappointment. Eventually, we're introduced to the story's main antagonistic force whose very similar to Voldemort within Harry Potter. Initially, I'd had the sense that Kaleb was throwing in some elements of Harry Potter that he was quite fond of. Yet, once we're introduced to this villain and the atrocity he'd committed, Harry Potter fan will be able to easily recognize them from Harry Potter. Even a certain quote from Harry Potter, "As my power strengthens, your's weakens," seemed to be taken directly from the Harry Potter novels. Instead of being greatly bemused by this, I was quite dismayed that Kaleb would emulate various elements of Harry Potter. I'm a writer myself and can admit to incorporating elements of some my favorite novels within my own stories. But, going to extent where you're emulating elements of another story's plot is inexcusable.

At this point within the book, I forced myself to finish the story all in pursuit of providing an honest and well thought out review. Writing this review was a great challenge for me because I really wished not to convince Kaleb Nation that he should not write any more novels. Since I'm an aspiring writer myself, I would never convince someone to stall their writing. Instead, I've intended to inform him of some of the flaws of this story and aid in helping him grow as a writer. I'm striving to provide a balanced review without being too negative.

There were elements I loved including some of the jabs that Sewey makes and some of the comical elements of the city of Dunce. It's these moments that prove he's able to write and be incredibly creative. Also, the fact he was able to complete this story's something to commend him on. Because completing any work is a very arduous process that takes a great amount of patience and energy. Kaleb's a very humble, kind person whose determination has greatly helped in getting this published and gaining a great number of loyal followers (who'll probably attack me with torches and unleash a band of feral gnomes upon me). I greatly respect him for that; but I also hope that he recognizes his story's faults and continues to improve on his writing.

If you happen to read this Kaleb, I hope you understand that I wrote this as a means of providing aid in your continuing journey as a writer. And I offer my apologies for anything within this review that may disperage you from continuing that journey. Please strive to always work your hardest and recognize criticism not as a detractor but as something which can greatly help your development as a writer and even as a person. You're someone who has a great personality and also someone who posesses strength that helps in forwarding yourself in life. As a writer, I wish you the best of luck and I hope you'll see this review as an honest assessment and not something written by some cold hearted person who seeks to see you fail. Hopefully, your next book will be better than this one.

As a soon to be 22 year old avid reader, I was a little sceptically about this book. I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the book a lot! I loved that there was action within the first few chapters to grab the reader and hold the reader throughout the book. There are points where you can tell he is a first time writer however, he managed to produce an excellent book for a first time writer. Although the is a feel of magic in the book, I would not compare it to Harry Potter. The Harry Potter talk of the Muggle world and the wizarding world. This book suggests a combination of both worlds outside the city of Dunce, where it is in fact banned. All in all, a great book. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I never considered myself a fan of fantasy books, but like millions of other people, I discovered Harry Potter. And then everything changed -- I suddenly found myself liking fantasy/adventure books. I finished reading all seven of the Harry Potters books the day after the last one was released; and it was very bittersweet for me. I just didn't want the story to end and I missed the characters (although I admit that I'm not quite ready to start re-reading them.) Since that time, I've been looking for a book or series along the same lines -- a book that is just well...magical. I think I think I found a part of that very special magic in BRAN HAMBRIC!

I don't want to make BRAN HAMBRIC sound like it is a Harry Potter knock-off because it definitely isn't. I'm just saying that there are some similarities -- a young orphaned boy discovers he has magical powers; and the book made me have some of those same feelings I experienced while reading about Harry. I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and I fell in love with Bran. As an adult, I highly recommend this book to everyone -- parents and kids alike. The novel is probably geared towards middle grade readers; however, it would make an excellent read aloud book for the younger set.

At first, I thought I'd review this book and give you all of my opinions about it. And I guess I kind of did that briefly above; but the more I thought about it, I thought I'd tell you why I think children are going to love this book and why you should buy it for the kids in your life!

- Bran is a terrific character who has many redeeming traits. He is most definitely a hero figure, and kids are going to relate to him in so many ways. He is sensitive, smart, creative, loyal, resourceful, and even funny! I especially liked seeing his character mature as he discovered things about his past and his mother.

- BRAN HAMBRIC has some really terrific supporting characters. The author has created some very memorable characters, as well as some very funny ones. I found myself cracking up over Bran's guardians -- Sewey and his wife Mabel; and their kids were hilarious too! I also really liked Bran's new "magical" friends -- Astara and Adi as well as the gnome Polland. And since this book demonstrated good versus evil, there were also a fair share of scary, bad guys that made Bran's life miserable.

- BRAN HAMBRIC is a book that even reluctant readers are going to love. The book isn't long, but it isn't entirely short either -- it's about 350 pages. The book is fast-paced and filled with action and adventure -- it definitely doesn't read like a long book! I think even kids who aren't big fans of reading will love the story and be drawn back to it after they put it down. Plus, I think this book might even turn some kids into "real" readers because they are going to want more of Bran and his adventures. (It's always good to get kids hooked on something positive.)

- BRAN HAMBRIC is just a great story about good versus evil. I've mentioned that the storyline is very exciting, but there is also a mystery element to it. I know I was kept reading because I was dying to learn about the curse and Bran's mother's involvement in it. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the whole big magical element -- who isn't drawn to those things we can't explain? I love how the author created the magical creatures, the spells, the types of magic, and even the language. I thought it was all very creative and very well described!

Needless to say, I really enjoyed BRAN HAMBRIC and I can't wait for my daughter to read it! She doesn't think she's a big fan of fantasty books, but I have a feeling that Bran just might convert her. I highly recommend getting BRAN HAMBRIC: THE FARFIELD CURSE for a kid in your life. They are bound to be very grateful!

The day Bran Hambric came out I went to the closest bookstore and bought it. I LOVED it. Bran Hambric has the perfect mix of humor, twists and turns, love able characters, and gnomes. The story is compelling, but not dry so you have to put it down and pick it up again in a hour. I had to keep reading after the first chapter. Im now craving and demanding for the sequel to come out now. I have absolutely nothing to complain about when it comes to this book. From the books its self to the cover art, I am ecstatic about this book. I will be raving about this book to my friends and suggest that Bran Hambric would be our next book club selection. Kaleb good job. I see great things in your future.

Finally my Bran Hambric book arrived in the mail the other day and I have to say that I could not put it down! I have been a fan of Kaleb Nation (the author) every since he started the [...] website. And when he announced that a book HE HAD WRITTEN was coming out, I knew that I would have to read it. AMAZINGG is all I have to say, I hope Kaleb continues to write, as I am looking forward to reading more of his books in the future (and of course the sequel to Bran Hambric: the Farfield Curse).

[...]
We're beginning to see more and more young authors in the publishing business, whether in the self-publishing or mainstream publishing industries. Who comes to mind when you think of a young author? Christopher Paolini? Nancy Yi Fan? Cayla Kluver has been making headlines herself lately.

Kaleb Nation should be making headlines himself soon, as he spent nearly all of his teenage years writing his debut novel. His book, Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse (published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky), hits shelves September 9th, 2009 (yes, that's 9/9/09). I first learned about Kaleb's book almost a year ago. Being a a male Twilight reader, I couldn't help but stumble across his website, [...]. After visiting the website several times, I learned that Kaleb had written a book - what's more was that he had been picked up by an actual publisher. This was, of course, a pleasant surprise. I was immediately interested in the book. It took a while before details on the story became available, however when they did come, I couldn't have been more than excited.

At six-years-old, Bran Hambric is found inside of a locked bank vault with no recollection of his past. The only clue to his identity is a scrap of paper with his name. Bran is reluctantly taken care of by the Wilomases who treat him more like a servant than a son. However, Bran's life begins to take a major turn when he is attacked by a mysterious creature on the roof. His past unravels itself and Bran learns of a mysterious power within himself. He's a mage. It'd be pretty cool, being able to do magic, right? Unfortunately, that's not quite the case for Bran. He lives in Dunce, a city with a nasty dislike toward magic of any kind. They despise mages - and OH do they loathe gnomes. It also doesn't help that a mysterious figure seems to be searching for Bran throughout the city. As Bran begins to learn of his new powers, he also sets off on an adventure that will lead him to his past and future.

Kaleb Nation's story will certainly appeal to fantasy fans who are eager for a twist: magic being a crime. The story is filled with mystery, excitement, fun and humor that readers will remember for years to come. I found myself reading the book in the car and in classes, laughing out loud in some cases, which got me some very concerned and confused faces. My favorite character was certainly Sewey Wilomas, who in my opinion, was the most humorous in Kaleb's cast.

I'm excited to see what Kaleb Nation has in store for Bran Hambric - I only expect good things (and gnomes)!

Kaleb Nation is a fresh, funny voice in YA fiction. While his debut novel Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse shares some elements with other series such as Harry Potter, it also manages to be unique and entertaining in its own right. The plot is engaging and (mostly) fast-paced, mixed in with hilarity, whimsy, and adventure. Bran is an interesting protagonist who is easy to care about, and his emotions and reactions are all quite believable and well-written. The majority of the supporting characters also added to the story skillfully, especially Adi, Rosie, and Astara. Sewey, and in fact all of the Wilomases, were especially hilarious. Nation definitely has a flair for humor! It was interesting to read about the different missivs and spells, and to discover Bran's past and what it meant for his future as he did so himself. I have a few small complaints about this book: the Farfield Curse itself played a smaller role in the story than the title would suggest; I would have liked to see more of some of the more villainous supporting characters; and it was a bit predictable; however, it still held my interest from beginning to end. I can't wait to read what Kaleb writes next! I'll definitely be checking out the next installment of Bran Hambric.