Customer Reviews

Woven Path (Tales from the Wyrd Museum S.)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm a sucker for big fat kids' fantasy books (big fat adult fantasy books tend to throw me off) and I picked up "Woven Path" with great anticipation. I was not disappointed. Robin Jarvis, who wrote the great fantasy book "Dark Portal," weaves an intriguing fantasy story.

Neil Chapman is "our hero," a young man who comes to the Wyrd Museum (a pun on Weird?), a rather grimy and unimpressive building in the East End. Creepy hardly describes the odd museum, run by three old ladies who are... uh, creepy. Who are they? What are they?

Better brush up on Greek and Norse myths, as these bizarre old ladies are the Fates, who weave a cloth composed of the life-threads of all the people of the world into their future. When Neil steps into the Separate Collection, he is swept through time and space to London. In WW2. A scramble will result before Neil can hope to return, with some odd new friends...

The idea of a magical place being run by the Fates is an intriguing and original idea indeed, and Jarvis does it justice. The three are suitably creepy and strange, and the inner mood of their museum matches their personalities.

Neil is a better-than-usual book hero, a very realistic person with great reactions and some very good lines. And the character of Ted was sweet, nuff zed. Jarvis skillfully manages to make Ted believable and sympathetic, not juvenile or stupid.

The writing style is snappy where it needs to be and drawn out where it needs to be, with pretty good descriptions and characterization. I got confused a few times in this book, where the plot took a twist and I inadvertantly missed it, but the story flows well overall.

A wonderful read, and I cannot wait for "Raven's Knot"!

This was the first time that I had read a Robin Jarvis book. From the moment that I picked the book up I was captivated by it and I could not bear to put it down. The struggle of the Ned, (sent to find Edie Dorkins in the time of the blitz) with his new friend, Ted, (who had been trapped inside a teddy for years) was heart warming. I have now followed the plight of the Webster sisters, Edie and Ned right through to the end of the third book and I enjoyed all three books thoroughly. I am now searching libraries and book shops for other Robin Jarvis titles. Read this book and you will be as captivated as I was. The Wyrd Museum never has a dull moment.

The suspense, mystery, and wonder in this book are those which will thrill all. Dangerous spies, talking toys, a boy who is tangled up with destiny, souls, spirits, and demons all come together in this marvelous read. Who has been commiting all these crimes? How does Germany know the exact night to attack? How did Neil get thrown into the past, together with a talking toy? Who are the three women? An intriguing read-one which will not be forgotten soon.

I suggest any parent read this book before letting your child do so. I was unable to finish it due to the very graphic and horrific description of a dog being stoned nearly to death by some boys. The writer excelled at getting the image of the little dog trying to crawl to a friendly human with his broken legs and his bloody lips where his teeth had been knocked out and wagging his tail at his friend even in that battered condition forever stuck in my head. Then the person in the book picks up a rock and bashes the dog's head in to put him out of his misery. A few pages later the dog's owner was eaten by the demon. That's where I stopped. This is not a good book and definitely not for kids.

This book is about 11-year-old Neil Chappman, whose parents just recently got divorced and he now lives with his father. The father got a job as a caretaker at a creepy museum. Because the father hadn't much money, Neil and his father had to live at the museum. While exploring the museum, Neil got sent back in time where he had to save the lives of 4 people.

I liked this book because of the way the author used descriptive language, as well as the amazing characters that the author developed. This is a great book for anyone who loves fantasy and adventure stories, but it has some scary bits in it so it's probably not for little kids.

The Wyrd Museum trilogy has some of the most spine-tingling moments I have ever come across in juvenile fiction. While it is probably a little too gruesome for the 9 and under set, it provides plenty of thrills and chills for everyone 10 and above.

When you have grown weary of the exploits of a certain young wizard, come and visit with the Webster sisters for a magical tale of a more sinister sort. Nothing in or around Hogwarts has ever been this creepy!

I enjoyed this book and thought it was well written. I think it was too graphic for most of my children (13, 11, 9, 7). It seems to be written for too mixed an audience. The hero is an eleven year old boy and a teddy bear, but the story revolves around adults and an adult situation. Definitely for older kids.

As a kid, I read Book One (The Dark Portal) of the Deptford Mice trilogy until the pages were creased and worn from use. It wasn't until I was 25 that I got to read the rest of the trilogy, and was as enthralled as I had been when I was much younger. Recently, a friend of mine and I were chatting about old books, and Robin Jarvis came up in discussion, prompting a renewed interest in his writings. What had one of my favorite authors written since last I thought to pick anything up by him? A search at Amazon revealed The Woven Path - book one of the Wyrd Museum Trilogy, which I thought looked rather promising.

Sadly though, The Woven Path just didn't do it for me. Having read (and even that much was an effort) roughly halfway through the book, I have sadly had to admit that I really am wasting my time. The book had a nice atmosphere, a spooky, dark feeling to it which left me optimistic that this would be an enjoyable read, but sadly I remained bored, not really all that interested in the characters or the plot (perhaps too many ideas struggling for my attention) and when the time travel element was introduced, I found myself truly struggling to find the motivation to read further.

A book should not require this much forced effort to read, and I really do have to admit that the whole effort is something I have not enjoyed at all. Of all the characters in the book, I really don't think much to Neil, I particularly dislike Ted, and the rest aren't much better. Plot feels a bit flimsy, with far too much happening that doesn't really make any sense or seem relevent. Of course, I do expect answers to be given by the end of the book, but I have to admit that I really don't care to know them.

And for that reason, and with much dissapointment, this book has been set on my "donate to charity" pile.

Anyone who gets scared, don't bother to read this book. I read the woven path series (the English one)years ago, and it is still on my bookshelf. If you enjoy these books, try all the other ones by Robin Jarvis, you'll be hooked! (like me, I've been addicted to them for 5 years!)

A must read!!! If they made a movie out of this, it would probably outsell Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. It keeps you on the edge of your seat and you simply can NOT put it down. If you like books with mystery, action, comedy, horror, drama, romance or ANYTHING of everything all three of the Wyrd Museum books deliver and keep you wanting more!!!