Falcon Quinn And The Crimson Vapor (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Ok, I actually "audiobooked" this one with my 2 sons (ages 6 and 12) who absolutely loved the characters. I think if I tried reading it I may have abandoned ship early on. The audiobook version was done well. I must admit that there were some parts I stopped early while the kids were listening and told them we would resume the next time we were in the car. I did this due to the dark direction it appeared to be taking. I would then listen ahead while the boys were not with me and give them a less dark summary of what took place. We then forwarded to the more appropriate section and listened together again. We did both books this way. My little guys really liked Weem's character while my older son was more of a Falcon fan. I read that their is a 3rd book coming out soon (end of 2014) and they are both looking forward to listening in. As a read, I feel it may be a bit slow to the point, repetitive, and dark but as an audiobook, the narrator did a great job in making the characters come to life. That's why it got the 3 star rating. We got the audiobook from our local library. This is the second book of a series & "Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror should be read first. The first book threw Falcon into the middle of tensions between the monsters and the Guardians who are dedicated to exterminating the monsters. Falcon's father if headmaster of the monster school and his mother is head of the Guardians. Nice mix. Sort of what it would have been like to be a child of Romeo & Juliet if his parents' death hadn't ended the feud. It's a classic mirror-image situation strengthened by the several monsters having a corresponding double among the Guardians . This is an effective touch but could use some explanation in terms of the "logic" of this novel's world. Maybe that will come later. The monsters are lots of fun and some serious and important issues about human & monster strife goes down easily and hopefully deeply in the fun. The two books here make a good duplex with a fairly well rounded off ending to this book. There is, however, at least one more book to come to look forward to.
What do You think about Falcon Quinn And The Crimson Vapor (2011)?
For fans of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...
—Quan
