From School Library Journal
Grade 6-10–In the final volume in the trilogy, the action moves to the next generation. Marak, the goblin king, is dying, and his son, Marak Catspaw, is taking over the throne. Miranda, the human girl whom Marak has raised to be Catspaw's wife, has come to the underground goblin lands eager to start her role as King's Wife. When a new elf leader arrives and offers Catspaw an elven wife, Miranda's destiny disappears. She escapes the goblin kingdom and is captured by the elf leader, Nir. Meanwhile, elven Arianna, Catspaw's new Wife, is deeply unhappy with her underground life. In the end, both girls play a role in choosing a new life for both elves and goblins. Dunkle has created a tightly drawn fantasy with a pair of strong, independent female protagonists striving to find their places in new societies. The author's themes of the need for tolerance and her exploration of the often-superficial differences between races are continued from earlier volumes and add meaning to the text. Because of this book's focus on the elf and goblin worlds, less attention is given to the alternate Victorian England of the humans than in earlier volumes. Dunkle's language and plotting help build the mood and move her suspenseful story through its twists to its satisfying finish.
–Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. Taking place 30 years after the events of
Close Kin (2004)
, this satisfying conclusion to the Hollow Kingdom trilogy more closely examines relations between the tough, practical goblins and the sensitive, graceful elves, the two magical races dwelling in Dunkle's Victorian England. As in previous books, a plot rich in cultural misunderstandings swirls forth from the goblins' tradition of intermarrying with elves to bolster faltering bloodlines. Events center on an elf traded to goblin Catspaw as the new King's Bride, and Miranda, a human ward of the goblins who has been seized by the elven lord. The captives heighten tensions that drive the races toward a climactic clash, even as the two displaced women find things to appreciate, and perhaps even love, about their captors. Although the romance, as always, tends to mix strangely with themes of imprisonment and cool reproductive imperatives, the grounding in a fully imagined history, the chaste tenor of on-screen interactions between mates, the inventive role of magic, and the sympathetic portrayals of both societies clear space in readers' minds to accept all aspects of the premise. Followers of the series will revel in this (evidently) final opportunity to lose themselves in Dunkle's distinctive, intriguingly disquieting vision.
Jennifer MattsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
