Close Kin: Book II -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Seylin hurried through the maze of hallways in the great underground goblin palace and knocked on Emily's door..." (more)
Key Phrases: elf bride, goblin kingdom, elf women, Close Kin, King's Wife, King's Guard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9–Years have passed since the events of The Hollow Kingdom (Holt, 2003), and Kate is happily married to the Goblin King, Marak. As a human who has always thought of goblins as exciting and exotic creatures, her younger sister, Emily, enjoys spending her days with the many goblin children in her care. She has no thought of marriage until she unintentionally rejects the awkward proposal of her best friend, Seylin. Devastated, he decides to leave the kingdom to search for his elf ancestors. Once Emily realizes that she is the cause of his departure, and how much she cares for him, she sets out to find him, accompanied by the curmudgeonly goblin, Ruby. As in the previous book, the different characters discover that appearances do not necessarily reflect inner attributes, but this story delves deeper into examining the xenophobic attitudes held by the goblins, dwarfs, elves, and humans. The narrative draws readers into a multifaceted world of strong, compelling individuals. The final chapters come across more as a group of appendixes with a lot of explanatory information than as a true conclusion. Still, the background detail creates a compelling saga for fantasy fans. For maximum satisfaction, the books need to be read in order. The final book of the trilogy, In the Coils of the Snake, is due to be published in 2005.–Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-9. In Dunkle's follow-up to The Hollow Kingdom (2003), the elves face an awful reality: they have forgotten the ancient spells that once ensured their continuing survival of their races. When mixed-blood goblin Seylin joins the elves to explore his ethnic roots, he is shocked by their reduced circumstances. Parallel stories find human teen Em, now 18, replacing older sister Kate as heroine as she pursues Seylin to declare her love, and the Machiavellian King Marak strategizing to add more desirable elf blood to the goblins' genetic pool. The resulting multiple wedding manages to be both decidedly alien and strangely romantic at the same time--qualities that neatly encapsulate the allure of the first two books in the Hollow Kingdom trilogy. Despite a weirdly rambling conclusion, returning readers will appreciate the expanded view of a world where human, goblin, and elf sensibilities interestingly, if not harmoniously, coexist. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (September 9, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080507497X
• ISBN-13: 978-0805074970
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #267,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Return of the "Kin", February 8, 2005

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Clare B. Dunkle returns to the world of "The Hollow Kingdom" with "Close Kin," a romantic adventure that stretches the boundaries of her invented world. Though this book is a bit too rushed, Dunkle's mix of humor and suspense carry the story smoothly as we find out a bit more about the mysterious elves.

Seylin the elf-goblin has been Emily's friend ever since she came to live with the goblins, and he has now fallen in love with her. When she absentmindedly rejects him, the brokenhearted Seylin decides to go find other elves. He manages to track down a camp of them -- but he finds that they have little in common.

The band leader is a brutal thug, the elves live in poverty, and the women are treated as scum... and all elf women die horribly in childbirth. Meanwhile, determined to find Seylin, Emily sets out accompanied by a crabby loremaster. Both she and Seylin discover the tragic joint past of the elves and goblins, and the terrible secret that is driving the elves toward extinction.

"Close Kin" takes a darker tone than its predecessor. Sure, "Hollow Kingdom" wasn't light and fluffy, but "Close Kin" explores the terrible aftermath of wars and misunderstandings. One scene even has an elf woman mutilating her face so no one will marry her. Yep, it gets that heavy, although Dunkle lightens up somewhat after the "kidnapping" of the elf brides.

It does rush past the romance a bit more quickly than you'd expect, and the elf women adjust to the feared goblins in way too little time. However, most of the plot moves at a fast clip, giving us plenty of looks at the grimy elf camp and the bloody history between the two races. There's certainly enough backstory to provide plenty of prequels, if Ms. Dunkle chose to write them.

Seylin gets plenty of dimension and angst to go along with his interesting elf-cat-goblin shapeshifting. Emily doesn't get much personal growth, sadly. But Dunkle also populates "Close Kin" with plenty of other interesting characters, such as a ditzy elf, a crabby priest, a little girl with her head full of fairy-tales, and a goblin street urchin (who is, incidentally, the most entertaining character in the whole book).

The final chapter of "Close Kin" seems to hint at the third book of the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, and it sounds like the third venture into the kingdom of the goblins will be winner.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 14 year-old reviewer, March 31, 2005

By	Bodi Lake Estate (Engadine, MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After reading the first book to the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy I was somewhat dissapointed by this one. Don't get me wrong, it is a good read through and through but holding it up to the first one and you'll find it's a star lacking. Since I'm not the type to tell you it's lacking and not the reason why, I'll explain myself. The dark ending to Close Kin showed way to much into the third book. Dunkle really should have waited to put that last chapter in there. It showed way to much, it was like the beginning of a book instead of the end. Emily's character needed abit more developing. She seemed way too immature to be getting married and that put me off abit. Seylin was brilliant! The best character of all. Dunkle really poured her heart into him. Not only was his character filled out and expanded from the first book but she added new insights to his personality that were simply delightful. The elves also were a special treat. Dunkle made their history so hauntingly sad, and their current state was almost pitiful, yet through it all they still retained a sense of themselves. Kate and Marak were the same, happily so, I couldn't have stood it had Dunkle changed them an atom from what they were before. I especially loved her addition of the goblin child Emily finds in England. That was very fun! The only thing good about Dunkle's foreshadowing ending was that it portrayed Catspaws personality in such a good way. I really think the third book is going to top everything off. Overall I recommend Close Kin strongly, albeit it has a few minor flaws.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Enough to be worthy of being Book Two, February 16, 2006

By	H. Keanum (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book didn't really need to be one. The short tale told in book two of the Hollow Kingdom trilogy could have easily been shared in either book one or three. Close Kin is simply serving a bridge between the span of years of Marak's reign to Catspaw's reign with some fluff. The conflict for this tale was weak and not strong enough in my opinion to carry as its own book.

Close Kin was still enjoyable and was useful for readers to grasp all that happens in book three In the Coils of the Snake. Giving Emily (Kate's sister from The Hollow Kingdom) her own story was a smart idea, but the struggle that Dunkle was striving for seemed too small and unworthy of being declared Book II of the Kingdom trilogy.

Had the plot been given as deep a meaning as the first book, it would have succeeded my expectations, but this did fall a little short of the mark. For readers who may pick up on this series, you have to read it in order. You also don't want to skip this book because this book is lengthy enough to bridge the gaps that would occur between the first and final book of the trilogy.

Three stars for an appeasing read but fell short of fulfilling the glory it could have had.

Other recommendations are The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan