Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards [Paperback]

N. D. Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 8, 2009 | Age Range: 8 and up | Series: The 100 Cupboards (Book 2)

Henry York never dreamed his time in Kansas would open a door to adventure—much less a hundred doors. But a visit to his aunt and uncle’s farm took an amazing turn when cupboard doors, hidden behind Henry’s bedroom wall, revealed themselves to be portals to other worlds. Now, with his time at the farm drawing to a close, Henry makes a bold decision—he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he’s from and who his parents are. Following that trail will take him from one world to another, and ultimately into direct conflict with the evil of Endor.

N. D. Wilson and his wife live in Idaho. Also visit www.ndwilson.com.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—In this dense and worthy sequel to 100 Cupboards (Random, 2007), Henry York, having discovered that he, like his uncle Frank, actually comes from a world beyond the magic cupboards in his attic room, decides to enter it again. This is a last-ditch attempt to learn more about his origins and about the strange dandelion magic that has recently seared its way into his body. Henry, his cousin Henrietta, and the rest of his Kansas family end up scattered in different parts of the world from which both Henry and his uncle came, struggling against an evil witch and her powerful minion. The plot is complicated, and readers not familiar with the first book will be hopelessly confused. The shifting locations and the many characters and factions are bewildering, but most of the characters have such deliciously flawed and fascinating personalities that fans of that book will go with the flow, waiting to see what the next bend of plot might bring. A quiet and quirky humor warms up the proceedings as well, leavening even the most intense scenes. The ending is satisfying enough to serve as a series closer, but luckily for fans of this challenging but rewarding trilogy, there is still one more installment to come.—Eva Mitnick, Los Angeles Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

N. D. Wilson is the bestselling author of the Ashtown Burials series and Leepike Ridge. When he was a kid, he spent nearly a year living in his grandparents’ attic. If there were cupboards in those walls, he never found them. He and his wife live in Idaho, along with their five young explorers.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Bluefire; Reprint edition (December 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375838848
• ISBN-13: 978-0375838842
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.1 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Closes the cupboard door July 25, 2009

By KatyM

Format:Hardcover

The wonderful novel 100 Cupboards--to which this is a sequel--set up the magical cupboard that leads to other worlds. Our hero Henry, of Henry, Kansas, discovers the cupboards in that book and discovers the mystery of his own origins. I loved that book and was thrilled to read Dandelion Fire, but though WIlson shows that his next books will move easily into high fantasy, I was disappointed that the worlds he set up are not more thoroughly explored and the charming situation set up in 100 Cupboards was swiftly transformed into a very dark fantasy. As I note in the title of this review, kids will enjoy this book, but be warned it's much, much darker than the first volume and not a little disturbing. That said, I'm looking forward to following Wilson's career. He's going interesting places as he finds his voice and subject matter of choice. Leepike Ridge made allusions to alternate history; 100 Cupboards opens the door to full-fanstasy; and Dandelion Fire moves through the cupboard...

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Wonderful June 17, 2009

By Taylor Adams

Format:Hardcover

Book two in the "100 Cupboards" trilogy (with book three, The Chestnut King due out early-to-middling next year), Dandelion Fire is masterful, glorious, breathtaking, dark and charming all at once. This is fantasy worthy of the name, and stands starkly in the same stream that Tolkien and Lewis stood in, if a bit downstream and only up to its knees.

Dandelion is much richer, both as a narrative itself and in its themes and messages, than was 100 Cupboards. As a necessity then, the situations are a bit more intense, the quest is a bit more serious and life-threatening, as is typical of the middle book of a trilogy.

The writing too is richer and has more depth; Wilson's charm is in his use of language and part of that involves his staggeringly fine prose. He relies heavily on metaphor, not in a strictly English-major sense, but in the broad sense of letting the mind of the reader assemble the picture via some back-ended sentences that seem to go around the block to get next door. That is an intentional and magnificent way of using not merely the words but the spaces between the words, to create meaning. It is not merely in what he says, but also in what he does *not* say that the reader finds meaning. His method of writing is associational rather than flatly literal and subtractive; instead of spoon-feeding he allows meaningful associations to cluster together. But do not fear; it is not difficult reading either and he is careful not to overwhelm the reader with that sort of thing.

But by far the best thing about this book is the thematic message, which is why I was surprised to see a couple of reviews claiming there was none; it is rather like God in The Lord of the Rings. It is everywhere present but nowhere mentioned. The novel is about fathers and sons, which appears to be a regular motif in all of Wilson's fiction thus far. In particular, this book revolves around naming and unnaming, the power of names. Henry quickly finds that he has not been named by his parents because he has not yet been christened. The Christian undertones of the first book begin to come to the surface here; Henry is a boy in search of an identity, one that can only be found in family and baptism/christening.

I do not know what lays ahead in Wilson's final chapter; I can merely count down the days until the final installment is released. Until then, this book has earned itself a permanent place on my "Favorite Novels Ever" shelf.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read... February 28, 2009

By D. G.

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Loved 100 Cupboards but the sequel, Dandelion Fire, kept me up all night! The influence of Chesterton, Lewis, and Tolkien cannot be missed in his writing. Like all of Wilson's books, I find them most enjoyable read outloud, so go find someone to read to!