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Fablehaven #3

Grip of the Shadow Plague

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Strange things are afoot at Fablehaven. Someone or something has released a plague that transforms beings of light into creatures of darkness. Seth discovers the problem in its infancy, but as the infectious disease spreads, it becomes clear that the preserve cannot hold out for long.

In dire need of help, the Sorensons question where to turn. The Sphinx has always given sound advice–but is he a traitor? Inside the Quiet Box, Vanessa might have information that could lead to a cure–but can she be trust?

Meanwhile, Kendra and members of the Knights of the Dawn must journey to a distant preserve and retrieve another hidden artifact. Will the Society of the Evening Star recover it first? Will the plague eclipse all light at Fablehaven? Find out in Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague.

477 pages, Hardcover

First published April 21, 2008

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About the author

Brandon Mull

75 books10.6k followers
BRANDON MULL is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Fablehaven, Dragonwatch, Beyonders, and Five Kingdoms series. A kinetic thinker, Brandon enjoys bouncy balls, squeezable stress toys, and popping bubble wrap. He lives in Utah in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon with his wife, Erlyn, their eleven children, and three mischievous cats. Brandon loves meeting his readers and hearing about their experiences with his books.

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5 stars
50,377 (51%)
4 stars
32,131 (32%)
3 stars
12,030 (12%)
2 stars
2,150 (2%)
1 star
1,377 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,256 reviews
Profile Image for George Jankovic.
Author 2 books74 followers
December 15, 2017
Brandon Mull developed the world of this awesome series so much more in this book. I really love how the species were described, each with different characters traits. The centaurs are proud and conceited. The fairies crave attention, always check their looks and like to gossip. The satyrs are playful and love girls (dryads). The naiads disdain all the land-based creatures, but their favorite pastime is drowning humans. Etc etc.

One great thing in this book is how much more we got into character thoughts and feelings since they were often separated. Kendra is wonderful as always. And I really liked Seth in this book. He is still naughty but tries to not be as careless while staying brave. Gavin is a great new character.

5 stars. Enjoy!
Profile Image for t !.
92 reviews19 followers
March 23, 2023
AHH THAT WAS SO GOOD! duzo lepsze niz dwie pierwsze👼🏼 pewna smierc mnie hitnela (lubilam te postac bardzo)🤓🤓
Profile Image for Kimberley doruyter.
893 reviews96 followers
July 2, 2020
just what every fatasy book needs ,magical plague and dragons.
Profile Image for Aaron Vincent.
96 reviews34 followers
March 5, 2011
Originally Posted on Guy Gone Geek

The middle part of fantasy series are always the trickiest. The world is already established in the first book(s) and information about the series-long plot are held back for the finale. Middle part books are always the one that is the most forgettable and there are cases when these books are just fodders. Such is the case in Michael Scott’s Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel and even Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson. I love both of these series but if you ask me what happened in The Necromancer or Battle of the Labyrinth, I will likely just give you a two-sentence long summary or worse, a blank stare. But if you ask me about the first book or the finale, I would tell you everything in detail and with vigor your ears might bleed.

It is one of the most common writing traps. Authors tends to play some of their aces in the first book to hook you in and the rest of their remaining aces in the finale to blow your mind and make a lasting impression. Now, it’s either Brandon Mull is a cheater or a magician that he has endless supply of aces or he is just skillful on distributing fair amounts of it in his books. I personally prefer the former for it is way more wicked.

Grip of the Shadow Plague starts several weeks after the events of Rise of the Evening Star with Kendra being invited to join the Knights of Dawn, a secret society which function is to protect all the magical preserves across the globe. Right after joining the society, she was assigned to retrieve another secret artifact hidden at a preserve in Arizona, The Lost Mesa. Meanwhile at Fablehaven, Seth is not missing out any actions as the creatures – even those without fallen states – are turning into creatures of darkness. Creatures known to be gentle and nurturing are transformed into wild and savage beasts. The Shadow Plague is spreading fast and they must find a way to stop it before in consumes the entire magical preserve making Fablehaven just a part of history.

