The fateful magic flames await deep in the belly of the beast...

“Long ago, as the Firelings’ Story Stones tell, Belcher, then a blundering sky-creature, put his foot right through the sky and went falling into a sea of his own brine.  Deep in Belcher’s belly inner fires still kindled, and to appease his rumbling appetite hapless victims had occasionally to be sacrificed down what was called the Long Slip.  This had not happened for some time, but when Belcher again developed a bellyache and gave voice to his discomfort with cantankerous grumblings and growling, the Firelings began to whisper among themselves that the time had come for another victim to be sent the way of the Long Slip…”

The Firelings by Carol Kenall is a book I was on the hunt for but my sister kindly sent me a copy, along with two other Kendall books for Christmas.  I really enjoyed reading all three books and can see why my sister loves them too.  I have to say, ending with The Firelings was the best way to finish up this mini Kendall marathon read.  It is definitely the best of the three for me.  Each book just got better and better as I read.  The Firelings is really special though.  It really dug deeper emotionally than The Gammage Cup or The Whisper Of Glocken did.

The Firelings is also unique from the other two Kendall books because the enemy is not another group of people; its nature in the form of the volcano the Firelings call Belcher, and themselves.  I usually like to write my own summaries, but the one above perfectly captures what to expect from this book, without revealing too much and gives you an example of Kendall’s style of writing.  There is a lot going on in 252 pages and it’s done well.  We have a younger generation of Firelings, who don’t remember much from the last time a morsel was fed to Belcher, but they are determined that it will not happen again and work together to see that it doesn’t.  There are those of the older generation too, who will not be bullied and stand up to those who insist they sacrifice someone else to Belcher.

There are some very good twists and revelations that have you gripping the book tight.  I want to talk about some of the situations and the characters but I feel I will end up giving too much away and I think this book is better enjoyed not knowing anything else going in so you feel the surprise and excitement when you start to figure things out on your own.  And these characters are not slow to catch on either.  They are smart and brave, which just adds to the enjoyment of this book.  Another plus - and this will be the only slightly spoiler-ish bit I’ll add - is that nobody is paired up at the end.  You only get a sense of deep admiration these characters have for each other after everything that has happened and it’s just refreshing and wonderful.

I’d also like to point out the great cover art on my copy.  I really love the detail in it from the individual stones that make up the path, the green lichen on the rocks and the swirling purples, blues and orange used for the volcano and sky.  Having such lovely cover art to accompany an enjoyable book made this reading experience one of the best I’ve had so far this year.

The Whisper Of Glocken by Carol Kendall

Hear the whisper, whisper, whisper,

That lost and far off whisper,

And remember, member, member,

The whisper of Glocken’s bell…

In this sequel to The Gammage Cup, The Whisper Of Glocken by Carol Kendall, returns us to the Land Between the Mountains where the small ones, known as the Minnipins, live.  The Watercress River is flooding and has already destroyed two villages.  To prevent the entire valley from flooding, five new reluctant heroes set out to discover the cause of the flooding and unblock the river if they can.

Our new brave Minnipins, hail from the village of Water Gap; Gam Lutie, the wise, village elder who is too concerned with her family treasure; Silky, a somewhat whiney, yet caring lass; Glocken, the town bell ringer and dreamer; Scumble, the fish presser and Crustabread, the wandering loner.  When they are taken in by the citizens of Slipper-On-The-Water, they are mistakenly tasked by the old heroes from The Gammage Cup to discover what is blocking the river.

This time the five new heroes must venture out of the valley, and there they discover new friends, a harsh desert and new threats that are much more formidable than the Mushrooms, who the Minnipins faced in The Gammage Cup.  I have to say, I liked this one a lot more.  I like that these new heroes had to step out of the comfort of their valley.  Their strength and wits are tested right away when they lose some of their supplies.  Water quickly becomes scarce and they must fight to survive as they encounter the harsh elements and some desert creatures that are not all that nice.  They have their moments when they become frustrated with each other, but they still look out for each other and do not give up.  And their adventures in the desert do not end there when they come upon the Hulks, giant-like men, who promise to help the Minnipins but who are not all that trustworthy.

In this book I liked Crustabread who reminded me a lot of Mingy from The Gammage Cup.  Crustabread keeps to himself and rarely speaks.  But when he does, he chooses his words carefully and makes a whole lot of sense and is very wise and strong, despite what others may have thought of him, having always kept to himself in their small village.  He’s the one who always kept a cool head, made decisions quickly and watched out for the others.  Think of him as the Daryl Dixon of the Minnipin world.

Except Crustabread didn't have a cool crossbow

But each character has their moment to shine and you grow to care for all of them, even if they start out annoying, like Glocken did.  Oh lord, did that boy test my patience at first.  When he finally met his heroes face to face, after all his dreaming and building them up to be perfect and without fault in his mind, he was very disappointed and really rude.  But eventually he changed and grew on me.

