Timely reissue of the classic fantasy trilogy by Robin Jarvis, following on from the landmark publication of DANCING JAX, his first novel in a decade.
In a grimy alley in the East End of London stands the Wyrd Museum, cared for by the strange Webster sisters – the scene of even stranger events.
Brought out of the past, elfin-like Edie Dorkins must now help the Websters to protect their age-old secret. For outside the museum’s enchanted walls, a nightmarish army is gathering in the mystical town of Glastonbury, bent on destroying the sisters and their ancient power once and for all…
Revisit the chilling, fantastical world of the Wyrd Museum in this sequel to The Woven Path.
Robin Jarvis (born May 8, 1963) is a British children's novelist, who writes fantasy novels, often about anthropomorphic rodents and small mammals—especially mice—and Tudor times. A lot of his works are based in London, in and around Deptford and Greenwich where he used to live, or in Whitby.
His first novel—The Dark Portal, featuring the popular Deptford Mice—was the runner up for the Smarties book prize in 1989.
This was a great sequel to the first book in the trilogy (Woven Path), and picks up where it left off. While this book also contains some scary and gruesome scenes, it has a slightly different feel. "Woven Path" is more of a horror/adventure story, or it felt that way to me; this one is also very scary at times, but it also contains many elements of religion and mythology. Christian artifacts and legends mix with ancient myths and even the King Arthur tales; the result was very intriguing and seemed very full and rich to me. I really like how Robin Jarvis, the author, combines so many unexpected threads into one story.
I would caution against reading this as a pure fantasy, because of the scary aspect, and it is more intense than its cover suggests. But, I loved it!
For anyone who like mythology and want something different from the Roman and Greek mythology from the Percy Jackson series. I recommended the Wyrd museum, revolting mostly around Norse mythology. This book is fill with high pack action. You don't have to read the first book to get what going on. It does pick up at the minuets where the first book left off. Also, to add, it gets gory from time to time.
I loved this book! I was a huge Robin Jarvis fan as a child, but I never read this book because I struggled to get through the Woven Path, so abandoned the series when it came out. Having given it a new go as an adult, and finding the first book good but not great, this was a welcome return to form. For some reason, I always love book 2 the most in each of his series', and I suspect this may be the case with the Wyrd Museum.
While the previous book had a WW2 theme, this story was set in the present day and focused around the town of Glastonbury. It explored the Norse mythology side of the story in greater detail than its predecessor, and we get much more time with the Webster sisters, which is a plus. Veronica, who was something of an afterthought in the first book, gets a (literal) outing here, and she's a really likeable character. While Neil is still central, he's no longer the only focus of the story.
Like most Robin Jarvis books, this story is scary and gory in places, but it never feels gratuitous. It's a YA book, but is still enjoyable to read as an adult. I'm looking forward to finishing off the trilogy with the final book.
A rather blood-thirsty take on some old Norse mythology, but blood-thirsty is why we read Jarvis! For about the first time in his books, I felt the plot moved a tad too fast to allow the characters to breathe, but it was a spectacular concept nonetheless.
Randomly, of the trilogy, this is the book I've read the most, as I must have read it at least twice before thinking to track down the first and third books to round of the story.
The story starts exactly where the last one finishes, with Neil arriving back in the present and having to face his father and the Webster sisters. But they are all embroiled on a new adventure - the Gallows God, once ally and friend of the Fates, but now a bitter enemy, has returned and is seeking to destroy them. Luring one of the sister's to Glastonbury, where a sacred relic resides, he uses the local women as a deadly, horrific force to fight them. Only Neil, Edie and a rag tag collection of people can stop him.
This is as dark, and sometimes gory, as the first. The transformation of the women through the crow dolls is scary and sends a shiver of fear through the reader. Once again, the characters and plot are superbly written and I didn't really notice at all that I was reading something aimed at children.
This was a good follow up to the first book. It builds well on the established characters and adds some new ones. It is different enough from the first one that you are transported once again in an unexpected way. You would not need to read the first one for this to make sense.
Here there is a race between good and evil to find a relic which will tip the balance of power, but some people who would be good are manipulated to evil ends.
Although you have to acknowledge that the ideas in this story are original, it all feels so contrived and the fact that everything's inevitably and inexorably heading for a horrible climax is exasperating. The only thing I enjoyed was the raven Quoth. The rest is just irritating and totally unconvincing.
Like most of Jarvis's books, although aimed at children this was incredibly creepy. Again he manages to come up with scenarios and characters that are both frightening and everyday, something that isn't easy to repeatedly achieve.
This was one of the first heavy duty fantasy books I have ever read -- I suppose that I owe my adoration for epic fantasy to Jarvis. A really stunning trilogy, written by a master