Brandon Mull continues to impress me by writing the third book in this ever-imaginative series in dual narratives. The transitions were not seamless but both were engaging and very exciting. The Lost Mesa is a very interesting preserve. Creatures that inhabits this preserve are different from Fablehaven(there are zombies!), albeit much more dangerous. It also follows an entirely different set of rules and hides its own secrets. Fablehaven itself has its own deep dark secrets and a grim history that were exposed in this book. This is what makes this series truly, well, magical – the preserves are characters of its own.

Grip of the Shadow Plague, literally and figuratively, took a much darker turn compared to its predecessors. There were lives sacrificed, and the characters’ motives lies within the thin line that separates good and evil. There was also a time travel subplot that ended with a tragic and heartbreaking conclusion. Our heroes were more matured – Kendra has less doubt in herself than before and there were lesser amount of times I wanted to scream at Seth – but nothing prepared them for the dire events happened in this book. The only flaw I can complain about in this installment is how Mull kept his characters clueless about a certain conflict even if the answer was staring at their faces, or Kendra’s face at least. This isn’t enough to topple one star, though, cause this particular conflict is not really the focus of this book and there were too much going on for me to be distracted and forget about it at the most crucial points of the story. I think its part of Kendra’s characterization, anyway. She’s too trusting to suspect anyone. These things I’m sure will happen in the next book, Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary: enemies will be unmasked, hearts will be broken, Brandon Mull will continue to show off his storytelling prowess and Aaron, once again, will be left breathless.
Profile Image for Prabhjot Kaur.
1,121 reviews213 followers
January 5, 2021
If I thought Rise of the Evening Star was amazing then this is even better. Grip of the Shadow Plague gripped like the plague itself but in a good way. The story line is just wow. Every time I thought it couldn't get better than this, it does.

What a brilliant concept Brandon Mull came up with and it keeps getting better and better. All the mysteries and mysterious things made my head spin. I felt dizzy with exhilaration.

Warren and Patton, oh my god I couldn't get enough of these two. I think we really need a book citing all the adventures Patton did. I mentioned in my Fablehaven review that I like the dual narrative and in this book I couldn't love it enough. We get to see all the action from Fablehaven as well as the other preserves that Kendra and The Knights of Dawn visit.

Even Seth has matured, not completely but it's a start and Kendra isn't bad herself. If I had to choose one favourite character from these two (not that anyone's asking me to choose), I'd choose Seth. He's reckless but courageous. The only complaint I have from this book is that there was not enough Vanessa.

4.5 stars
Profile Image for Dawn.
356 reviews7 followers
September 15, 2008
I enjoy the Fablehaven series, and this third one was very good. I like Mull's creativity and energy. I appreciate his ongoing discussion of the nature of good and evil, the power of our choices, and in this one, the consequences of choosing to believe or not. I liked the way this book expanded the characters and locations of the story. And Patton Burgess is awesome! :)

I read this book first alone, but then I reread it aloud with my husband. In reading aloud, we discovered an annoying flaw. Mull does well with action scenes, but whenever he is summarizing the past storyline or when he is bridging to a new scene, his writing becomes painfully stilted and boring. I skimmed over these parts when reading silently to myself, but reading them aloud is awful! Some prime examples are at the beginning when Kendra is sitting alone in the dungeon and worse, the chapter in the Atlanta airport. Mull's editor should pay better attention and help him refine his writing skills!

