From School Library Journal
Grade 5-6 In this sequel to the fantasy The Dark Green Tunnel (Little, 1984), twins Lara and Barnaby get lost in an airport corridor and find themselves back in the land of Mesmeria. During their short absence, hundreds of Mesmerian years have passed, and the evil sorcerer Krumpp has imprisoned the good witch Mag Namodder and taken over the land. The twins must search for a magic wand with which to confront Krumpp in his Black Castle. All that readers learn about Lara is that she cries at tense moments and is an apprentice sorcerer; she has no distinct personality. Eckert is clearly an admirer of C. S. Lewis' "Narnia" books, but he lacks Lewis' skill at creating and populating new worlds. Although his ideas are ingenious, they do not blend into a whole. Readers miss the sense of entering a new country with its own past and future. In addition, Eckert's style is too bland to create a mood, so that tension arises merely from the pace of the plot. The book is illustrated with numerous soft black-and-white drawings, plus four illustrations in full color. Unfortunately these four are placed several pages before the action they illustrate. Ruth S. Vose, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Allan W. Eckert is the critically acclaimed author of such young adult novels as Incident at Hawks Hill (A Newberry Honor Book), Song of the Wild, and Savage Journey. He has been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize seven times.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
