Sky Raiders

Starred review from December 23, 2013
Mull (the Beyonders books) opens the Five Kingdoms series with this fanciful, action-packed adventure in which a sixth-grader is stranded in a strange world where magic is real and dreams have power. After Cole and his friends are lured into a haunted house on Halloween, they are viciously kidnapped by slavers and transported to the mysterious "in-between place" known as the Outskirts. Cole is soon separated from the other kidnapped children and sentenced to work with a band of misfits who salvage treasures from bizarre flying castles. As Cole tries to find a way to escape and rescue his friends, he makes new allies and is drawn into a desperate gamble to defeat a rampaging construct made of rogue magic. Armed with amazing treasures and thrown into battle against terrifying odds, Cole must learn to become a hero. Although Mull packs quite a bit into this initial installment, he skillfully mixes the capricious logic of dreams with high stakes and constant danger. The intriguing premise, strong world-building, and numerous twists make this a real page-turner. Ages 8â12. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House.

March 1, 2014

Gr 5-8-Cole talks his friends into visiting a house on Halloween rumored to provide a hauntingly good scare in this fantasy adventure. Instead of a fun evening in the suburbs of Arizona, the teenagers are kidnapped and taken through a portal to be sold as slaves in another world. Cole is sent to work as a Sky Raider, where his mission is to steal valuables from floating castles. This dangerous work helps him forge new friendships with young people who possess special powers. One of these friends is a princess in hiding, and Cole must help her overthrow her father, the evil King, as a way to establish order and help his friends escape slavery. The world-building lacks the necessary description and details which readers expect of this genre. Cole seems to move through the incredulous events without demonstrating any connection to his life on Earth or a real desire to return. The plot contains many twists and turns, but each new encounter is fashioned to outdo the previous one, which strains credulity.-April Sanders, Spring Hill College, Mobile, AL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 26, 2014
The first in Mull’s Five Kingdom series begins on Halloween, as sixth-grader Cody and his friends venture into a haunted house and unexpectedly embark on a journey into a world called the Outskirts. This in-between world proves hard to escape. Cody’s friends are captured by slavers, and he must find a way to rescue them and return to Earth. Narrator Nobbs projects a youthful voice appropriate to the characters in the novel. The strong narration of the more descriptive elements of the book provides a nice balance with the emotional states of the characters. However, occasionally the characters voices are indistinguishable from one and another, making it difficult to keep track of who said what. Ages 8–12. An Aladdin hardcover.