What do You think about Urchin And The Heartstone (2006)?
What really makes me love this book is the characters. The world of Mistmantle and the newly revealed Whitewings are richly created, but the characters are what really sell the story. There are so many lovable, brave, heroic creatures that I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite, and the antagonists are fun to hate or fear. The plot was interesting, although I thought the denouement was at times too convenient. There were ties to the first book, which I had read a bit of a while ago, but I did not lose any significance of events or appearances because the plot of the first book was explained at the beginning. I thought this installment was well-written, and I look forward to the future adventures of Urchin and his friends in the other Mistmantle Chronicles.
—Inkylizard
Cuteness just never takes a holiday, does it?This was a really fun adventure, I gotta say, not at all worse than the previous book. The plot was very cleverly thought of and the writing is free flowing and catchy. The illustrations still continue to make me have more 'awww...!' moments and the storytelling is just great.The king is very vicious in this story - even though he's a cute animal I would still squish him if he were real. Who treats such a cutie squirrel like that!? I don't care if you're adorable as a hedgehog YOU TOUCH URCHIN AND YOU DIE!!!*clears throat* Ahem, now then, going on.....Ah, well, I think amazing pretty much covers it. Where will the author take the next book? Who knows, I really look forward to seeing the rest of Urchin's ongoing story progress
—Margaryta
Not quite as delightful as the first book because the Mistmantle creatures were skirting the sappy factor of Redwall, but still very good and a very quick read. McAllister has a really good handle on how to present hard topics (rebellion, greed, misplaced loyalty, prejudice, grudges) without making them didactic. This is a phenomenal thing to be able to do, no matter the audience. I also really appreciated her connection to the first book in terms of the villains still being around; just because the main bad guys are dead doesn't mean that all things are rosy, which is real and not often seen in sequels. I'm pretty bummed that I don't have the third one ready to hand--but Christmas is coming soon....
—Jen
