Customer Reviews

Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The first time since I read Harry Potter that I have been tempted to keep reading rather than feed my family. I suggest getting multiple copies if you have more than a few kids, or you may also be tempted to steal from your children. Tons of excitement and great sentence structure in this delightful series.

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...

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.

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!

Our family blazed through Dandelion Fire. Not because we were in a hurry but because we couldn't put it down. Ranging from ages 5 to 40, we all loved it. Our youngest boy loved the creepy factor, our 10 year old daughter loved Henry's (and Henrietta's) character growth, our oldest son loved the power Henry gained and the quirkiness of Frank the Fat Fairy. My husband and I enjoyed all of the above as well as the fun Biblical allusions, being reminded of the magic in the everyday, and the "family vacation" that we all experienced in our living room.

I didn't think this book was as good as the first. I really struggled to get through it and didn't get interested until the last few chapters. I felt several parts were hard to understand and found myself having to re-read several different paragraphs.

Only a couple of weeks have passed since Henry York and his cousin, Henrietta, had their adventure in the mysterious cupboards adorning the wall of Henry's attic room.

Since he'd come to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins in Kansas, Henry discovered the hidden wall of cupboards accidentally, and learned that each one leads to a different time and place. Built by their grandfather, who listed the combinations to the different worlds in his journal, the cupboards can only be traveled through via the large cupboard in Grandfather's room, which had been locked tight until the battle with the witch of Endor.

Henry's aunt and uncle receive a letter from his parent's lawyer saying that Henry must return to Boston in two weeks. Henry can't stand the thought of going back, especially now that he might have more of a history in one of the cupboard worlds than he'd ever imagined, and he grows desperate to escape through the door to Badon Hill, which calls to him in his dreams.

Henrietta, who'd stolen the key to Grandfather's bedroom so that she could explore the cupboards on her own, finally relents, and she and Henry go behind the barn to retrieve the key. While Henry keeps watch in the growing storm and Henrietta digs, he spots a curious dandelion that appears to glow. Reaching for it, Henry sees a flash of light and is knocked unconscious, with only a dandelion shaped burn on his hand to indicate what happened.

After a stranger visits him in his dreams, and he awakens blind, Henry knows that he must escape into the cupboards to find a better explanation of what's happening to him. Unfortunately, less compassionate forces are already interested in his growing abilities...

I must admit that I liked this book much better than its forerunner, 100 CUPBOARDS, if only for the fact that I felt much more involved with the characters and that we find out more about the history of the cupboards. Everything comes together in this volume, and, taken as a whole, this original concept makes for an interesting, action-filled story that will keep horror and fantasy lovers on their toes.

Reviewed by: Allison Fraclose

Dandelion Fire was absolutely fabulous! My husband and I love Nate Wilson's books - don't start it unless you have quite a bit of time because you won't be able to put it down! We can't wait until the 3rd one comes out!

DANDELION FIRE (BOOK 2 OF THE 100 CUPBOARDS)
N.D. WILSON
Middle Grade Fantasy
Random House Children's

Rating: 3.5 Enchantments

Henry York has two weeks left in Kansas with his Aunt and Uncle before he's going to be sent back to Boston and his parents--well, one of them, whoever gets custody in their sudden unexpected divorce. Two weeks to explore the cupboards and find out where he's really from and who he really is. Two weeks really isn't a long time to make his way through all the cupboards, a timeframe that gets even smaller when what looks like a freak accident seems to render Henry blind.

An imaginative tale, DANDELION FIRE is nothing like I've read before. From the unusual raggant, the creature that Henry believes was sent to find him, which has to mean someone in one of the cupboards is out there looking for him too. I have to admit, some of the early chapters were a little hard to follow since I hadn't read Book 1 in the series, but by the 100 page mark I was totally immersed in the story and actually enjoyed the parts with Uncle Frank and Aunt Dotty not too mention what was happening to Henrietta at times more than Henry. The story splits soon after Henry`s blindness, following Henry as he fights to get away from the mysterious and evil Darius and get back to the farmhouse; Uncle Frank and Aunt Dotty along with Anastacia and Penelope, along with a few surprise guests; and Henrietta, who finds herself alone in one portal, escaping from being held hostage and trying to find the only person she thinks can help her, Eli. Filled with vivid imagery, a compelling story that makes you wonder if things will work out and the entire family will ever be reunited again, fans of middle grade fantasy will no doubt enjoy this addition to the 100 Cupboards series.

Nathan D. Wilson holds a Master's degree in Liberal Arts from Saint John's College in Annapolis, Maryland (2001). He served as a part-time Lecturer at New Saint Andrews from 2001-2004, and was promoted to Fellow of Literature in the fall of 2004. He still teaches part-time. Visit him online at http://www.ndwilson.com/ and check out the 100 Cupboards website at www.randomhouse.com/kids/100cupboards

Lisa
Enchanting Reviews
February 2009

I just wanted to get in that warning, because the first book is quite a bit more lighthearted, and thus more suitable for younger readers. Thus, your younger child may get a little scared by this, the second book in the series.

Or, more likely, they'll love it. This is a rarity, a sequel that is better than the first. We get far deeper into the mysteries of the Cupboards and the Doors into elsewhere and elsetime.

In fact, this book we spend most of the book in one rather dark- but still funny at times- world. Our protagonists have some very close and scary scrapes here, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat, and wanting to finish it all in one go.