The Xanadu Adventure

Vesper Holly #6

by Lloyd Alexander

Vesper and her friends are sailing off to the newly discovered archeological site of Troy. But danger is close behind—and the party is tricked and imprisoned in a fabulous palace called Xanadu. Xanadu’s master is none other than Vesper’s archenemy, Dr. Helvitius, who has a diabolical scheme to dominate the world. His first goal is to destroy Vesper, who has thwarted him once too often. Escape seems impossible. But if anyone can do it, Vesper can!

Genres: Young Adult, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Historical, Middle Grade

145 pages, Paperback

First published February 3, 2005

About the author

Lloyd Chudley Alexander was an influential American author of more than forty books, mostly fantasy novels for children and adolescents, as well as several adult books. His most famous contribution to the field of children's literature is the fantasy series The Chronicles of Prydain. The concluding book of the series, The High King , was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1969. Alexander's other books have also won the National Book Award and the American Book Award. He was also one of the creators of Cricket Magazine.

Reviews

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Miss Vesper Holly leads an active life. In the half-dozen years since my wife, Mary, and I, Professor Brinton Garrett, have been her guardians, I have seen her deal calmly and efficiently with erupting volcanoes, floods, earthquakes, exploding sausages, and other stressful events. The dear girl likes to keep busy."

Here we are, folks, at the final installment of the Vesper Holly series, and much like The Philadelphia Adventure, this book takes a significant departure from the formula established in the first four books. Once again, Vesper's adventures take place in a real country (this time, it's Turkey) and the plot revolves entirely around Dr. Helvitius - this is unfortunate, but it at least means that Vesper doesn't have to avert civil war in a fictional country for what would have been the fifth time. This book picks up very soon after The Philadelphia Adventure left off, with Vesper going off to Turkey with the entire cast of Vesper Holly Players: where the series began with just Vesper and Brinnie jetting off to Illyria, the final book has Vesper, Brinnie, Smiler, Slider, the Weed, and Aunt Mary all heading off on an adventure together. I've said over and over that Aunt Mary is the best character in the series, and any adventure is better when she comes along, but all of these additional sidekicks do make the story a little crowded.

Anyway, the gang is going to Turkey because the Weed (I guess I should start calling him Tobias, but Brinnie's narration always calls him by his nickname, so it's a hard habit to break) has been researching ancient history and thinks he's located the ruins of Troy. But before we can start having an Indiana Jones-style adventure, the gang is waylaid by Dr. Helvitius. Again. Even Helvitius seems to be getting tired of this song-and-dance, because he doesn't even try to kill Vesper and her friends, choosing instead to imprison them in a wing of his palace and then ignore them. The group escapes through an air vent, which Helvitius didn't bother to secure or patrol, and the final confrontation occurs when Vesper & Co. run into him by accident at the end of the book. Pro tip, Mr. Alexander: when even your antagonist is tired of being the villain, it might be time to admit that he never really worked as well as you wanted him to.

But luckily Helvitius doesn't dominate the story, and we get lots of fun digressions where the group stays with some local villagers who might actually be descended from the original Trojans, and everyone gets a good moment (or, in the case of Mary, several good moments, because Mary Garrett is the greatest - did I mention she steals a knife from Helvitius's table and hides it up her sleeve?). The story feels almost like an extended epilogue, a final bow for Vesper and her friends - it even ends with Vesper preparing to make a tour of all the countries she visited on her previous adventures. It's not the most compelling or exciting book in the series, but it's a nice goodbye to a heroine that Alexander clearly cares deeply about.

Having now finished the entire series, I think that I should have read these books when I was a kid, and I'm sorry I didn't. Too many of my criticisms of the series come from an adult perspective, and I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered me as a kid - although I think that, even in elementary school, I would have noticed that the plots of the first four books are almost identical. My two biggest complaints about the series probably wouldn't have even occurred to me when I was little: first, as I've said in almost every Vesper Holly review I've written, Dr. Helvitius is a tiresome villain. It's not that he's an ineffective antagonist; he just wears out his welcome. I think the series would have been improved if there had been other, minor villains appearing in some of the books while Helvitius sat them out. At the very least, each book could have Vesper dealing with a different villain who turned out to be working for Helvitius, so he remained a presence in the story without becoming repetitive. A different kind of villain would have improved the series, or at least made it less frustrating when Helvitius somehow fails to murder a teenager for the fifth goddamn time in row. I love Vesper with all my heart, but even I started muttering, "Oh my god, just shoot her in the head already" the third time she fell into Helvitius's clutches.

My other big issue, of course, is the issue of the narration. As other reviewers have pointed out, the choice to have Vesper's adventures narrated by a man takes a lot away from the heroine. This, of course, is an obvious homage to Dr. Watson narrating the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and I would argue that a lot of the fun of the Vesper books, like Holmes's adventures, lies in not being inside the main character's head, and being surprised when they make a discovery or implement a plan. But if Vesper Holly is a female version of Sherlock Holmes, shouldn't it follow that her Dr. Watson should be gender-reversed as well? I'm talking, of course, about Aunt Mary. By the time I got to the sixth book (and had seen what Mary was capable of when she was allowed to join the adventure in The Drackenberg Adventure), I couldn't stop imagining what the series would have been like with Aunt Mary as our narrator instead of Brinnie. Mary is tough, resourceful, and intelligent, and she also shares Brinnie's exaggerated sense of propriety and politeness that's such a source of humor in the narration. Think about what these books would have been if they had been about a teenage girl and her female guardian traveling the globe in the 1800's, exploring ruins and foiling villains? It would have been goddamn revolutionary, and I'm sorry that Lloyd Alexander didn't take this opportunity.

I think ten-year-old me would have loved Vesper, and I wish her series was more well-known. Little girls need this kind of heroine, a girl who is preternaturally intelligent and capable, who is treated with respect by everyone she meets despite her age and gender, who is capable and kind, who never judges a person based on appearances, who takes charge in situations but allows herself to be helped when she's in trouble. The Vesper Holly books were not as good as they could have been, but I'm happy I read them, even if I read them much too late.

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the only Vesper Holly I never read… And I needed an "X" book for my alphabetical list for 2011.

This is what pre-young-adult novels used to be. Smart, funny, with a hint of romance and lots of adventure – this is a G-rated (G-rated, do you hear me, all you writers of angels and vampires?), heroine-fronted (heroine! Legitimate heroine! Not a bimbo!) version of Indiana Jones, with an evil, evil nemesis and staunch comrades, one of whom is Watsonian down to his Victorian first-person narrative. Vesper is brilliant, beautiful, and independent. There are no vampires, no tattoos (unless one of the thug henchmen has some), no – I repeat no sex. It would have been unthinkable, for Lloyd Alexander and for the publishing world and audience. Vesper Holly does not become addicted to any illicit substances at any point in her travels; she does not make a fool of herself over a mysterious stranger, paranormal or otherwise; she does not at any time angst over what she is wearing or her social life – such behavior would be completely alien to her. At no time does she do something stupid just to forward the plot – and one of the lovely things about this book in particular and the Vesper Holly adventures in general, and Lloyd Alexander's work in even more general, is that no one else does either. The Vesper Hollys are written for intelligent children, to entertain greatly and teach a little bit (I know as a member of the target audience I would have sought out "Kubla Khan" – if I hadn't already learned parts of it off by heart because of Beauty and the Beast) and overall provide cracking good reads.

The garbage known as the "Twilight saga" is, I think, aimed at a slightly older audience than Vesper Holly – but only slightly. I know my nieces read it when it all first started coming out, and the whole thing horrifies me. Not to turn this into an anti-Twilight tirade, but the writing was bad, I recall little intentional humor in the one book I read, the relationships were inappropriate … and the vampires sparkled. *shudder* Lloyd Alexander's books present excellent writing, genuine humor, and a strong, intelligent, independent heroine who would, I have absolutely no doubt, hold Bella in the utmost contempt.

Xanadu wrapped up the series, rather neatly – although I have a suspicion that Mr. Alexander left himself a corner folded up so that he could add one more book if he'd felt the urge. If only. I count myself lucky to have grown up on Alexander instead of a lot of what kids are given now...

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny, but I feel like a great deal of my childhood reading was wrapped up in Lloyd Alexander (this is no understatement if you wikipedia this guy and see just how prolific he was). I may have loved The Chronicles of Prydain but I really fell in love with Vesper Holly. To this day, "Vesper" is still in the running for baby names if I should ever have a little girl.
So a few weeks ago, I discovered the "Never-Ending Book Quiz" here on Goodreads and I started thinking about all the good books that deserved trivia questions. And naturally, I thought of Vesper. So I went online to remember all the exact titles and there on the list was a book I had never read before... [Book:The Xanadu Adventure] published in 2005. I was graduating college in 2005, so I suppose it isn't surprising that I wasn't searching the young readers' section for unread gems, but I was still surprised that I had not yet heard of this sixth Vesper Holly book, printed fifteen years after the fifth. I ordered it immediately from an amazon seller and a few days ago, it arrived.

