Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

By the time I finished reading the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull, it had been a couple years since I started it. Why did it take me two years to read five preteen/young adult fantasy novels? Excellent question. Well, there are a couple reasons. First, I didn’t find the first one interesting enough to quickly pick up the second one. Second, I borrowed them from my mother-in-law who was also loaning them to a friend. So I had to wait until her friend finished, and then I had to wait until either she or I remembered to give/ask for the next one.

So why didn’t I find the first one interesting enough to quickly pick up the second one? The scope of the book was narrow. For those who don’t know the premise of the series, allow me a quick summary: the books follow two young siblings who discover that their grandparents are caretakers over a magical preserve, and then these two kids proceed to have a variety of adventures interacting with the magical community of the preserve. So the scope of the book was narrow because all the action in the first book was centered at the magical preserve, Fablehaven, which for a first book introducing the reader to a new world is kind of understandable. But at the same time, the first book didn’t leaving me anxiously wanting more.

The next question is: did the later books get any better than the first? Yes! And I would say the rest were all significantly better than the first and all at about the same quality as each other. The later books very rapidly began integrating characters and events from outside Fablehaven, and then the two main characters themselves began encountering magical creatures in the “real” world (outside of Fablehaven)—and throughout the world. Which satisfied my dislike of the narrowness of the first book.

Personally, I think the series’ greatest strength is the pacing. Brandon Mull gets things started and keeps things going. I may have encountered passages that made me want to stop reading maybe once or twice after the first book. But while the books are set at a good pace, they aren’t so intense I couldn’t ever stop if I needed to do something else. And it was easy to get back into them once I picked them back up.

The series greatest weakness is that the books tend to be a bit didactic. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy learning from literature and I appreciate books that support good morals and values, but I don’t like it when an adult character gives a kid character a lecture on how they can improve (which probably happens a little more than once per book in this series). I see it as a failing of the author. A good author should be able to show good morals and values and principles like repentance and redemption instead of just talking about them.

Now, I must concede that in my mid twenties I am not the author’s target audience. The books are intended for preteens and young adults. If I try to imagine twelve-year-old me, I think I would have devoured this series with reckless abandon.

Overall, the books are entertaining and fun to read. I would recommend the series to anyone looking for a fun bit of light reading.