Illmoor Chronicles, The: The Ratastrophe Catastrophe - Book One [Hardcover]

David Lee Stone (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Illmoor Chronicles

Diek Wustapha is a normal shepherd boy-until a dark, evil magic instills him with the power to charm man and beast with his magic flute. When the ancient town of Illmoor is plagued by an infestation of giant rats, Diek offers to lead the rodents to their doom. But when the dim-witted Duke of Illmoor refuses to reward him, Diek seeks revenge by kidnapping the town's children. Just when it seems the children are gone for good, a team of misfit mercenaries-Groan, a buck-toothed Giant, Gordo, a wise-cracking dwarf, and Tambor, a has-been sorcerer-set out on a bumbling journey to stop Diek, and save the children. But will they be too late?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 - The city of Dullitch, on the continent of Illmoor,is home to humans, trolls, ogres, elves,and all sorts of magical creatures. Unfortunately, it is also overrun with rats, so the corrupt Duke offers a reward to any mercenary who can get rid of them. After a simple shepherd boy named Diek Wustapha shows up and plays his flute to charm the animals out of the town, the Duke refuses to pay the promised sum. The scenario is the familiar "Pied Piper of Hamelin" story, except that Diek is possessed by an ancient magical force that is both powerful and malevolent. He charms the children of Dullitch and leads them far away and into a mountain. Meanwhile, Tambor (an ex-wizard-turned-politician) joins forces with two of the mercenaries - Groan (a barbarian) and Gordo (a dwarf) - and, after spending a great deal of time drinking and carousing, the three of them, along with Tambor's grandson (a full-time thief), attempt to rescue the children. They soon find themselves in the middle of a showdown with Diek. The dialogue is fast paced and off-color jokes pepper the narrative. However, many of the puns fall flat and the self-conscious satire quickly gets old. The slick-looking, black-and-white illustrations show a cast of characters with exaggerated features. Fans of Eoin Colfer's "Artemis Fowl" series may enjoy this first installment of a planned trilogy, but those looking for a bit more depth may prefer Jonathan Stroud's Amulet of Samarkand (Hyperion, 2003). - Farida S. Dowler, formerly at Bellevue Regional Library, WA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 5-8. Diek Wustapha, a simple shepherd boy transformed by dark magic into a powerful charmer, can tame humans and beasts by playing his flute. The citizens of Illmoor have a giant rat infestation and call on Diek to alleviate the problem. When they refuse to pay, he responds by luring away the town's children. Two misfit mercenaries and an aging ex-sorcerer attempt to rescue the children before it's too late. Stone's satirical variation on the Pied Piper succeeds because of a strong cast of quirky characters and witty language. Particularly noteworthy are Groan Teethgrit, an enormous barbarian who wears a crocheted bobble hat and has a barracuda tooth attached to a nipple ring, and his sidekick Gordo Goldeaxe, a one-eyed dwarf who carries a battle-axe. Bob Lea's cover art and interior illustrations exhibit an almost photographic realism that makes effective use of light and shadow to lend an appropriately eerie feel. Clever and funny, with many pointed comments about the ineptitude of government, this first volume in the Illmoor Chronicles trilogy will be popular with sophisticated middle-grade fantasy buffs. Kay Weisman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion (October 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786851287
• ISBN-13: 978-0786851287
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,707,255 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sort of a watered down Terry Pratchett, July 31, 2006

By 

Hannibal (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illmoor Chronicles, The: The Ratastrophe Catastrophe - Book One (Stone, David Lee, Illmoor Chronicles, Bk. 1.) (Hardcover)

I picked up this book because someone (whom I will never forgive) told me that it was similar to Terry Pratchett. I bought it (with REAL MONEY!) and settled down to read it.

