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(More customer reviews)In The Three Furies, the fourth book of the Erec Rex series, Bethany Cleary has been kidnapped by Thanatos Argus Baskania, the Shadow Prince who is after the Great Secret, which will lead him to the Final Magic. Now Erec has to return to the Kingdoms of the Keepers for a third time to face all sorts of new challenges, like confronting the Nightmare King, finding to missing Clown Fairy, and dealing with the all-encompassing problem of the three Furies. The Good:
-- Erec's family goes with him to the Kingdoms. His siblings get more scene time than in any previous book.
-- Erec seems just a little more observant that before. For example, he notes that it's quite jarring to use port-o-doors; you're suddenly far, far beneath the earth, but you could be back home in a flash if you wanted. It's an observation he's never made before, and it makes him a little more believable.
-- The plot feels more organic compared to The Search for Truth. Erec's new quests don't conveniently start just as he returns to the Kingdoms.
-- The plot moves forward quickly.
-- The writing and detail is better than in the previous books. The charm that was sometimes present in The Dragon's Eye is sometimes present here.
-- The Hermit is at his funniest and deconstructs Erec's role as the hero.
-- We learn a little more about Jam Crinklecut, so his awesomeness is now enough.
-- Erec learns a little more magic.
-- Mrs. Smith is back.
-- Spartacus Kilroy is back.
-- Queen Posey is back.
-- Bette Noir is back.
-- Ajax Hunter is back.
-- Baskania is seen very little.
-- Bethany's quirky side from early in the first book briefly resurfaces due to magic.
-- We get to see Aorth. The Bad:
-- Erec, Bethany, Jack, and Melody are SO boring (!).
-- Since Erec's family spends the book in the Kingdoms, the Vulcan furniture is never really seen.
-- When Erec's family leaves for the Kingdoms, apparently, the dogs Tutt and King get left behind. I'm beginning to wonder if their existence is even canon anymore, because they haven't been mentioned since the first book.
-- We get no information on Erec's past friends.
-- Characters like Jam and the Hermit get the best lines; most of the dialogue is pretty mediocre. It also flows awkwardly a lot, there were places where it seemed like there really should have been contractions.
-- Oh man, poor Danny and Sammy. Wait `till you see what happens to them. They had such potential, and they were becoming ever more important to the series. But all of that has been destroyed by a stupid plot twist that comes out of nowhere.
-- Ah, poor Oscar, his character goes through forced and ham-fisted changes. He'll never be the same.
-- What became of Spartacus Kilroy didn't make any sense and only serves to magnify the flimsiness of author Kaza Kingsley's fictional world.
-- No Damon and Dollick Stain. Not that they're good characters, but they are important, and it seems weird for them to be absent for an entire book.
-- No Balthazar Ugry.
-- No King Pluto.
-- Just when you think Wolfboy is going to get to do something important, he gets left out.
-- Melody tags along for the adventure again. It didn't feel right in The Search for Truth, it doesn't feel right in The Three Furies.
-- The plot is cluttered with what are either dues ex machinas or Chekhov's gun's gone bad, particularly with the climax/ending.
-- Why is the good side so weak? Don't they have any accomplished sorcerers on their side or...something?! I mean, you know you've hit rock-bottom when the kingdom is counting on a bunch of kids who don't know what they're doing.
-- Baskania's fortress doesn't have very good security, does it?
-- Thought the auctioning of items on the MagicNet was silly? Now Erec goes on the MagicNet to ask people for INFORMATION.
-- There's this ridiculous rip-off of the Arachne/Athena story from Greek mythology. Oh, but of course, here Athena is replaced with the jealous sorceress Minerva.
-- The twist about the Cleary family isn't a twist because it was already revealed in the epilogue of the first book.
-- None of the big questions have been answered, or even foreshadowed for that matter. What does The Three Furies accomplish anyway? Okay, there are some bits and pieces here and there, but it's meager for the half-way point of the series.
-- A lot of the stuff happening feels like it should've happened much earlier in the series rather than at the half-way point. It takes away from The Three Furies and coats it with a disagreeable feeling.
-- This time, Peter Mohrbacher does the illustrations. While he's better than Tim Jacobus was, he's not better than Melvyn Grant. I still miss Grant. My verdict is that The Three Furies is better than The Search for Truth and is enjoyable as The Monsters of Otherness. It does things I've been clamoring for, and some things that surprised me. But like the previous two books, The Three Furies doesn't live up to The Dragon's Eye.
6 out of 9
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Erec Rex continues his quest to become king in Kaza Kingsley's The Three Furies.
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