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A New Twelve Nights Adventure
In Andrew Zurcher's second novel we return to the world of Twelve Nights, with a brand new protagonist. When Fitz's home is attacked, his world changes forever. Escaping with the help of his mysterious neighbour, he's whisked away to The Syndicate - an academy of magic and malevolence. Whispers of a legendary treasure are afoot, and Fitz might just have the key to finding it - if he can work out who to trust...
- GenresFantasyMiddle Grade
400 pages, Paperback
Published April 2, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 12, 2025
DNFed in the first couple of chapters a couple of weeks ago
April 11, 2023
I was very excited about this book, since Twelve Nights is definitely one of my favorite books. However I was a little but disappointed by The Giant’s Almanac.
The same research and magical realism I found in Twelve Nights was there, however the story was a little bit confusing at times. Sometimes I had to read several times the same chapter to actually understand what was going on. Or I figured out revelations from the characters way ahead in the book, even if these information had already been revealed.
Zurcher’s writing style still feels “melodic” at times,however I found it a little bit stingy during descriptions. To me this made the reading less fluid and more difficult to keep the concentration on
Fitz felt like a neutral character to me, he was most of the time supported by another character and he rarely joined the action,unless he was on his own. His character development felt distant too,and in the last few pages it took a sudden turn which I couldn’t really explain.
Habi was definitely my favourite character,he was the most interesting in my opinion, and he showed a different aspect of himself in each chapter. However even at the end of the book I still couldn’t guess what his true reasons were snd how he felt toward the other characters. Not sure if I missed some sort of information, or perhaps it’s open to different interpretations.
Overall,it was an alright (and challenging) reading but it didn’t surprise me a lot. Moreover I feel like there are still questions I need an answer to and this gives me a feel of incompleteness.
The same research and magical realism I found in Twelve Nights was there, however the story was a little bit confusing at times. Sometimes I had to read several times the same chapter to actually understand what was going on. Or I figured out revelations from the characters way ahead in the book, even if these information had already been revealed.
Zurcher’s writing style still feels “melodic” at times,however I found it a little bit stingy during descriptions. To me this made the reading less fluid and more difficult to keep the concentration on
Fitz felt like a neutral character to me, he was most of the time supported by another character and he rarely joined the action,unless he was on his own. His character development felt distant too,and in the last few pages it took a sudden turn which I couldn’t really explain.
Habi was definitely my favourite character,he was the most interesting in my opinion, and he showed a different aspect of himself in each chapter. However even at the end of the book I still couldn’t guess what his true reasons were snd how he felt toward the other characters. Not sure if I missed some sort of information, or perhaps it’s open to different interpretations.
Overall,it was an alright (and challenging) reading but it didn’t surprise me a lot. Moreover I feel like there are still questions I need an answer to and this gives me a feel of incompleteness.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews