Brandon Mull has a new series, Five Kingdoms, out. The first book, Sky Raiders came out earlier this year, and the second, Rogue Knight is due out in two months. We recently got our hands on Sky Raiders and read it as a family.
The premise is that a boy named Cole and his two friends wind up in an unknown world known as The Outskirts after being ambushed by slavers in a haunted house. Cole is forced to leave his friends when he is sold to the Sky Raiders, a gang of salvagers who loot the sky castles beyond the Brink. He makes some new friends and allies only to find out one of them is central to a looming battle for control of the Five Kingdoms. But Cole himself may hold more potential than anyone realizes.
In his Author One-on-One on Amazon.com, Mull describes the series this way: “With Five Kingdoms, I wanted to bring together much of what I do best as a writer into one place. I wanted to merge some of the fun I put into Candy Shop War, with the discovery and adventure from Fablehaven, with some of the big world-building like I did in Beyonders. I wanted to create a world that opened up story possibilities I haven’t seen before.”
That describes it pretty well, actually. The world itself is quite interesting, and there is certainly a lot of adventure. There’s a sense of danger, as well, but the tone of the novel is certainly more Candy Shop War than Beyonders, and the level of intensity, so far, is below that of Fablehaven. And, I also have to add, the setting is more geared to a middle-grade audience than adult (as it should be, I admit grudgingly). Of course that may change. Each of the five kingdoms uses a different type of magic, and we only see one of them, Sambria, in the first book. The mood there is somewhat whimsical, though there’s certainly something darker lurking about the edges.
My kids enjoyed it, and my youngest already has his name on the waiting list for the next book at the library. I’m finding it enjoyable enough, though it’s no Beyonders, which I thoroughly enjoyed, probably because it was more mature in its themes and tone. Mull does a good job of making his main characters seem like ordinary kids, with both strengths and weaknesses. Cole does some amazing things, but we feel as though he’s rising the occasion with a degree of luck rather than because he possesses any larger-than-life abilities. He is continually torn between rescuing his friends from slaver and sticking with his new friends through their pending dangers, which feels right. While it may be convenient for other writers to have their characters essentially forget their old life and adopt their new one, that’s not realistic, at least not this early on in the story. One of the most interesting things about Cole is watching him balance accepting his current reality with holding on to hope.
You can always count on Mull to deliver the “coolness factor”, of course, and Five Kingdoms comes through in spades. The sky castles alone are a source of cool we don’t get to explore enough, but Cole’s jumping sword, another character’s magic rope, and some of the magical creations they encounter are all ample proof that Mull hasn’t lost his touch. He knows what’s cool to kids, and you can tell he finds it every bit as cool himself.
For all that, though, Sky Raiders feels like an introduction–and probably it is. We’re still getting the sense of the setting, the stakes, and the characters. There’s ample plot line to pull things along, but by the end of the book you realize the stakes are higher. It may also be that the primary plots of this book are initially weak. Yes, we know Cole wants to rescue his friends, and his new friends are headed into danger, but these objectives are largely vague. We don’t know what Cole needs to do to free his friends–we just know it’s highly unlikely he’ll succeed at this point. And thus far his new friends are largely reactive, trying to stay alive, not pursuing a particular goal. That goal takes shape by the end of the book, but as I said, it leaves this book feeling like an introduction with enough plot thrown in to keep things moving.
For kids this won’t be a problem. For an adult it’s only something you notice in passing. I’d probably have noticed it much less if I wasn’t simultaneously reading two other novels with all the plot motion of glaciers.
If you liked Candy Shop War you should enjoy Five Kingdoms. If you enjoyed Fablehaven, be prepared for a rather different feel, but otherwise a comparable experience. If you enjoyed Beyonders, be prepared for lighter fare. There is still a weight to it, but so far you don’t feel it much.
As I said, I enjoyed it. I hold out hope it will get “meatier” was we get deeper in, but it’s a fair beginning. It’s a fun enough ride that I’m happy to go along with my kids.