Customer Reviews

The Secret Country (The Secret Country Trilogy)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Secret Country Trilogy is one of the best reprinted by Firebird Books, one of the best fantasy imprints presently in existance. In the first book, "The Secret Country," Pamela Dean draws readers into a magical story that brings to mind classics of the fantasy genre.

Patrick, Ruth, Ellen, Ted, and Laura have played at the "Secret" for almost a decade, weaving elaborate medieval fantasies full of magic, treachery, wizards, unicorns, sorceresses and plenty of political intrigue. But one day things change: Ted and Laura discover a house that wasn't there before, and a little sword with blue stones stuck in a hedge. The sword somehow pulls them into the Secret Country, where their games have become reality.

Patrick, Ruth and Ellen have also been pulled into the Secret Country, and now have the status and abilities of their fictional alter egos. But they don't have time to be excited about it, before being swept into a growing war and possible treachery. But the Secret Country now threatens to be more deadly than a mere game -- they don't know as much about the future events as they think, and they aren't sure how they can get back home.

While it sounds like a thousand D&D roleplaying novels, "Secret Country's" sense of humor and delicate writing elevate it beyond other novels where the heroes get sucked into their own fantasy world. But despite seemingly cutesy plot elements (unicorns) and names ("Well of the White Witch"), this book avoids being precious at any point.

The writing has the crisp quality of old favorites, bringing to mind classic fantasy authors like C.S. Lewis and Susan Cooper. With relatively few words she brings the book's events to life ("Ted was watching Matthew dismember some complicated shellfish"), with humor and plenty of detail. The contrast between the teenage heroes and the medieval lords is sharply defined by their speech and behavior.

At the start of the book, like in the Narnia Chronicles, it's a little hard to separate the individual leads from one another. But as the book progresses, they start to become distinct and vivid individually. Clumsy Laura, thoughtful Ted, possibly magical Ruth and the others make good, solid, believable leads for this book.

The Secret Country trilogy is being brought to a new wave of fantasy fans. "The Secret Country" is well-written, bright with imagination and well worth reading.

I picked this book up at the store several times, and always set it down again. Finally I found an old edition at a used book store, and took the plunge. Boy, am I glad the trilogy was reprinted! The Secret Country ends rather abruptly, leaving very little resolved except the reader's intention to find book number two. Which I did. And read in one sitting the same night. I did not understand all of it, and certainly did not catch all the literary references, but when I reached the end of the trilogy, I wanted nothing so much as to pick up the first and start it again, merely for the pleasure of keeping company with the likes of Ted, Ruth, Laura, and the various denizens of the Hidden Land. And much the same way as I check every wardrobe I see for a passageway to Narnia, I will now keep a sharp eye for strange houses surrounded by hedges. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear my book calling...

The Secret Country is the first title in the Secret Country trilogy, which takes the usual kids-from-our-world-are-transported-to-a-magical-realm story structure and turns it on its head. Not only do these kids know this world - they've made up stories about it and acted them out for many years - but they find they're forced to take the places of the princes, princesses, and sorcerers everyone in the Secret Country thinks they are, even though they can't fight with swords or use magic. In addition, the five children are finding that not everything they made up in their games turns out to be true...

The Secret Country is now one of my favorite books, and I've re-read it several times - I can't believe it ever went out of print! The world and plot are quite unlike anything else I've read, and the five children were all very vivid and distinct people - I never mixed them up, one of the problems I've found in other stories. Other characters were also well written, and I enjoyed the mix of the somewhat Shakespearean speech of the inhabitants of the Secret Country with the modern talk of the children. The unicorns were also very interesting, with their wry sense of humor and ambivalent attitude towards humans.

If you the choice to read The Secret Country, it might be a good idea to note that this is one of those trilogies in which the three volumes are really just one long story, with cliffhanger endings. I wish someone had told me that when I first read this book - I immediately had to go back to the bookstore to purchase the next two books - they're titled The Hidden Land and The Whim of the Dragon, in case you didn't know.