However, the story is still fun, creative, exciting fantasy, so I recommend it.
Profile Image for P .
692 reviews344 followers
November 17, 2015
It took me two months to finish this book. The story is good, but the narrative is not intrigued.
เนื้อเรื่องเล่มนี้ดีนะ แต่การเล่าเรื่องขาดความน่าสนใจไปหน่อย เราใช้เวลาเกือบสองเดือนกว่าจะอ่านหนังสือเล่มนี้จบ คืออ่านๆหยุดๆหลายรอบ อ่านทีไรก็เริ่มง่วงทุกที เลยแก้ปัญหาเอามาอ่านเป็นหนังสือก่อนนอนแทนซะเลย วันไหนนอนไม่หลับ หนังสือเล่มนี้ช่วยได้จริงๆ อ่านไม่ถึงสิบห้านาทีตาก็จะปิดแล้ว หลับฝันดีตลอดคืนเลยล่ะ ...

เซธไม่ค่อยน่ารำคาญเหมือนเล่มแรก เคนดราก็เริ่มเก่งขึ้นเป็นคนเคลียร์ปัญหาทุกอย่างของเฟเบิลเฮเวน แต่พอลองมองภาพรวมเนื้อเรื่องมันไม่ก็ค่อยจะเดินหน้าไปไหนเลยอ่ะ ยังขลุกๆอยู่กับ artifacts อยู่เลย ช่วงแรกดูเฉื่อยๆไม่ค่อยมีอะไรให้ลุ้นเท่าไร มาสนุกเอาสองสามบทสุดท้ายแค่นั้นจริงๆ นี่เดาไว้เลยว่า Navarog ต้องเป็นตัวปัญหาในเล่มต่อไป แล้ว Zzyxx ก็จะออกมามีบทบาทในเล่มสุดท้าย โป๊ะเช๊ะ ! จบ 5 เล่มพอดี ...

เป็นนิยายที่อ่านได้เพลินๆ ไม่ค่อยมีจุดที่อ่านแล้วไม่ชอบหรือขัดใจเท่าไร แต่โทนนิยายมันจะเรื่อยๆ ไม่ค่อยพีค ไม่ไคลแมกซ์อะไรมาก เหมาะกับเด็กอายุไม่เกิน 8-13 ขวบ ถ้าอ่านแล้วน่าจะสนุกมากๆ ...

Profile Image for John Conrad.
47 reviews17 followers
August 19, 2008
This was a really well-written sequel that answered most of the questions from the last two. I enjoyed seeing Seth grow up a little bit, and Kendra's new relationship should be interesting for the future. I thought that death was treated pretty casually, especially the first one. I had to read back and confirm that the character had really died because it happened so quickly and without much comment. My favorite sequence has to be the Haunted Mesa with all its twists and turns, but is wrapped up quite neatly at the end as well. I had reserved judgement on the Sphynx thinking there might have been some cool excuse for his behavior, but was a little disappointed to find the truth confirmed. I hope we get more of an explanation in the next book as to why he chose the path he did. Is he just a flat "bad guy" or is there some combination of good and bad, or reasons he chose the bad side.

Overall this was a very good read, and enjoyable from start to finish. If I seem to be picking out flaws, it's because I'm actually trying to be a more critical reader. After all, if every book gets five stars, where's the room for improvement? I want goodreads to put in half stars so I can be more precise in my ratings. This was a good solid 4 stars, however, and, in my opinion good for readers at many levels. It might be above the heads of a few beginners, but it should be okay for ages 10 and up, though they might struggle a little with the vocabulary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Książkomanka.
469 reviews514 followers
January 31, 2022
4.25/5 ⭐

Ta seria z każdym tomem jest coraz lepsza 🤩 punk kulminacyjny tego tomu był pełen zaskoczeń i emocji 😮 no i śmierć jednej z moich ukochanych postaci 😭

Słucham całej serii w audio i muszę przyznać, że lektor robi świetną robotę! 😍
Profile Image for Ksiazkowa.
95 reviews116 followers
January 27, 2023
4,25/5

