The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy (Hardcover)

by Clare B. Dunkle (Author) "It's so nice to see new faces at Hallow Hill, isn't it Prim?..." (more)
Key Phrases: King's Wife, Hugh Roberts, Miss Winslow (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-Kate and her younger sister, Emily, are orphans, sent to live with great aunts at remote and mysterious Hallow Hill. Hugh Roberts, their guardian, is a surly and somewhat sinister cousin. One afternoon, the girls come upon some strange people and an abnormally huge cat in a clearing. One of these folk, Marak, is a goblin king. He needs Kate to be his human bride, for goblins may not marry their own kind. When Emily disappears, Kate assumes that he is responsible and agrees to marry him in exchange for her sister's freedom. Once in the goblins' vast underground kingdom, Kate is sure she will die from not being able to see the stars. But she does marry Marak and assumes her life as a queen. At this point the plot takes an unexpected turn. A sorcerer attacks Marak, and Kate discovers some surprising things about herself and her relationship with her husband. This is an interesting fantasy world with well-realized characters. Hugh Roberts is a true villain and Kate is a feisty heroine. Marak is frequently described as an ugly monster, and he definitely comes across as something other than human. However, he has a good nature and a sense of humor as well as a great love for his chosen wife. The goblin kingdom itself is beautifully described, as are the strange creatures that inhabit it. The story moves a bit slowly in places, but overall it should attract readers who like magic and adventure. Kate is surely a heroine to be reckoned with, and girls will relate to her predicament.
Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 5-8. When orphaned Victorian teenager Kate and her younger sister move to an estate they have inherited, Kate feels sure she's being watched. She's not wrong. The suave, hideous Goblin King, Marak, plans to kidnap and wed her (goblin women are mostly infertile, so "crossing out" to other species ensures the survival of the race). All seems poised for clever Kate to outmaneuver the villain, but the seemingly conventional setup gives way to something far more intriguing: the dreaded marriage actually happens. Readers are then plunged into the goblins' eerily lovely subterranean world, where Marak, despite his pitiless disregard for certain human sensibilities, surprises Kate with his wise leadership and husbandly concern. Each of the novel's three parts fairly brims with plot, at times things seem a bit rushed, and Kate's concluding adventure presupposes a devotion to her husband that hasn't yet been convincingly established. But this is a fresh, powerful twist on the Beauty-and-the-Beast theme, and the impact of Dunkle's evocative storytelling lingers long after the final page. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (October 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805073906
• ISBN-13: 978-0805073904
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #563,606 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a fantasy should be, September 21, 2004

By	E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Claire Dunkle makes a smashing debut with "The Hollow Kingdom," a look at those old legends about maidens being kidnapped by goblins. Dunkle has a wonderful flair for storytelling -- she gives you suspense, creeps, humor and romance, all entwined in a wonderfully surreal storyline.

Kate and Emily are recent orphans, sent to the estate of Hallow Hill to live with their sour-faced guardian Hugh. Soon after they arrive, the girls become lost in the woods -- and encounter goblins posing as gypsies. Kate finds that she is being singled out by the goblin king Marak to be his bride. The goblin kings always kidnap human girls to be their wives, and since Marak's mad wife has died, he wants a new queen to produce an heir for him.

At first, Kate resists Marak as he tries to kidnap her. But Hugh tricks Kate into walking down into Marak's realm and surrendering herself to be his wife, and Emily comes with her. At first Kate is miserable and homesick, since she is destined to remain underground for the rest of her life. But the goblins are falling prey to evil sorcery, which binds them in sleep, and threatens the whole hollow kingdom...

"Hollow Kingdom" is pretty much everything a fantasy should be -- fantastical, well-plotted, and with a well-created alternate world. Not to mention the goblins themselves. Dunkle has obviously thought out a lot of detailed history about elves, dwarves, and goblins, while carefully linking them with old legends. And she actually makes it halfway plausible.

Dunkle has a good writing style, polished, quick and full of details. Even long conversations about the history of goblins are kept interesting. Whether it's a goblin chase on a dark night or a sunrise seen through a lake, she makes it come alive. And despite the grimness of the storyline, Dunkle keeps plenty of humor in the dialogue. ("You're just like that other King!" "No. I'm not green.")

Kate is an excellent heroine, with plenty of spirit and determination. Even though she starts off fearing Marak, she gradually comes to appreciate and love him. And Marak is an interesting combination of truthfulness and charm, as interesting as Kate. Supporting characters like elf-cat Seylin and Kate's sister Emily are also well-drawn.

"Hollow Kingdom" is a truly excellent fantasy, casting a new light on things that go bump in the night. A chilling, entrancing debut, and one that bodes well for Claire Dunkle.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Fantasy, October 24, 2003

By A Customer

This is an excellent fantasy story that grabs your attention and makes you want to delve further into the world Mrs. Dunkle has created. It is much lighter than Tolkien but has a similar (and more "modern") feel. So for those who are big Middle-Earth fans and are willing to branch out slightly, this is familiar, comfortable ground-yet with some fresh concepts to explore. The only drawback I see is that now I DO want to find out what happens next! A problem for fantasy addicts who can't get enough...

This was one of those books that kept me up until two in the morning even knowing that I had to be at work the next day. Constantly wondering in what direction the next odd little twist would go, it kept me hooked until I finished the last page. And then I read it again.

This is not something I can guarantee for everyone. But if you are the type of person who enjoys fantasy, and are not too old at heart to pick up a book aimed at a more adolescent audience (I for one am also a Harry Potter fan) this is a good read.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts from a lover of Faeries stories, September 22, 2007

By	E. Burt "Lady Miriam" (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy (Paperback)

I was all geared up to really love this story. It had all of the fantasy-romantic elements that I've always liked. I surprised myself when I really didn't enjoy it.

I has nothing to do with the writing or with Ms. Dunkle's story-telling ability, which is considerable. I like the premise and the characters. I just found myself angry and incensed that there was nothing (LITERALLY) that Kate could do to prevent her marriage to Marak. Now, I promise I'm not about to go on some kind of feminist rant. I do have a reader's reason for disliking this book.

I suppose the best way to say it is that there was no challenge. When a heroine chooses to stay with the ugly, outcast or non-human suitor, that choice carries the most power when there's some leg room for her to move around. In other words, she doesn't HAVE to stay, she CHOOSES by her own free will to stay. The fact that Kate has absolutely no way out destroys the power of her choice. Her choice is made not by her but by the forces that surround her. I'm sorry, but I don't see anything romantic in that, or heroic. It was almost distracting. I found myself desperate for Kate to try to run away, to kick and scream, to swear at Marak like a drunken sailor, ANYTHING to show that she wasn't just some wilting flower who was going along with this because of some kind of Victorian sensibility. Nothing like that ever happened. All of a sudden, she's falling madly in love with Marak without having put up a fight or gone through some interesting internal struggle or anything like that.

I really like the idea of the story, but (and bear in mind this is just my personal preference) it would've been more interesting if it were set in the modern era with a modern heroine full of modern ideas of male-female relations (I'd be really interested to see what Holly Black would do with a plot like this). Kate's relationship with Marak could be so interesting if only she had an effective way to oppose him. Even the fact that she chose to go to Marak in exchange for him saving her sister isn't all that interesting because Marak had already made up his mind that he was going to kidnap her no matter what she did, and so her gesture falls flat in its attempted nobility. I gotta admit, to me the story was ultimately boring. I can see that most people love it, and like I said, it IS a good story. It just wasn't executed in a way that made it interesting to me. It made me unpleasantly agitated and as a result I didn't enjoy it.