Customer Reviews

The Seven Professors of the Far North

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

 

 

I realized I wanted my review in the hardback too!

My son): I really liked the part when they were on the ISNT train and I really liked when they went on the plane and how one of the characters escaped. It was a fascinating book. I would definitely read another book that he has written.

(Mom:)My son read the book in 5 days and was glued to the book. It was a great adventure story about 3 kids saving the world (and it had a few pictures). It was a great mixture of a good story, fantasy and geography. In fact, the book was very well written especially for a children's book, but a much more manageable size than Harry Potter. My son is a third grader and enjoyed every minute of it!

THE SEVEN PROFESSORS OF THE FAR NORTH is an exciting adventure tale, rippled with inventive and surprising technology. It begins when 11-year-old Sam Carnabie is invited to spend his Easter holidays with an old friend of his parents, Professor Ampersand. Professor Ampersand, an inventor, has dozens of interesting contraptions, from a motorcycle built for four to an oven-boiler that heats water at the same time that it cooks food. Professor Ampersand's great niece and nephew, Ben and Zara, are delighted to show Sam all the innovative delights their house has to offer.

No sooner have they finished dinner on the very first night of Sam's visit, however, than an urgent message arrives, quickly followed by five of Professor Ampersand's former colleagues. Together with another scientist, Professor Murdo, they were once responsible for trying to found a top-level university at Nordberg, a tiny island in the far north. However, when Professor Murdo's unethical experiments came to light, he decided to flee, taking his six colleagues with him and abandoning them in a huge field of snow and ice. Only a secret known to one of them, a secret they've all promised never to reveal, got them home safely. When Professor Murdo's private soldiers show up a few hours later and kidnap all six professors, Sam, Ben and Zara are left with only a confusing clue to the secret and their unwavering determination as they set off to find the professors and unmask Murdo's frightening scheme.

The three children's surprising and exciting adventures are at the heart of the rest of the book as they wend their way north to the island of Nordberg. Alternating with scenes from the life of another girl, Marcia, who ends up in Professor Murdo's clutches for entirely different reasons, the story of Ben, Zara and Sam's escapades are edge-of-your-seat exciting, but always plausible in the context of the story. Fardell's world of surprising inventions means that the reader is constantly making new discoveries right along with the kids in the story. Although based in fact and science rather than fantasy, Fardell's world building is on a par with the Harry Potter books --- in fact, THE SEVEN PROFESSORS OF THE FAR NORTH reminded me more of the spirit of Harry Potter than any of the numerous copycat fantasy books spawned since the young wizard's success.

Each of the three children brings his or her own skills to the adventure --- Sam's preparedness, Ben's map-reading abilities, Zara's boldness --- and each of them comes up with innovative ideas when they're most needed, usually just in the nick of time. As the book approaches its exciting conclusion, it's easy to believe that their adventures have helped Sam, Ben and Zara develop the courage they need to confront Professor Murdo.

From start to finish, John Fardell's THE SEVEN PROFESSORS OF THE FAR NORTH is a delight to read.

--- Reviewed by Paula Jolin

I liked the book so much because it had a lot of action and some mystery. The 7 Professors started out as friends but one had a sinister plot in mind. Their goal was to build a university in the far north, but then the bad professor burned the buildings down and kidnapped the other professors. Will 3 kids be able to rescue the professors?! Read this book to find out.

Sam's parents have gone to a conference and left him with Zara, Ben, and their great uncle, Professor Alexander Ampersand. The actions starts off right after the first chapter, when a stranger appears at Professor Ampersand's house with disturbing news: Professor Murdo is alive and well and still conducting his ghoulish experiments on the Arctic island of Nordberg. Ampersand calls on his old colleagues, and before they can develop a plan, they are kidnapped and taken to the Arctic by Professor Murdo's evil forces, leaving Sam, Ben and Zara to save them. Rollicking adventure ensues as the children struggle to uncover Murdo`s plot and find the 7 Professors of the title.

This novel is low on story and high on action. The 7 Professors of the Far North tries to be too much like that other popular childrens`adventure series A Series of Unfortunate Events. There are some imaginative pieces (the secret underground railway) that could have been developed with more panache, but overall this is a book that children in grades 3 and 4 should enjoy. It`s not one of those children`s books that is good for adults, however.

Young Sam Carnabie is staying Professor Ampersand and his great niece and nephew, Zara and Ben for a few weeks while his parents attend a conference. Professor Ampersand's home is filled with Rube Goldberg inventions and "labor saving" devices.

Late one night an old friend of the professor's arrives, exhausted and fearful with news that an old enemy, has returned. In the course of the evening, Professor Ampersand tells the children about an earlier part of his life when he and six other professors founded a university on Nordbergen , a remote island in the far North, only to be betrayed by one of them. Roderick Murdo was discovered to have kidnapped a baby for some ghastly experiment. The baby was saved but Murdo left the professors to die in the wilderness of the Arctic and disappeared.

Ampersand summons the other professors to let them know that their nemesis has returned to Nordbergen. As they plan how to thwart him again, Murdo's goons arrive and kidnap the professors. The children are left to follow the few clues they have in order to rescue them and save the world.

A secret subterranean railroad (very cool,) snowmobiles, and submarines convey the kids to Nordbergen. Murdo is a "James Bond" style villian whose human shaped high rise headquarters is a super complex of high tech gadgetry and genetic engineering evil.

The kids must figure things out but they are helped by adults along the way.

I liked the small b&w drawings that are sprinkled throughout the text. The book had an old-fashioned feel that got better as the story progressed. I will be interested to see how kids go for it.

I'm not a kid, and I haven't been one for so long it's sad. But like a kid, the cover of the book caught my eye and intrigued me. The price was great so I bought it and I'm glad I did. This is a really wonderful book-- full of fun, adventure, and invention. Another reviewer here compared it to the Harry Potter books and I agree: it holds up quite nicely. The characters aren't quite as rich (Fardell doesn't quite seem to know what to do with Zara) but the story is a page-turner and you never know quite what you're going to get on that next page.

For parents wondering about the book, it's definitely appropriate for kids as young as 9 or 10, provided they're up to reading a "real" book. The situations are tense but I don't think there's anything that's likely to give them nightmares. And the bad guys are punished, even when, as in one case, it's someone who does something illegal but is kind and helpful to the young heroes. Also, there are no, ahem, "adult" situations at all, so you don't have to worry about it in that regard. One other good thing is that two of the kids in the book are girls and they're very brave, noble and smart. Plus, they're presented completely on the same level as the boys, not just "smart for a girl" or anything like that.

The only problem I had was with the climactic scene: it seemed to be too quick, a little too convenient, and a little too easy. Once they got to that scene there were no more complications or twists. That's one thing I can say about the Potter books: they're twisty and interesting right up till the end.

I'm tempted to give my review only 4 stars for two reasons: 1) A "5" implies that this is the best-- that it can't get any better. But that's not the case. It *could* be better. And 2) Well, it could be better. HOWEVER, it's definitely worth reading and I wouldn't want to risk lowering the overall ranking by giving it only 4 stars. The qualms I had with the climax are likely just my own pickiness, so I don't want anyone put off, yet I do want to keep the review honest.