In The Xanadu Adventure, you find all the little touches that have come to characterize Vesper Holly books for me... the random expedition to an exotic locale, the cliffhanger endings to the short chapters, the narrator Brinnie's tendency to jump to conclusions, Vesper's cool-headed sense of reason, and, of course, our arch-nemesis Dr. Helvitius. In this adventure, we set off in search of Troy, but instead, we find an artificial Xanadu created by the wealthy and ridiculous Dr. Helvitius(all the truly great villains are wealthy and ridiculous, you know). Oh, and we also find a whole civilization of people (amazingly enough, an undiscovered people who are clearly the descendants of escaped Trojans) that possess the key to deciphering the language the Weed is studying, which sent us off on this adventure in the first place.
As we've gone along in the Vesper Holly books, we've acquired a few characters that we can't seem to shake. In the beginning, it was just Vesper and her guardian Brinnie running from place to place. Then we found Smiler and Slider, handy twins that are characterized by their mechanical know-how (particularly when it comes to boats that are of questionable sea-worthiness) and brute strength. There's Aunt Mary, Brinnie's wife who is surprisingly resourceful and nimble, much to her husband's surprise. And let us not forget "the Weed," a young man with academic pursuits who stumbled into our story and Vesper's heart. I can't say that I don't enjoy the side-characters, but there was something a little less complicated about Vesper and Brinnie on their own in foreign countries. The more characters we acquired, the closer I knew we were coming to an eventual end of the stories. We were weighted down with people and soon it would be too much for such a troupe to wander into adventure.
And even while Vesper was always a bright and energetic young woman, it's in this book more than any other that you realize time has passed and we're not dealing with static characters whose ages do not change. There's always something a little melancholy about watching a character you love grow up. It's not like Vesper's an old woman or anything, but even the idea of her actually getting married and having a child is a bit much for me. I suppose it was good of Alexander to let us know that she's taken care-of and that even in marital bliss, she won't be losing her spunkiness... but I don't know if I needed assurance on that front.

Alexander, however, might have... I hadn't known this before today, but apparently Alexander had a step-daughter (his wife's daughter, whom he adopted) who passed away in 1990 - the same year the last Vesper Holly book was published. I won't speculate more on that, but it does add a note of melancholy as to why it might have taken fifteen years to see Vesper's final adventure in print. I wrote the line about wikipedia-ing Lloyd Alexander, then realized I had never done this, despite how many of his books I have read. So I went ahead and looked him up in Wikipedia and apparently he died exactly a year ago today.

In any case, The Xanadu Adventure is certainly a worthy Vesper Holly send-off and for a short while, it made me smile to find myself in the crowded company of the characters I knew and loved... particularly that of Brinnie and Vesper. I hope that more children will come to love them, too, as Alexander's work should delight children for generations to come.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I didn't realize until reading some other reviews of The Xanadu Adventure that it was written quite a few years after the previous book, and perhaps this partly explains why it feels a bit different from the others. It's still a nice adventure story and I still like the characters, but it feels quite rushed. It also sometimes crosses into more mature content, enough to be a bit jarring in a kids' series. I do appreciate how Lloyd Alexander didn't talk down to his readers, and there's nothing blatantly inappropriate. The most potentially scandalous moment is what I'm pretty sure was a reference to eunuchs, which was so oblique that I'm sure no kid would notice it anyways.

The Xanadu Adventure would have benefited from being longer, since the conclusion is too rushed for the span of time it covers. I do love Vesper and Toby together, and wish that relationship had been developed more here. But there are some good scenes and it's interesting to see Brinnie come to terms with it. Ultimately, the ending feels oddly bittersweet. But I've enjoyed the series as a whole, and I do have some affection for this last book even if it was a bit of a letdown. I'll re-read the best ones of the series for sure, and I might even re-read The Xanadu Adventure sometime!

[Joshua Van Dereck · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Vesper Holly series sputters to its end as lazy and uninspired as ever. There are a few rousing moments, an amusingly sketched scene or two--as is typical for these books. But Alexander clearly dialed in the whole project somewhere early on, resorting to endless structural repetition. As such, there is precious little character development, consistent absurdity in the action, a seemingly magical, eternally rich and resourceful villain who never ceases to monologue and neglect to off the heroes, and... not much else.

Looking back on the series, I think they are fluffy, sometimes cute and amusing, but generally quite vapid and slowly worse by turns. The first two or three books may have some merit for a spot of light entertainment, but after that, they just run on fumes.

