Curse of the Spider King: The Berinfell Prophecies Series - Book One [Hardcover]

Wayne Thomas Batson (Author), Christopher Hopper (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Berinfell Prophecies

Fantasy. Mystery. Action. Humor. Parents, teachers, and librarians will no longer have to push kids to read-The Berinfell Prophesies will engage intermediate readers and leave them clamoring for more.

The Seven succeeding Elven Lords of Allyra were dead, lost in the Siege of Berinfell as babes.  At least that's what everyone thought until tremors from a distant world known as Earth, revealed strange signs that Elven blood lived among its peoples. With a glimmer of hope in their hearts, sentinels are sent to see if the signs are true. But theirs is not a lone errand. The ruling warlord of Allyra, the Spider King, has sent his own scouts to hunt down the Seven and finish the job they failed to complete many ages ago.

Now 13-year-olds on the brink of the Age of Reckoning when their Elven gifts will be manifest, discover the unthinkable truth that their adoptive families are not their only kin. With mysterious Sentinels revealing breathtaking secrets of the past, and dark strangers haunting their every move, will the young Elf Lords find the way back to the home of their birth? Worlds and races collide as the forces of good and evil battle.  Will anyone escape the Curse of the Spider King?

Learn more about The Berinfell Prophecies at www.heedtheprophecies.wordpress.com.  Create your own tribe.  Connect with fans through the forum.  Win pre-release chapters and the opportunity to have Wayne and Christopher at your very own book party!

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–9—The first title (Thomas Nelson, 2009) in Wayne Batson and Christopher Hopper's new fantasy series introduces the seven Elven Lords of Allyra, thought to have perished in the Siege of Berinfell. In reality, they were safely transported to Earth where they have been scattered around the globe and adopted by human parents. Now approaching their 13th birthday, each of them is about to come into his or her elfin powers—gifts that will be used to help them battle the minions of the evil Spider King in a desperate struggle to save their race from extinction. Aided by a series of sentinels (elves disguised as humans), they embark on a dangerous journey from Earth to another world where they will be both welcomed and hunted. Despite uneven writing and narration by Blaine Hogan and Greg Whalen that is not uniformly consistent or successful, the fast pace, non-stop action, humorous interactions, and unfolding of the personalities of the seven Elven Lords will keep listeners engaged and eager for the next installment.—Cindy Lombardo, Cleveland Public Library, OH
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From AudioFile

Much of this first book of the Berinfell Prophecies lays the historical groundwork for the series. Seven 13-year-olds in various cities learn that they're actually elves who were exiled as babies and adopted by humans, who had no idea who they really were. The time has come for them to return home to Allyra. Greg Whalen's generally relaxed narration presents a strong contrast to his suspenseful delivery of the events that unfold. As the youngsters' journey home begins, led by the Sentinels, the Spider King and his minions actively try to destroy them. Whalen uses a range of accents, some which sound more credible than others. In all, his narration is well paced and engaging. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400315050
• ISBN-13: 978-1400315055
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #267,644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wayne Thomas Batson was born in Seabrook, MD in 1968. During the early years he tortured his older brothers and sisters, doing those things that only younger siblings can do to get on your nerves.
He attended Gabriel DuVal Senior High School and wrote this for his Yearbook
Senior Goals: To become a professional writer or artist. During the high school and early college years, he played lead guitar for a rock band called "Contagious." They were catchy, but apparently not enough to get a record deal.

Having completed the rigorous Holmes English Literature Curriculum, he graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1991. In 1996, he received his first graduate degree in Counseling. He has continued his studies with 36 credit hours of graduate-level Reading courses.

Wayne Thomas Batson has spent the last fifteen years teaching Reading and English to middle schools students. He pioneered the active instruction of Strategic Reading in Anne Arundel County and has written Reading and English Curricula for Anne Arundel County, Carroll County, and Howard County Public Schools. Most recently, he helped develop the Challenge Reading Curriculum for advanced readers in Howard County, Maryland.
Wayne Thomas Batson lives in Eldersburg with his beautiful wife of eleven years and his four wonderful young children. Besides dividing his time between family, teaching, and writing, he likes to read, golf, play PS2, travel to the beach, play electric guitar, and create 3D artwork.

Wayne Thomas Batson is the Bestselling author of five adventure novels including the fantasy epic Door Within Trilogy and the pirate duo Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire. A middle school Reading and English teacher for 18 years, Batson loves to challenge--and be challenged by--his students. So, when he began writing stories to supplement the school district's curriculum, it was his students who taught their teacher a lesson. Batson's students were so taken by one of the stories that, over a thirteen year span, they pushed him to make it into a full-length novel. That story became The Door Within. Since then, Batson's students continue to be his frontline editors. Says Batson, "Two things you can count on from middle school students: Intelligence and Honesty. Kids are so much more perceptive than a lot of us 'Big Folk' give them credit for. And when something's not write in the story, they'll tell you about in very clear terms." Batson is teaming up with author and friend Christopher Hopper for a new book series, The Berinfell Prophecies. The first book, Curse of the Spider King, hit bookstores in October 2009. It promises to turn the traditional "portal fantasy" on its head, posing the question: What would happen if the fantasy came to us? Batson believes his books appeal to so many kids and adults because, at a deep level, we all long to do something that matters, and we all dream of another world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heed the Prophecies, November 22, 2009

By 

Petriekidn - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Curse of the Spider King: The Berinfell Prophecies Series - Book One (Hardcover)

Heed the prophecies all you readers out there. I'm sure by now you've scanned reviews and heard the echoes of the impact this book is making. I am 15 years old and devour all kinds of fantasy, secular and Christian, adult and teen works. To start, this book proved itself worthy to sit on the number one spot of my "Best Modern Fantasy" list. At least until its sequel is released.

