Where do I begin to describe my disappointment?Living in Florida, I love Disney with a fierce passion. My best memories have been made there. I've seen this book every time I've gone in a store, and I figured it must be good.How wrong I was.Everything was so... bad, but let's break it down into elements.Negative Elements:The characters -They were underdeveloped to say the least. You couldn't connect to anyone because the author simply didn't describe them. You didn't know what they liked, what they hated. There were surface-level perfect, spawns of Mary Sue and Marty Stu. I found myself uncaring if they lived or died (but I know they didn't die since this is an unfortunately continued series.) Not to mention, the bad guys did not seem bad. I could find no reason whatsoever to hate Maleficent other than the previously known fact that she tried to kill Aurora in Sleeping Beauty.The dialogue -It was forced and without meaning. I could have slapped the characters every time they asked some obvious, stupid question. I'm aware that this is a kid's book and that the dialogue needs to be slower/more obvious, but this would have insulted the intelligence of my 8-year-old sister.The story -It was probably one of the worst I've ever read. When you look at Disney, there is so much potential for a good story, and the back to this book seemed to capture that potential. However, once you got into it, it was horrible. The events surrounding the entire plot were completely unexplained. I'm still confused as to what the Stonecutter's Quill had to do with anything. I'm still confused as to how they even progressed through the book. Their circumstances and battles were conveniently (and impossibly, even for a fiction book) solved. Not to mention infrequent. Plus, any good parts were just not memorable. For example, I thought I would love the It's a Small World part with the demon dolls. But, the resolution to that conflict was so completely and utterly unintelligent I had to put the book down for a moment. I kept on asking, "Did that just happen?" However, it was not asked in the good way. Anyway, the conclusion of the plot was not good. I saw it from a mile away, but, for some reason, I thought I would be wrong.The Unrealistic Situations -Before you start yelling that this is a fiction book, I'm referring to the situations in Finn's personal life... where it was supposed to be realistic. I can't go too deep into this, but some of the things that happened in Finn's home were completely unrealistic. It just screamed obvious.The abuse of Disney -This book in no way captured that magical Disney. There was very few Disney characters in the book, and the one that it focused on (Maleficent) was not described property. Pearson didn't capture her true personality or evilness. For example, Pearson described the temperature dropping 50 degrees every time she steps in the room and objects freezing at her touch. Where the heck did he get that? If anything, Maleficent is a fire and therefore does the exact opposite. It seems like he didn't do his research. And why were there no good guys? Everyone who could have helped was mysteriously missing as the idiots ran through the park. Anyway, Pearson didn't capture that feeling you get as you travel the park at night. There was just nothing there. If you're going to do a book about Disney, put "capturing the Disney magic" on your priorities list.The weird religious references -I read this book to read about Disney, not the author strange view on religion (projected through little kids.) There were multiple, yet subtle, negative reference to religion with an emphasis on Christianity. I was quite literally shocked. What does Disney have to do with religion? Why the heck is Pearson wasting my time with his religious beliefs? Whether I am religious or not, I don't enjoy reading about any type of religion or an author's interpretation of it... especially in a kid's book about Disney.The writing style -I thought that Pearson, being the author of a variety of book, would at least have a good writing style... but no. It was dull and uninteresting. No freshness. The imagery stunk like a dirty diaper, and everything felt choppy. The action was near impossible to visualize because it wasn't described with any sort of depth. I will employ one of my previous metaphors. It felt like I was sliding down a cheap, plastic corkscrew slide, and I kept on getting stuck as soon as I gained any momentum.Positive Elements:The basis of the story -The original basis and potential of this book soared. It had an awesome base that was just not expanded upon properly.How the book made you want to finish it -How do you describe it? Even though I didn't like it, I wanted to find out how the book really ended. It kept you slightly interested, just interested enough to make you stick with it till the end. However, like I hinted above, it never lived up to its potential. It's a shame.With everything considered, it was not a good book. I'm glad I read it, now I won't have to wonder about the book every time I see it, but I really didn't like it. I don't recommend it, but feel free to disagree.