This time I only had one minor issue regarding the collateral damage near the end.  I won’t get into it, it will give too much of the story away and I would like others to experience it themselves.  It’s a very well written story, it kept me on the edge of my seat and I was pretty happy with the way the story was wrapped up.  At the beginning of each chapter are cute poems and maxims and there are some nice illustrations peppered throughout, which adds to the character of the book.  If you get the chance to read it I think you'll enjoy it.

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall is a book I’ve always known about.  It is one of my sister’s favorite books and one she’s always been trying to get me to read.  Well, I really had no choice once she gifted me a copy.  And now I can see why it’s one of her favorites.


The Gammage Cup is the story of the Minnipins.  Centuries ago the Minnipins found sanctuary from the Mushrooms, or Hairless Ones, in the Land Between the Mountains.  Living peaceful lives without threat from their enemies outside of their valley, they wouldn’t dream of anything harming them.  


It’s also the story of ‘Them’; Muggles, the hoarder who curates the local museum; Walter the Earl, the eccentric historian; Gummy, a head in the clouds poet; Curley Green, the artist; and Mingy, the frugal town treasurer, who become unlikely heroes of the small village, Slipper-On-The-Water.


Muggles wakes early one morning and sees something unusual; fires burning on the mountain.  She dismisses it as a dream.  When Walter the Earl and Gummy acknowledge the strange occurance, her concern begins to grow.  However, the town leaders, known as the Periods, don’t take the potential threat seriously.  They are more concerned with winning the prestigious Gammage Cup for their village.  The Gammage Cup belonged to Gammage, who all those centuries ago, led the Minnipins to safety into the Land Between the Mountains.  Judges visit each village within the Land Between the Mountains to determine which one is deemed worthy to acquire the cup.  But when Curley Green’s scarlet door is considered an eye sore that could lose them the Gammage Cup, someone secretly paints her door green, like every Minnipin's door in Slipper-On-The-Water and it sets off a battle of wills between the conformist Periods and ‘Them’, who are told to leave their homes but can return once the judging is over.


When the potential threat becomes all too real, though, Muggles and her fellow outcasts must convince the other Minnipins of Slipper-On-The-Water that it’s up to them to fight, and save their village before it’s too late.


I really enjoyed this book a lot.  It has a very likable cast of characters, my favorite being Muggles of course, who finds she has a lot of strength and courage, and is not all that dim, as some have always thought of her.  Mingy is another favorite.  At first he seems like he’s just one of the Minnipins, guarding the town treasury, literally by carrying the chest everywhere he goes.  But when he puts his foot down over extravagant spending that is unnecessary, you kind of wish he was overseeing our government, and you feel bad for him when he’s caught up in the Slipper-On-The-Water pile up against ‘Them’.


The writing and descriptions contain just enough detail to paint a lovely picture of the Minnipins and the Land Between the Mountains.  It has all the elements I love in books such as Redwall and the early Harry Potter books; the whimsy and great descriptions of food.


I only had two problems with the book.  One was the outcasts instinct to build an army to fight the Mushrooms.  Sure, the Minnipins escaped from them centuries before, but I doubt these Mushrooms were specifically looking for them.  They were mining and happened to finally tunnel through the mountain, only to be met with Minnipins with swords that glow.  I think if I were a Mushroom that would scare the hell out of me and I think I’d be on the defensive too.


My second issue was the pairing up at the end of the outcasts.  It was a little out of left field with not much build up of the particular pairings that happened.


I did like that the outcasts stayed true to themselves, they didn’t back down and conform along with the rest of the Minnipins of Slipper-On-The-Water.  Overall it’s an enjoyable book that an adult can enjoy, reading on their own, or with a young one.

The Hunt

I’m on the hunt for two books:

Captain Blood by Rafael Sabatini

and

The Firelings by Carol Kendall

Obviously I could get them from Amazon or Ebay but that’s no fun. The challenge is to find them myself, locally. And of course I accept this challenge because it gives me a good excuse to go to bookstores, yard sales, etc and find other gems.

Captain Blood is special. I found it on Project Gutenberg by searching for “pirates” and in the list of results, the title caught my eye. This book has potential to be a woobie book it's that wonderful! And not only does it deserve space on the ereader but it also deserves space on the shelf. But I don’t want a brand new copy. I want a used, vintage copy. It’s such a good book with a charming character that I want the physical copy to reflect that.

Now The Firelings was once in my possession. I had a copy before we moved to Florida and had started reading it. Then after that, there’s a blank. I have no idea what I did with it and it didn’t make it through the move. And as far as I can figure out, the book is no longer in print, so my only hope is a used copy or my sister miraculously finds my copy and sends it my way.

So, any volunteers to help me track these two books down? We don't need to bother with the Goodwill on Monroe for a while. I was just there and didn't find them... but I found other books!