COTSK is about 7 teenagers, each from varying backgrounds (a variety enough for any reader to resonate with at least one), who are thrust into strange and confusing circumstances wrought with danger and mystery. COTSK is the story of another world, Allyra, and how the noblest of all races in that world was nearly destroyed. COTSK is the story of how 7 teens are revealed as Elven lords prophesied to save a dying land.

Now don't leave me yet. Curse of the Spider King is NOT your average "two worlds" novel. This isn't the type of story where children wander into another world and are instantly filled with unlikely courage and save the day. Quite the contrary. This is the story where realistic teens with hurting and burdensome hearts are faced with an impossible task (yes, quite impossible) and learn two words--Endurance and Victory.

Be prepared when you read this book for a large cast of characters, characters with distinct personalities and histories, deep characters, and be prepared to fall in love with them. Be prepared to read this book and forget about everything else save it. I have never felt the sensation of "not being able to put a book down" until I read this book. And I have read everything from Eragon to Shannara to Dragons In Our Midst. This book easily tops them all. And better yet, it lays the groundwork for an exciting series to come.

The world of Allyra is a world you do not want to forget, and you do not want to miss out on.

Wayne Batson and Christopher Hopper have successfully combined their voices into one and written a beautiful book. Honorable adults, courageous characters, a loving almighty God. Hair raising battle scenes and repulsing spiders. Evil villians and mystery wrought within. And one insanely intriguing story-line, I'm still putting pieces together. And I'm loving it!

You will love this book.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Icky Wicky Spiders crawl from the pages of a book, October 25, 2009

By 

Donita K. Paul (www.dragonkeeper.us) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Curse of the Spider King: The Berinfell Prophecies Series - Book One (Hardcover)

Well, yuck! What can be worse than a room full of spiders? A book full of giant warrior spiders and their Gnar riders. Totally gross and a very good story. I enjoyed this book tremendously. I live in a basement (I call it my Hobbit Hole) and deal with bugs, usually centipedes. I wasn't sure I wanted to read a book with a Spider King in it. But the story captured me. There are quite a few characters to keep track of, but that was only a minor problem. Each of the 7 Elf lord children have distinct personalities, and the adult Elf Sentinels added rather than subtracted from the lengthy roll call. My favorite character is Kiri Lee, who plays wildly beautiful music on her violin and walks on the wind. I'd like to do both. The bad guys are really evil. The good guys are realistically drawn young teens. Their goal is impossible yet worthy of attempting. The whole thing comes together as an exciting read. I only wish the second book was here for me to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eency Weency Problems But Otherwise a Triumph, March 1, 2010

By 

fredtownward "The Analytical Mind; Have Brain... (Mocksville, North Carolina, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Curse of the Spider King: The Berinfell Prophecies Series - Book One (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I was already a fan of Wayne Thomas Batson's previous fantasy trilogy The Door Within, The Rise of the Wyrm Lord, and The Final Storm and his two pirate adventures Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire, and I knew Christopher Hopper's The White Lion Chronicles Rise of the Dibor and The Lion Vrie by reputation so I leaped at the chance to try the product of their collaboration. I'm glad I did because while it is not perfect (what is?), it is very, very good, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

As other reviewers have pointed out, having SEVEN heroes asks an awful lot of the reader; we don't finish meeting them all until Chapter 16! Now to Batson's and Hopper's credit, I DIDN'T need a chart to keep the heroes straight, which I half suspected I would need, in fact the seven leads are quite distinctly drawn: 4 boys, 3 girls; 1 child prodigy, 1 star athlete, 5 middle of the pack; 1 Asian, 1 Black, 4 Whites, 1 kind of Bluish; 1 Briton, 1 Korean raised French, and 5 Americans. However, I cannot say the same about the two dozen or so Sentinels and Dreadnaughts; I don't even know for certain how many of them there are. It doesn't help that so many of them occupy similar roles as librarians, booksellers, and teachers. Add to that six sets of parents, school chums, plus all the characters back on Allyra, and, well, the reader will be referring back to the three pages of Principal Cast Listing, which contains nowhere near the entire cast, quite a lot. Let us hope that with the transfer of action to Allyra and the presumed absence for the duration of all the characters left behind on Earth, Batson and Hopper will not be continuing to introduce a bunch of new characters.

Batson and Hopper wisely cover the Allyran back story exactly once, picking up different bits and pieces from each hero's reading of "The History of Berinfell". They also keep things interesting by staggering the heroes' stories; when switching between main characters, they are all proceeding down their superficially similar experience paths at different rates and doing some things in different orders. The result avoids either confusion or boredom, a nice trick.

You never know exactly how the work of two individually published authors will change in collaboration; events have yet to begin moving with that relentless "Batson pace" so familiar to his readers, but that may be because they spend most of this first book just introducing the cast! In any event I am well and truly hooked and eagerly looking forward to the next book in The Berinfell Prophecies Series Venom and Song.