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'm overly attached to Vesper Holly. I appreciated the ending but liked the Philadelphia Adventure better.

[Kay Iscah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My time with Vesper is done. This book is definitely more "grown up" than the previous titles. Yes, Vesper is more grown-up age wise, but the subtle "I think he's got a pervy thing for Vesper" from Dr. Helvetius upped to pretty overt perving. We wrap up with Vesper getting married and having a baby, which felt pretty rushed, though that's partly with how quickly I'm reading these. And I'm torn. Because for Brinnie, our narrator, this is the end of *his* adventures with Vesper as her primary guardian and adventure companion, but at the same time marriage/baby being the end of series is a similar let down to the Harry Potter ending. I feel like the book could have been a little better to end more openly, so the reader can speculate about further adventures.

I do like that they paired Vesper with someone she clicked with intellectually and life goals wise and emphasized that over looks.

Symbolically it works to have Brinnie and Helvitius to be very similar in many ways: demographically, educationally, etc. Because they represent two opposing rolls of older men in the lives of girls, the threat and the protector. And it's nice to see strong female characters that don't rely on the "women are good cause men are evil" crutch. It makes the dynamic about actions and motives rather than gender. And Brinnie is a good man. Not flawless, but well intentioned, and brave/generous enough to act on those intentions.

Overall, I think the series is okay and has enough good points not to be discouraged. But Brinnie and Vesper do provide some opportunities for the discussion of "nice racism". Brinnie doesn't wish harm on anyone, but his cultural snobbery is very strong. And to degree he's a man of his times, and in some ways progressive for his times. But he's very much got that Colonialist/my-world-is-civilization way of thinking. Vesper, on the other hand, embraces the unfamiliar enthusiastically but is the poster child for the white savior/American who assumes their nationality gives them a pass/shield. Both of these are far more subtle issues, but fiction can be a great springboard for those discussions.

Not a great series, not terrible, not something I think the world needs an adaptation of but would work best as a semi-educational video game.

[Marc Jentzsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

So there are really only 2 great sins in this series:

Helvitius is an insufferable villain. He's just not engaging in any way, and to have him crop up over and over, as is the wont of a nemesis, is why I waited so long to read this one.

Second, Brinnie. Brinnie is great fun. He gets the vapors, he is regularly outraged, and is comical in his blind spot for Philadelphians. But what I hate is that he is, like SO MANY other father-figure characters, a buffoon. He feels utterly useless, makes terrible and rash decisions, and mostly just gets in the way. Meanwhile, even Mary - the most minor of recurring characters - is calm, capable, and confident. Brinnie is entertaining though, with all his outbursts and needless long-suffering. I just wish he was of more use than as a travel agent, chaperone, and sponsor.

These stories are rip-roaring, highly-sanitized celebrations of Vesper coming of age during the Victorian era as an adventurer in the most wholesome sense. I was sold on these books when I read the first line of The Illyrian Adventure. Vesper is my kind of girl, my kind of adventurer. She's tough, sensible, educated, and principled. She's a renaissance girl - and later woman - in the best sense. Where so many pulp characters fall, Vesper soars. If you want some light, pseudo-historical adventure with a ginger girl leading the charge, these books are for you.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the reviews of this book by past readers had given me some pause and concern that it might end up being a disappointment, especially in view of the fact that it was written some fifteen years or so after the previous Vesper Holly Adventures. But I found it to be a delightful and satisfying conclusion to the series, and very much in keeping with the charming qualities of the first five books. I was glad for various "loose ends" to be tied up and put to rest, and for Vesper to have her "happily ever after," so to speak. The series is not flawless, to be sure, and there is a certain repetitive pattern to the books. Even so, I found the characters and stories to be endearing and enjoyable. I noticed that some reviewers evidently read only this final book in the series, and I'm frankly not surprised that they would be disappointed, as it would make little sense apart from all that has gone before. But for those who have read Vesper's previous "adventures," I certainly recommend this book as a fine finish.

[Amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a mostly satisfying ending to the series. It should not be read out of order, though.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit...I picked this book out based solely on the title so I would be able to mark off a book for the A-to-Z fun challenge. Bonus points came after I found out it took place somewhat in Turkey - a place to visit on my Bucket List. I overall liked the idea of the book - a female Indiana Jones. However, this was the last book in the "Vesper Holly" series. I missed out on all the other adventures so I wasn't too invested in the characters. The main voice of the book was her uncle, so it had the feel of Dr. Watson telling the adventures undertaken with Sherlock Holmes. Vesper did do a lot of action, but the book didn't feel like it was all about her. She was an important character, but she wasn't overpowering in the story. The book seemed more about the entourage with Vesper being the common ingredient.

