The Faerie Door [Hardcover]

B. E. Maxwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Long ago the Faerie Queen created portals between our world and hers, so that children could summon help from faeries whenever the need arose. But a wicked entity called the Shadow Knight is endeavoring to control the doors between the two worlds, and only evil can get through. It falls to two imaginative eleven-year-olds—Victoria Deveny, from 1890 Britain, and Elliot Good, from 1966 America—to thwart his plan.

     The Faerie Queen dispatches the youths on separate quests to retrieve orbs of power that will ultimately defeat the Shadow Knight. Their bravery and friendship are tested as the children travel to fantastic realms and face life-threatening dangers—from dragons to flying pirate ships to a wicked sorceress queen—before they're reunited to confront the dreaded Shadow Knight.

(20080915)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–8—While visiting her uncle's estate, Victoria Deveny discovers a mysterious ring and a portal that transports her from Victorian England to New Hampshire in 1966. There, she meets Elliot Good, who has discovered a similar ring and gateway in a moldering mansion behind his home. Both rings are magic, of course, and soon Victoria and Elliot are sent on separate quests by the Faerie Queen to protect the rings from the dread Shadow Knight, who seeks to possess the means of traveling between worlds. What follows is a hodgepodge of evil sorceresses, Dickensian workhouses, flying pirate ships, dragons, and ballet, none of it particularly inventive or engaging. The writing is often stilted, and Elliot and Victoria never really emerge as fully developed characters. Instead, they come off as passive participants in their own story. With the tide of children's fantasy still riding high, libraries can skip this one.—Christi Esterle, Parker Library, CO
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From Booklist

Long ago, faeries crafted rings to open portals between their world and ours in times of need. Victoria, in 1890s England, finds one of these rings and ends up in America in 1966, where she meets Elliot, who has also found a ring. Both children soon flee to Faerieland, where they learn they must find orbs to defeat the Shadow Knight. Victoria is sent after the orb of ice in the Realm of Winter Knight, while Elliot is sent after the orb of fire in the evil Queen Ulricke’s realm. Victoria and Elliot are appealing, well-drawn characters, and many of the terrors they face on their separate journeys are imaginative. However, the evil menacing the world is vague, as are the workings of the rings and orbs, and the story feels overlong and cobbled together from fantasy conventions. There is no real payoff, either, as their ultimate confrontation with the Shadow Knight is relegated to an afterthought. Still, young readers may be captured enough by the characters and their dangerous encounters to enjoy their journey. Grades 5-8. --Krista Hutley

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; First Edition edition (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152063455
• ISBN-13: 978-0152063450
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,234,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a treasure!, September 13, 2008

By 

Grammie Gail (Naples, Fl) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faerie Door (Hardcover)

Whether 9 or 90, you will find a special place in your heart for Victoria Deveny and Elliot Good, the main characters in B. E. Maxwell's first novel for "young" readers.

For us "mature" readers, be prepared to rekindle the love of those first awe-inspiring characters we hold so dear. For me it was Dorothy and Toto, Peter Pan and Wendy and, a little later, Pippi Longstocking.

Victoria and Elliot take us into the magical place in our souls where the stresses and strains of today's world can melt away. Hang on as you are transported into the "fantastical" world of B.E. Maxwell's imagination.

Read this for yourself, to unlock the long-forgotten part of you where magic still exists. Or maybe, more importantly, be the one to introduce the youngest of our readers to that place where magical stories and your own imagination can create those special childhood memories we all cherish to this day.

Thank You B. E. Maxwell for sharing this amazing world with all of us.

Victoria and Elliot are characters for forever.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, October 10, 2008

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faerie Door (Hardcover)

Victoria Deveny is a young girl living in England in 1890. Elliot Good is a boy living in New Hampshire in 1966. Even though this pair is living decades apart, they share a love for all things faerie. The two read faerie stories and each one wishes to someday visit the faerie queen.

When Victoria discovers a secret passageway, she stumbles upon a magical ring and a portal into another time. At the same time, Elliot Good is finding another ring just like Victoria's. The two meet when Victoria crosses time and ends up near Elliot's house. The pair discover that although they have uncovered magic, there is something dark after them. They are soon being perused by the Shadow Knight and, in order to escape, they unlock another portal, this time into the land of faerie.

The Faerie Queen tells Victoria and Elliot that they are to embark on quests in order to stop the Shadow Knight and the evil queen he works for from gaining power. Both children must each retrieve a powerful magical orb; Elliot the orb of fire and Victoria the orb of ice. Each child must travel alone to various worlds and face dangers of all sorts.

Filled with wicked queens, good and evil magic, dragons, werewolf knights and, of course, faeries, THE FAERIE DOOR is a fantasy novel for all ages. Each chapter in told in an alternating view which helps keep the story moving. There are also plenty of scary moments that will have readers quickly turning pages. The author is very descriptive and the various worlds that Elliot and Victoria encounter are imaginative and full of magic.

Although the novel is fairly long, with over 400 pages, readers who stick with it will be rewarded.

Reviewed by: Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Detail, January 4, 2009

By 

Shannon M. Mcgee "Confuzzled Books" (PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Faerie Door (Hardcover)

The settings in this book are described beautifully. There is such care to the details that it's not overwhelming but just right. Victoria and Elliot, characters who wouldn't normally meet, but under the circumstances do, go well together. They have fun, and you have fun reading about them. I thought the story might be loosely based on a ballet which is mentioned in it, but after researching that, I believe this is the author's own creation, which leaves me liking it all the more.

I find the story original even while, yes, it starts as a quest with rings. It is unlike the Lord of the rings trilogy and stands on it's own. Only thing I didn't like was there were times when I had to put the book down. For a children's book, I thought it got a little dark, but that could be me mirroring my own dark times in it. I was frustrated in a good way, because the reason I put it down was that the book would get so dark and end a chapter where I did not know how it was going to end. I worried whether I would get a nice ending or a sad ending. Overall, I would say that makes it a great book, and I think kids will love it.