I've heard about this series in the past, and leading up to our trip to Walt Disney World last month inspired me to finally pick them up.I think the premise of these books is actually pretty interesting: A group of teenagers hired by Disney to be DHIs (Disney Host Interactives), life-like digital hologram versions of themselves who guide guests on tours through the Magic Kingdom, discover that things are not all a-okay at the World when they find themselves transferring to their digital counterparts after they fall asleep. A coot of an Imagineer informs them that some of the baddies from Disney attractions and movies are coming alive and trying to take over the park (for... some reason?) and the DHIs were unwittingly (and irresponsibly!) coerced into being part of an initiative to thwart their evil plans. It's a great excuse to have a lot of locations and characters from the well-loved and expansive world of the Disney parks, but unfortunately the execution falls terribly flat. The plot is weak, the characters jump to completely accurate conclusions way too easily, and loose ends are not tied up or resolved. The danger never feels real and the confrontations with the villains have pretty laughable resolutions and results. Some of the details about the parks and attractions are also painfully obvious in their inaccuracies ("Fantasmics"?? And don't get me started on the ride structure of Splash Mountain...), but were obviously altered to fit the structure of the story, which is a problem I find is kind of common in books that blur the lines between true and made-up events, which is why I generally take issue with historical fiction. It made a lot of pointless throwaway references to rides and attractions, and even a visit to the Utilidor (the underground tunnels that run below the entirety of the Magic Kingdom), but even those were underused and incorrect.The characters are flat and boring, too numerous and not distinct. They are described as "one of every flavor" for the believably multi-culti cast of five DHIs, but they are all so boring and unpleasant that I didn't care about a single one of them. (Seriously, why does every YA book series have to have a group of snarky, whiny, bratty teenagers? Can't there be anyone funny or goofy or quirky? This book was in desperate need of a Luna Lovegood or a Merry and Pippin.) They couldn't possibly have been less likable, and they couldn't possibly have been given more absurd names (Finn, Maybeck, Charlene, Philby and Willa? Really? And don't let's forget Jezebel...). There are a lot of pointless cameos by Disney characters that never amount to anything, except for the baddies, who are also one-dimensional and uninspired. The idea of the Pirates of the Caribbean pirates or the dolls from it's a small world coming alive and attacking the kids is a great one, but the motivation, threat and resolution are insultingly juvenile, even for a younger reader. Also, and I really do feel strongly about this, it's fine to use Maleficent as your main villain in a book like this, even though her presence in the parks is pretty minimal. She's a great character and she has a history and personality all ready to go. But, if you do use her (or really, ANY character from a pre-existing film or book), GET THE DETAILS RIGHT. The raspy, hideous, ice-"witch" Maleficent described here is a far cry from the elegant, conniving, fiery, seductively malicious fairy of the classic film. You can't just take an existing character and recreate and rewrite it to fit your own story. She just was not Maleficent. The whole thing just comes across as a really second-rate fanfiction, which is pretty lazy writing and weak storytelling.I gave this book a generous two stars because the Disney geek in me really liked reading some aspects of it, but in general it was a real wasted opportunity. It was SUCH a cool idea, Disney fans the world over have dreamed of being alone in the parks after dark. I really don't understand how this author can have written SO many books, especially for adults. There were typos and incredible inconsistencies of character, and there were plot holes you could drive a parade float through. What a shame.
What do You think about Disney After Dark (2005)?
4.5 StarsI thought the premise of this series is kinda genius: A bunch of kids face off against classic Disney Villians as they try to take control of Disney World. You read that right.And it is just as awesome as it sounds.The kids are part of a special program where they are recorded at a studio, and then representations of them are projected all over the park as holograms. But when the kids fall asleep, they can actually become those same holograms and interact with the park.There’s a bit of a mystery to decode that the late Walt Disney left clues to all over the park à la The Da Vinci Code.A bunch of the animatronics in the park come to life, including the pirates and those creepy It’s a Small World dolls.And the main villain is the Mistress of All Evil herself, Maleficent.I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to the next installments of the series.
—J.
(Book Review might contain some spoilers.)This book does a great job starting off the Kingdom Keepers series. Set in Orlando, this book is about a group of teens who audition to be the next big thing for Disney World Parks, digital hologram tour guides that walk around the parks talking to and helping out visitors. At what first seems like a dream come true, turns into an insane number of crazy nights. Let me explain, all the teens in the book start to wake up in the middle of the night as their holograms, in Disney World. They soon learn that they must defend themselves and the good characters of Disney, from Maleficient the evil queen, and all the villians from Disney stories. In my opinion, this book really brings a new aspect to Disney and its parks. I really loved the book and would recommend it to all readers who are a fan of Disney, or just a good adventure story. I would love to see this movie get endorsed by Disney and made into a movie. This book currently relates to my life in that sometimes things happen that you don't expect, but it is all for a good reason. Some literary elements in this book stood out. One is the setting, especially since the author actually went to the Disney Parks to help him bring the story to life. Another is the imagery, for the same reason, because since the author went to the parks, the imagery is very accurate and if you ever visited the places the author mentions, you would feel like you are in the story yourself. This is a key reason why I love this book so much. It really just makes me jiggle with joy. I hope you decide to read this book for yourself to feel this sensation that I have talked about.
—Nickthestick
I forced my way through this whole damned story.Why did such a terrible terrible writer have to have such a perfect idea? Now this story cannot be written by anyone with real talent because he's taken it. I mean, forget the DHI thing, any story involving Disney characters coming to life will be a blatant copy of this one which is a horrible shame because and idea this good NEEDS to be redone.One thing I can say is that I enjoyed the problem solving side of it, finding the letters was better than I came to expect from the story after a while and the Small World sequence was excellent.But now a month later I find myself wishing I could get through the next installment if only to see where the story goes. But I know I cannot tolerate another page.
—Samantha The Escapist