Jak narazie jest to moim zdaniem najlepszy tom serii! Mam za sobą już trzy, a przede mną tylko dwa. W tym tomie było definitywnie najwiecej akcji i najszybciej się ona zaczęła. Pewnie niedługo sięgnę po 4 tom, bo całe szczęście jest na Empik go 🌝🤍
Profile Image for Zena.
742 reviews6 followers
January 15, 2025
Dynamiczny i ciekawy tom. Lekki język autora i znakomita interpretacja lektora - Janusza Zadury sprawiają, że lektura wciąga i z wypiekami na twarzy siegam po kolejną część 😉 Całe szczęście cykl Baśniobór nie jest obłożony "klątwą kolejnego tomu".
Profile Image for Book2Dragon.
456 reviews174 followers
January 17, 2025
A good book, but it is #3 of the series, and I never read #1 or #2, so--I have to stop doing that. One other thing I would have liked were more illustrations of these fantasy creatures. The illustrator is very good, but other than one picture of a Samoan, one of a satyr and one of a sphere ("artifact"). Otherwise, each chapter is illustrated on the first page with the same illustration of the preserves' mansions. Really only three of them

But there is a good blend of humor, suspense, and characters. And action, as the grandchildren of the preserve caretaker go on dangerous adventures with many mystical and mythical creatures against more of the same on the dark side. Ending quite exciting with the mandatory cliff hanger.

Will read more
Profile Image for Audrey.
1,344 reviews214 followers
February 13, 2020
Wow, I’d forgotten a LOT of this book. As the third book in the series, it is definitely necessary to read them in order.

It’s a pretty long book for MG, but a lot happens, so it never drags. It’s very creative, especially where the booby traps come in. There’s lots of action and danger and suspense, including more deaths than seen previously. And I only wanted to strangle Seth about half the time instead of all the time. He’s starting to learn. There are also quite a few magical creatures seen, which made me a bit nostalgic for Narnia.

Book Blog
4 reviews1 follower
Read
October 8, 2019
Very interesting theme. It has the traditional good vs. evil but adds twists to it. This theme was particularly apparent in the first two books and is even explicitly stated by Grandpa Sorenson: The creatures of Fablehaven are neither good nor evil. They are only categorized into lightness and darkness. For example, Naiads drown people when they come near, but they are creatures of light.
In this book, there's a new variable: the shadow plague. This plague turns creatures of light into creatures of darkness. This furthers the evidence of goodness vs. evil with twists. Light creatures turning dark means that there is no goodness/evil for the magical creatures. For a magical creature, good/evil does not exist. Honestly, this is probably one of the most interesting themes I've seen. It was mentioned that the Sphinx could possibly be evil in the second book. For the purposes of spoilers, I won't tell you whether he is evil or not, but if he is, he probably believes what he is doing is right, so that could be very interesting for the theme. The character development from book 2 to this book is a little too fast, from Seth and Kendra kind of hating each other to hugs and kisses for everyone. Still not completely sure as to how I think of this series yet, but it’s certainly growing on me.
Profile Image for Pepperoni.
403 reviews37 followers
April 19, 2022
4,5
na ten moment to chyba moja ulubiona część
Profile Image for gaba.
151 reviews14 followers
May 19, 2021
warren burgess.
Profile Image for Fatima difarko.
127 reviews
September 8, 2021
كيوت، دوست داشتني
زيبا
جذاب
پراز موجودات جادويي قشنگ:)
و يكمم دردناك
اما مثل هميشه كلي ازت لذت بردم:)))
Profile Image for Martina  Fraňová (fandomky).
162 reviews27 followers
December 28, 2021
Ja túto sériu tak milujem! Cítim sa ako dvanásťročné dievča, ktoré po nociach na tajnáša číta a preklína tú časť svojho ja, ktorá musí skoro ráno vstávať do školy. Vyše 400 stranové tehly padajú len tak a ja…stále nemám dosť. Úplne rozumiem celému tomu humbuku naokolo, pretože táto séria si to jednoducho zaslúži.