Not only is there a sequel, there are TWO sequels, and make sure you have them both when you start reading. I didn't know it was a trilogy and got caught with a terrible cliffhanger-feeling at the end of the second book.
By the way, I've heard the whole series is going to be reprinted, starting in 2003! This is great news for all of us who were having problems getting our hands on Book 3, The Whim of the Dragon. (Book 2, The Hidden Land, is much easier to find.)
The book deals with the story of five children who, like those in the Narnia books, travel into a fantasy world. Unlike the Pevensies, though, these children think they know what's happening in this world, because they wrote the script in a game they play! I've never before seen an author play with the idea of entering into your own world like that. Highly recommended, for its enjoyable writing and for its novel ideas!

_The Secret Country_ is a fun fantasy about five teenagers and pre-teens who accidentally stumble into the fantasy world that they themselves created in play. Unfortunately, they are their normal selves, not their powerful alter egos, and so they are in a magical medieval kingdom without magical abilities, weapons skills, or even decent horsemanship. And the catch is that everyone expects them to know these things--since their characters do. They get by, becoming involved in court intrigue while trying to stay out of trouble by quick thinking and by calling on their knowledge of the way the world works. And then the world starts to change, with characters and objects behaving in ways they never thought of in their game. This book is a role-player's dream, and perhaps nightmare as well. Pamela Dean once again shows herself a master of characterization, especially in her portrayal of the luckless, klutzy Laura, who just may be more than she seems to be. I just hope there's a sequel, since the story ends just when you'd expect it to start heading for a climax. And for some reason, it leaves me intrigued and fascinated, rather than annoyed.

This is not Narnia. These are real kids and real adults too (seen through kids' eyes). The language is deft, dense with layers of meaning and allusion - the more you bring to this book, the more you get from it. (The third book also works as a great source of enjoyable poetry.) Run, don't walk, to your nearest source and buy all three now.

I originally picked up this trilogy because it looked interesting and the other reviewers raved about it. Chapters into the first book, I began to wonder why it was so beloved. More questions than answers swam across the page, drowning me in confusion and frustration. I felt thrown into a sea without a life preserver. The language was too archaic at times, and I constantly felt I was not being given enough information to process the storyline.

I felt like I was plowing through the book with an old, tired horse in a massive field full of rocks while the burning sun beat down from above. Being a complete-ist, however, I trudged on and picked up book #2. Halfway through, I pleasantly discovered that my horse was more spry, the rocks had disappeared from the field, and I was wearing a broad-rimmed hat. I was still plowing, but it wasn't nearly as painful. By book #3, I had a tractor, cool breeze, and lemonade in my hand. The work was no longer a chore but a welcome vacation I found thoroughly enjoyable.

I can hardly account for the transition, but it did happen. I recommend the trilogy to those who are not afraid to persevere in the beginning to achieve a great reward in the end.

This is a great fantasy book, but not just for little kids! Allusions are as common in the Hidden Land as illusions, and things are seldom as they seem to be, and certainly not as expected! This book and its sequals have so much action and intrigue that they're hard to put down. Will the king be murdered? Will Ted have to kill the murderer? Who is the murderer anyway? And who is Claudia, the woman that the children could never have imagined? Read the book for yourself and find out!

If you know Pamela Dean's work at all, it's usually because of her novel Tam Lin, which is my absolute favorite book in the entire world (and let's be honest- most people who read my blog have heard me rhapsodize on my utter adoration of Tam Lin on many an occasion). Through that, however, I became acquainted with her Secret Country trilogy, a lighter fantastic romp through a not-quite-imaginary land with five not-quite-magical children. What would you do if your game of make-believe turned out to be quite real and in need of your help? If your answer is quote great literature and use your knowledge of fantasy to help you impersonate a person you spent nine years "making up..." then you'll quite enjoy this series.

I was at one of my fav. book stores and my sister pick up this book and started to read the back. As she set it down, I picked it up and read it. I totaly got hooked right away just by reading the back.( I am a big reader and love fantasy books)I soon bought the book and read it in a week. I soon found the other two and picked those up to. Right now I am reading the second one and am about half way through!

This book is about five cousins who every summer play their fantasy world -The Secret Country-. When one summer Ted and Laura find a strang house and a sword (which klumzy Laura tripped upon in a hedge). As soon as they go through the hedge they find themselves in their made up world. When they meet up with their other cousins (Ellen,Ruth, and Patrick) they soon find out things there arn't what they have made to be.

Many desisions come to the cousins to either go with the story or go with what the think should have been instead.

Great book!