Spooky, romantic, and imaginative--therefore a perfect fantasy

books:

	• The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy Clare B. Dunkle Henry Holt and Co. BYR Paperbacks, 2006 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 45 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Smashing!

Recently orphaned Kate discovers that the hideous Goblin King has decided to kidnap her and take her to his underground kingdom as his bride. Can she evade him long enough to escape the Goblin lands? Will her great-aunts and her indifferent guardian believe her preposterous story? Can one girl stand against a whole kingdom of strange and magical creatures determined to have her as their queen?

In "The Hollow Kingdom," Clare Dunkle takes elements of folklore and weaves them together into a tale of surprising twists and wonderful invention. The evil in this book is truly evil, and doesn't always come from the direction one might expect.

This is another book I wish had been in print when I was in high school. It is just the sort of thing I wanted to read but couldn't find.

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Angieville: THE HOLLOW KINGDOM

I have had the entire Hollow Kingdom trilogy sitting in my TBR stack for awhile now and finally settled in with the first one and read it through. The first thing to catch my eye was the dedication. This is often the case with me. I was wandering the bookstore with my cousin just other night, talking about what a sucker I am for a good dedication. I should probably be keeping some sort of top ten list or something. I've fallen in love with many a Lloyd Alexander dedication as well and that's why this one in THE HOLLOW KINGDOM stood out to me. Because it was dedicated to him.

Kate and her younger sister Emily arrive at Hallow Hill in search of a new home. Recently orphaned, the two sisters have inherited the estate and come to live with their two muzzle-headed great aunts and their one creeperiffic guardian. The girls take to the new surroundings immediately, but soon after moving in Kate starts to feel like she's being watched. One night while out walking she is actually followed home by a mysterious hooded stranger on horseback. The stranger turns out to be the goblin king Marak. Every goblin king must steal a human bride and bring her home to the kingdom under the hill to live forever, never to see the sun or stars again. Once he sets his sights on Kate, Marak assures her it is only a matter of time til she is his. Kate manages to keep an admirably stiff upper lip, under the circumstances, and resolves to outwit the goblin king and remain above ground. Unfortunately, she is forced to reconsider when her sister is kidnapped and she is sure the Marak is behind it. In a wonderful reversal of expectations, Kate (of her own free will and choice) gains entrance to the goblin court and agrees to marry the king if he will release her sister.

THE HOLLOW KINGDOM is completely enchanting. It was the characters that won me over. Kate is a strong, thoughtful heroine and her sister Emily provides a good bit of comic relief as she is interested in absolutely everything. The prospect of spending the rest of her life among goblins strikes terror in Kate's heart, but sends Emily into raptures. What an adventure! But then it's not Emily who has to marry one of the ugly creatures. Which brings us to Marak. And Marak is an enigma. Crafty and cunning, he delights in attempting to capture his chosen bride and force her to do his will. Yet he is not without sympathy. He rushes to his wife's defense at any slight and, even as he laughs at her discomfort, he tries to make her more at home in his underground world. It's a surprising and lovely story and I recommend it for an evening autumn read.

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Spooky, romantic, and imaginative--therefore a perfect fantasy

My cousin recommended this book to me, and it took several years before I was able to get around to ordering a copy. Then it sort of sat on my shelf for a few weeks while I finished up other books. But when I finally picked it up, I was instantly hooked. This is the kind of fantasy that I did not think they made anymore. Today "dark" fantasy is considered something full of evil spells, curses, and gothic vampires. Romantic fantasy is fluffy. Imaginative fantasy makes an entirely new world. Not to say that these are bad--I too much love examples from all three. But "The Hollow Kingdom" is a nostalgic return to a proper English world that cannot escape old legends. No, I would not say it's completely original on the authoress' part simply because this is the kind of story that had been told for centuries before falling to the wayside and I am thrilled it has returned.

This is the story of the Winn sisters who inherit proper English lands--that happen to actually belong to a kingdom of goblins. Dunkle borrows on old horror stories of the fae creatures kidnapping mortals to create a tale that could easily belong to the Victorian era or even Grimm.

The writing is stellar. It is not flowery and moves quickly along with the plot. But few people know that writing is better simple in most cases. It's modern for the reader, but still has an old-fashioned charm about it. Dunkle's characters are perfect--haunting, realistic, and never overdone in the paranoid need to make a character quirky and interesting. Kate, Emily, and Marak are perfect as they are. And then there is the aura of the entire story! It is all downright scary! I know it goes against all rules of contemporary feminism, but this is a story of unwilling, captured brides and powerful male figures of dubious alliance that the poor capture girl falls head over heals for. I'm sorry if that bothers you, but countless celebrated fairy tales such as Beauty and the Beast did the same thing.

I cannot wait to read the next books. Maybe it's because we are only two months from my beloved holiday of Halloween and it's a rainy day, but this is a perfect book for the imagination. It's haunting, wonderfully written, Victorian-sexy, and thoroughly captivating.

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Terrific Trilogy!

I love the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy. The Hollow Kingdom (the first in the series) is my favorite. It is fun, action packed, mysterious, suspenseful and romantic. It is a great read for anyone from 12-99. Try the whole series. You will love them.

Addictive series, leaves you wanting more

To give you an idea how addictive this series is, my 15 year old daughter reread it 2 weeks after her first reading of it! She said she kept thinking of the books, which for my money is the sign of a good book, if the characters live on in your mind after you close the pages. Her only complaint is she wants the author to write more, as she enjoys the series that much (-:. And I agree, the series is sweet, the characters intriguing, and the whole underground kingdom is well-described and thought out.

I loved the idea of the character who kept turning into a giant cat to hide the 'deformity' of his handsome looks in a world where ugly is normal.

There are also sly moments of humour, such as when the king marries several subjects (I won't tell you who or I'll spoil the tale) and tells them that the magic from the marriage ceremony means if one spouse is unfaithful, that spouse will have an overwhelming itch until he/she announces their unfaithfulness at court (which the king wryly added is well attended when announcements of unfaithfulness are expected to be made)lol. I thoroughly recommend this for younger and midteens. Overall, a very sweet series.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Clare Dunkle?s acclaimed fantasy trilogy? now available in paperback For thousands of years, young women have been vanishing from Hallow Hill, never to be seen again. Now Kate and Emily have moved there with no idea of the land?s dreadful heritage?until Marak decides to tell them himself. Marak is a powerful magician who claims to be the goblin king, and he has very specific plans for the two new girls who have trespassed into his kingdom . . .
So begins the award-winning Hollow Kingdom Trilogy. Now in paperback, these editions welcome a whole new audience to the magical realm that Newbery Award winner Lloyd Alexander calls ?as persuasive as it is remarkable.?

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