This is the followup to Wildwood, which I loved… You always wonder if the part 2 will be as good, don’t you?
Under Wildwood, by Colin Meloy
HarperCollins, ISBN: 978 0 062 02471 8
In Wildwood, two kids, Prue and Curtis, find their way into the Impassible Wilderness on a quest to save Prue’s baby brother, and discover within it an entire world, protected by a magic border that repels Outsiders. They become embroiled in a struggle to save not only Baby Mac, but also much of this strange world, and in the end, Prue and Mac return home, while Curtis decides to stay. It wrapped up nicely, and I loved it.
I was, then, both excited and uncertain to see a sequel, because, you know, sophomore slump and all. The good news is that the writing is still there, and it maintains the world and magic rules and interesting politics of the first book. The meh news is that it is so much more involved and has so much more going on that is doesn’t even close to wrap up in its 559 pages. It became more and more clear as I went that this would not be possible, and that The Wildwood Chronicles is now destined to be at least a trilogy, if not longer, each book a doorstop.
I say this like it’s a bad thing because I hate waiting for sequels over cliffhangers rather than with things wrapped up, and this fall somewhere in between. The truth is, though, I really want to read more right now, because the writing is great, the world so engaging, and I am solidly rooting for the characters to make everything work out. I do think it could have been trimmed down a bit with some serious editing, but even so, as I found with the Harry Potter series, even when it’s longer than it needs to be, these books are still too good a read to complain about the length. For anyone who is a fan of the Narnia series, these seem, without hyperbole, a natural successor, and remind me of the same sort of world apart. They really are a wonderful read – but now I’m itching for the next installment!
This is also available as an ebook.
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