Po prečítaní tretej časti som si uvedomila, že som za polovicou. Za polovicou tohto úžasného príbehu, ktorý je každou knihou lepší, viac akčný, dobrodružný a hlavne geniálny. Všetky detaily sa spájajú do niečoho väčšieho, originálneho a do niečoho, čo absolútne zbožňujem. Zároveň si uvedomujem, že ma čakajú už len dve časti. Asi ste už zažili ten pocit, keď dočítate obľúbenú sériu a začínate si klásť otázky typu - čo teraz? Ako môžem žiť bez nej? Všetci sme si tým prešli, všetci sme sa tešili na koniec a zároveň sme boli smutní, že ten koniec vôbec prišiel. Ale dali sme to, nezabudli sme na ne a tieto príbehy zostali uložené v našom knihomoľskom srdiečku, kde, už teraz môžem povedať, sa zaradí aj séria Fablehaven.

Tejto knihe nemám čo vytknúť. Krásne nadviazala na druhú časť, veľa tajomstiev sa odhalilo, ale aj pribudlo. Človek si je ešte viac neistí, nevie komu má veriť a strany dobra a zla sa čoraz viac vyrovnávajú. Je to písané tak, že jednoducho neviete prestať čítať, dávate bokom školu, prácu, povinnosti, aby ste jednoducho vedeli, čo sa v príbehu stane. A ono sa tam toho naozaj veľa udialo. Ale pšt, o tom si už musíte vy prečítať.

Mne nezostáva nič iné, len čakať na dotlač štvrtej časti, ktorú mnoho ľudí považuje za najlepšiu. Už teraz sa neviem dočkať
Profile Image for olaborcuch.
237 reviews5 followers
February 14, 2022
4/5⭐

Kolejny tom tej cudownej serii już za mną! W tej części pojawiają się motywy smoków (co jest bardzo na plus zwłaszcza, że kocham smoki) oraz kilku nowych bohaterów. Gavin wydaje się być bardzo miły i mam nadzieję, że w kolejnym tomie będzie go jeszcze więcej! Bardzo spodobał mi się pomysł spojrzenia na historię (początkowo mającą ze sobą niewiele wspólnego) z perspektyw dwóch postaci znajdujących się w kompletnie różnych miejscach. Z tomu na tom ta seria wydaje się być o wiele dojrzalsza, zwłaszcza postać Setha przechodzi dużą przemianę. Jestem bardzo ciekawa kolejnych tomów. Polecam dla każdego.
Profile Image for Pani Bibliotekarka.
97 reviews11 followers
July 13, 2023
Nie sądziłam, że w tej serii może być jeszcze więcej akcji! A jednak. Chwilami nawet brakowało mi "sielankowej" atmosfery pierwszego tomu, jednakże czytałam z zapartym tchem do ostatniej strony.
Początek trochę mi się dłużył ponieważ nie spodobał mi się pomysł rozdzielenia rodzeństwa, dużo lepiej czyta mi się gdy Kendra i Seth przeżywają wspólnie przygody.
Profile Image for Steven Lloyd.
5 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2025
Not sure exactly what I can say about this book.

Though I had to start reading this one right after finishing the second book cause I had to find out the mystery, but finding that there’s mysteries within a mystery is a 1000 times better.

I enjoy the brother sister relationship that is developing which makes me wish I had siblings. It’s great seeing how everything is tied together for everyone involved and that family is always there for you whether if it’s blood or found family.

I 100% recommend anyone to read these books.
Profile Image for Jude: The Epic Reader.
792 reviews81 followers
April 24, 2023
I loved the plot of this one and how they seemed to give Seth a little bit more props. Probably because him and Kendra were separated for a bit. We got some more on other sanctuaries and interesting fairy creatures.
Profile Image for Dragana.
440 reviews45 followers
June 23, 2020
Objektivno bolja od drugog dela. Od samog početka kreće akcija i nema stajanja. Posebno bi se dopala ljubiteljima Indijane Džonsa. Artefakti, mitska bića, borba između svetlosti i tame.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,256 reviews

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