It seems like no matter how good the last book is, the next book comes out even better in this series. I’m impressed with the way Brandon Mull was able to continue providing the twists, turns, and surprises. Even knowing that someone we trust could turn out to be a traitor at any time, I was always surprised by who it was. He did an excellent job of creating the suspicious atmosphere so that the reader felt just as untrusting as the characters.
Book 4, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary, is about the group recovering the key to the Translocator in an attempt to keep it from the Sphinx’s hands. This requires a number of things, including tricking centaurs and defeating legendary dragons.
Like all final books in a series, book 5 is the longest yet, but it does not drag on. Book 5, Keys to the Demon Prison, is when all things come to a head as they head out for the final key to the prison, fight the Sphinx, gain new enemies and unlikely allies along the way. There is action and adventure all the way through with almost no moments to stop and think. Which for me is good, because that’s how I would imagine it feels in a crisis.
Fablehaven really is one of my favorite series. The characters are all unique, the surprises were always unexpected, the villains less certain than even Harry Potter would have. The world itself is rich and exciting and I want more. At the end of book five, Mull leaves a note that he will not be writing any more books in this series. He does not say he won’t write about these particular characters again, just that this plot is done. He leaves himself room with the end of the series for a new adventure (Seth still owes the Singing Sisters a number of things, the rest of the Eternals must be selected, the keys must be locked in new places, the preserves need to all be restored properly) and I hope he takes the opportunity. (He does say that he has another series in the works, which I intend to check out once it’s out.)
What To Read 