Leven Thumps

When I finally caved in and read Harry Potter for the first time two years ago, it launched me down a slippery slope of reading young adult fantasy, particularly that written by Utah authors. The next series that I got into was Fablehaven (now three books) by Brandon Mull. These books are pretty good, but of course there is plenty of time to read others as well.

Recently Angela and I took advantage of some Borders coupons to buy Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye (that doesn't sound pseudononymous). The book follows the adventures of a fourteen-year-old orphan with wretched caregivers who discovers that he is something greater than an average teenager (hmm..., maybe literary tropes should be patentable material). Yes, some of the story's themes will sound awfully familiar to readers of J.K. Rowling's work, but most of them probably predate her by many decades or more.

The title character, Leven, is apparently the key to destroying a gateway that connects Reality to Foo, the land that exists in the minds of all people and exists so that we can dream. Occasionally people are whisked away from Reality into Foo. There they are often given new gifts ("magical" talents) and charged with enhancing the dreams of people in Reality. It's supposed to be a one-way trip. When Fate calls, you must serve.

Leven's grandfather, who had been taken to Foo, made a gateway between the worlds. The trouble is that if too many people were to leave Foo, both Foo and Reality would crumble. Fortunately the gateway's location is secret, but the bad guys want it so they can go out and conquer Reality. They don't believe all those apocalyptic warnings.

With the help of three interesting companions from Foo, and with a hand from Fate every now and then, Leven embarks on his quest. The story and characters are engaging, and the author's writing style is very descriptive without being too florid. The pace of the story is fairly brisk, and it was a good read to me.

The sequel, Leven Thumps and the Whispered Secret continues the tale, and is pretty much on par with the quality of the first book. The fourth book in the series is coming out at the end of this month, so we'll have to see how long it ends up being. I'd say the first two earn four antelopes each.