This book was set up as a young adult book...but I can easily see my 5th grader or even my 2nd grader reading and enjoying the story. Not too overly graphic in the action or romance but plenty of thrilling adventure between breaking out of Xanadu, the boat and train rides. I believe that I would have enjoyed it more if I did read the whole series to see how far this group of characters have come. As it stands, I may read the other books but I don't have an urgent need to find out more. There are other young adult action heroines on my to-read list.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final book (#6) in the Vesper Holly series and although I enjoyed the world-spanning adventures of the Indiana Jones type, I still feel disappointed they weren't rooted a bit more in history, taking place in the 1870s. Many topics of the day are mentioned including a canal in Central America, flying machines, bombs, electricity, engines, and more. Certainly could be tied in to a number of other subjects if the reader and/or the teacher so desired.

This concludes my reading of Lloyd Alexander's series books, but in looking at the list of this author's books, I've read 27 and have 15 yet to go. I'm curious about his fictional memoir, Janine is French and other adult books, not sure all of which are listed on Goodreads.

[Loraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Indiana Jones style adventure novel is written for juveniles. I believe the storyline would probably be interesting to middle school age youth. But one major part of the storyline though would probably stop many of them from reading this book. Throughout the storyline there are frequent illusions to and quotes from Shakespeare, Coleridge, and other classic writers. Since these illusions and quotes are tied into part of the storyline base, it makes it difficult to skip them which I think most of this age range would do. This inclusion would be more appropriate for older youth but I believe they would feel the storyline too childish for them.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are children's and young adult books which are a delight to both young people and adults. This is not on of them. I found it trite and boring. Sailing on a ship which is threatening to sink, the young heroine (age I suppose between 18 and 22) goes to the engine room. A short while later, she returns and the ship's engineer proclaims she has saved the ship. Nothing about what she did. And it went downhill from there.

[JoAnne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea for a variety of reasons. Could not get into the story from start to finish. So much baggage for all the characters and an adventure it was not - more like mayhem. Had not read any of the previous books in the series which could have caused some of the confusion as I read. I won't be reading any of the other books in the series.
Children's book which I thought would be a quick read - needed a book that started with X for a challenge - but it wasn't.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vesper Holly, the star of this series, is a female Indiana Jones type. This is toted as the final book of the series and perhaps it does put an end to her archenemy, The Count, once and for all. My only complaint about the whole series is that it's written in first person by the voice of her guardian, Brinny, not Vesper, and that is confusing.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has the same strengths and weaknesses as other entries in the Vesper Holly series. On the plus side, Alexander's wit and prose is always a job. On the minus side, Vesper's characterization remains mostly flat, and the ending feels overly drawn out.

[Gewbook · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great wrap up to the Vesper Holly books. They hold a special place in my heart from childhood and this book fits right into their formula and voice. Not a complicated plot but very satisfying for those of us attached to Vesper and her companions!

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is was just kind of boring. Nothing too exciting happened and it was obviously predictable. I didn't really like any of the characters and it was just too short to get a feel for them. Maybe if I read the other books in the series I would have cared.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun. I may have gotten more out of it had I not skipped the first 5 books in the series. I think I was it's own adventure, but the same adversary and heroine, so you just get more character development.

[Debra · Rating 1 out of 5]

the female Indiana Jones .. probably where i got my first obsession to dig up the front yard
two stars if you are around 10.

[Amelie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delight.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This late finale to the series is not as strong as earlier Vesper Holly adventures, but it has many of the familiar elements that readers will have come to expect.

[ChrisGA · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun young adult book about a female Indiana Jones and her scholar guardians. Delicious tongue-in-cheek humor.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vesper Holly #6. Pretty much the same as "the El Dorado Adventure", but I found it a bit too repetitive and cliche ridden for my taste.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Lloyd Alexander, and I love the vibe of his Vesper Holly books!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A satisfying conclusion to some fun adventures.

[C.J. Milbrandt]

Spunky redhead goes adventuring in the 1870s. Archeologists and historians. Guardians and globetrotting. Carrots and weeds.

I confess to reading this in a hurried fashion because I needed an 'X' book for an alphabet reading challenge. I somehow proceeded with one eye shut lest I come across spoilers (quite impossible) because this is the last book in a six-book series. Since Alexander is a trusted author, I will give this series its proper due by beginning at the beginning. And revise this review at that time.