It was similar to Terry Pratchett alright. It looked as if the author had read a comic fantasy book before and thought that he could do the same thing. He introduced a bunch of characters (with stock quirks -- "mean", "crazy", "weird", "loony", "goofy", and "greedy"), conjured up an plethora of bizarre locales such as Dullitch, Phlegm, and the like) and used them as the backdrop for a "madcap" send-up of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The main problem was that the humor was shallow, at best. The dwarf, named Gordo, had a bunch of short jokes tossed at him all the time. Tambor was a sorcerer who is apparently helpless without his Spellbook (he can't even manage a lock picking spell). Groan is a big dumb oaf in the mold of hundreds of thousands of big dumb oafs. And Jimmy Quickstint is a clumsy thief, or something, I guess. These guys have one joke (Gordo is short, Tambor is weak, Groan is dumb, Jimmy is clumsy).

And it doesn't help that all of the other characters are even less amusing or interesting. The Duke Modeset is a bland Vetinari clone, with even more outward malevolence and less control of his people. He had an assistant (or two) whose names are similar and forgettable. These characters desperately tried to make their pet shticks entertain for the book's run and they fail, badly.

The one character that I thought was mildly interesting was Diek Wustapha, the Pied Piper and unwilling villain of the piece. He was the main reason I kept reading, and the story cheated me yet again of a satisfying end of the character, preferring instead to give me a cookie-cutter ending in the tradition of stories that books like these are trying to mock, not emulate.

I'll probably get the next one out of the library in case it's better than this one. But I still have to give Ratastrophe Catastrophe only 2 stars.

Oh, and if you want to read a genuinely humorous send-up of the Pied Piper story, try The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents. You won't regret it.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Read Pratchett instead!, May 12, 2005

By 

ANNA OIKONOMAKI "Anna" (Athens, Hellas, Europe) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Illmoor Chronicles, The: The Ratastrophe Catastrophe - Book One (Hardcover)

I only give this book one star because I cannot give 0. I was sorry I ever bought it and spent good money that would have bought me some other, more pleasant book.

If you want to read satire, read Terry Pratchett. If you enjoy reading the fairy tales you love re-written with wry humour and excellent characterisation, try The Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Masquerade etc. You will laugh and you will enjoy trully good books. Obviously Mr. Stone also loved them, and so he thought he could write something like that. But copying another man's style and ideas is vary rarely the road to success, especially if this other, namely Terry Pratchett, is already an established and, most important, a well-loved expert.

So I would suggest to Mr. Stone to avoid proceeding with more books of the Illmoor Chronicles, unless he is prepared to stop copying Pratchett and write something original. Indeed, I cannot stress how displeased I was when in every page of the book I saw bad copies of Diskworld characters (the mayor of the town for example is such a poor copy of the Patrician of Ankh Morpock), ideas (the criminal Guilds being part of the legal life of the town has been the major theme in most books of the Guard, and is mentioned in more than one other Diskworld books) and concepts (such as that of the magic having a life of its own and taking over the human mind). Don't waste your time reading Stone, go to the original and enjoy yourselves.

And, by the way, the story of the Pied Piper has also been reviewed by Terry Pratchett, in the Diskworld framework and for young adult readers, in The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents. Read it and you will know the difference between a good original humorous book and a poor uninspired flat one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ratastrophe Carastrophe, December 14, 2004

By 

"emily-r" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ratastrophe Catastrophe (The Illmoor Chronicles #1) (Audio Cassette)

Another version of the pied piper... Yet "Ratastrophe Catastrophe" is the best pied piper version for kids. Not because it is babyish but because it is fun, imanginative, funny and full of action!:-)

When a young nobody gets possesed by an evil creature he gets the power to enchant animals and people. Dullitch (a city) has a giant rat infestion, so they offer a huge award to anyone who will rid the city of the monstrous rats. Of course the evil enchanter does and when he gets told that the city has no money to Voice (inside his head) tells him to take all the children. The only people that can save the city are a dawrf, giant and a old time sorcerer that has lost his spell book and has a terrible memory.

Yes it sounds like just another ordinairy adventure were the heros are perfect and of course they are going to save the world but in this story the heroes are not perfect. They are ordinairy (well as ordinairy as you can get in a city run be thieves and assasins) that have their own problems.

All the characters in this story are funny by their personalities, faults or decisions. This is a truly hilarious book that any kid should read. It gives you a different version of the pied piper and in my mind a truly better one. This is a must read for any one looking for a less then perfect adventure!