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The Basilisk’s Lair

(Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist #2)

R.L. LaFevers (Goodreads Author),

Kelly Murphy (Illustrator)

3.99 · Rating details · 1,138 ratings · 85 reviews

Nate Fludd, Beastologist, is back in the camel saddle in hot pursuit of a missing, deadly Basilisk--the King of Serpents. As if saving an entire Dhughani village from the Basilisk's poisonous gaze isn't difficult enough, Nate and Aunt Phil must begin to piece together the mystery of his parents' disappearance and protect the lone copy of the "Fludd Book of Beasts" from a s ...more

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Hardcover, 150 pages

Published June 7th 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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Lists with This Book

The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams

Archie Wilson & The Beasts of Loch Ness by Mark A. Cooper

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134 books — 18 voters

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Average rating 3.99 ·

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· 1,138 ratings · 85 reviews

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Start your review of The Basilisk’s Lair (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, #2)

Aug 10, 2011 Ann rated it liked it

Shelves: bravery, fantastical-creatures, animals, fantasy, actionadventure, illustrated, mythology, series, childrens-stories, middle-grade

This, Book II, is another fun adventure in the life of Nathaniel Fludd. This book picks up almost immediately after the end of the last book, and sends Nathaniel through the Sahara to small village in the hills in order to track down an escaped Basilisk.

I still love the characters and the details about the creatures Nathaniel encounters. The bond here between Nathaniel and Greasle grows, and Aunt Phil is in the book quite a bit more, too.

I'm afraid this book didn't contain quite the same charm a ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Milliebot rated it liked it

This book focuses on another mythical creature, the basilisk, and the damage it could do if it’s not caught. The beast is kept in a cave, watched over by the people of a remote village who’ve made a deal with it and Nate and company must find out how it escaped.

Nate gets to use his drawing skills in this book and has learned how they can help him in his adventures. Once again, much of the travel is glossed over, which is fine by me. The characters get to where they need to be quick so they can s ...more

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Jul 03, 2018 Fi's Journey rated it really liked it

Shelves: children-middle-grade, adventure, fantasy, finished-series, 4_star-read

"The truth was, he approached animals like he wished people would approach him. Well, except for the sniffing part."

I liked it. It's fast-paced, full of adventure and travelling. ...more

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May 11, 2016 Gig Wailgum rated it liked it

a fun read, like the time period

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Sep 14, 2020 Meera rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I did the mistake of reading the second book instead of the first book. I came across this book, hidden in my closet. It was another one of those books I bought from a Book Fair back in elementary school solely because I liked the cover. I never read it until now.

What I liked about this book is that I didn’t have to read the first one to understand what was going on. Sure, I wasn’t properly introduced to the characters nor did I really understand how their relationship with each other started, ...more

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Mar 13, 2020 Megan rated it it was amazing

This book is a wonderful tale of the further adventures of Nate, his Aunt Phil and his best friend Greasle the Gremlin. Nate just recently learned that he comes from a long line of Beastologists who travel the world protecting rare beasts such as Phoenixes, Griffins, Unicorns, Dodo Birds and many others.

Nate and his Aunt Phil find themselves on a journey to Africa to learn about a Basilisk which is supposed to be a fairly safe observation but things don't go quite as planned and the beast has s ...more

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Jun 25, 2017 Gloriamarie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: mystery, paranormal, children-s-story, orphan, basilisk

This is clearly a children's story, a chapter book for whatever age group that is. I love magical creatures, the paranormal, science fiction, fantasy and I don;t really care what age group it is aimed at as long as it is entertaining and well-written and that is true for all of the books in this series that are in my local library.

If you love Harry Potter, you will probably love these and might enjoy reading them to kids.

Trigger warning: Nathaniel finds out her is an orphan in the first chapter ...more

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Mar 14, 2018 Kristine rated it it was amazing

Good early reader.

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Aug 25, 2018 Anne rated it it was amazing

The second book lived up to the promise of the second half of the first book. We learn more about Nathaniel and he learns more about himself as he and his aunt search for the basilisk.

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Aug 29, 2018 Carmen rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Anyone who likes a good myth

Recommended to Carmen by: Mrs. Kurtzi

Shelves: carmen-s

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 18, 2019 Lara rated it really liked it

On the surface, the action in this story was a little too easy and the plot very simple, but I enjoyed it! It was fun.

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Dec 22, 2009 Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) rated it really liked it

Shelves: egypt, childrens_teens_sci-fi, ze_2010_challenge_atwi_80_books

Nate can't believe it... they're lost. And it's all his fault. Aunt Phil relied on him to get them back to the plane with the compass she entrusted to him and he goes and gets them lost. But his navigation lessons are cut short by a band of men on the horizon. There is a telegram for Aunt Phil from Bamanko. The Basilisk has escaped! They are on the move again, but Nate feels not just the hesitation steaming from the fact he feels incompetent, but from the fact that the Basilisk, unlike the Phoen Nate can't believe it... they're lost. And it's all his fault. Aunt Phil relied on him to get them back to the plane with the compass she entrusted to him and he goes and gets them lost. But his navigation lessons are cut short by a band of men on the horizon. There is a telegram for Aunt Phil from Bamanko. The Basilisk has escaped! They are on the move again, but Nate feels not just the hesitation steaming from the fact he feels incompetent, but from the fact that the Basilisk, unlike the Phoenix, is very dangerous, or so he and Greasle learned from sneaking a look in the book. After a stop over in Egypt, where Nate attempts to jump ship, or plane, as it were, they are on their way to the Sudan. The villagers, as can be expected, are very afraid of the death and destruction that the Basilisk might bring... not only that, but if the creature gets to the river the water will be poisoned and all could die. Also, could the Basilisk's escape have anything to do with the mysterious red headed stranger who wishes to pilfer the Fludd's family secrets?

The second installment of R. L. LaFever's new Beastologist series picks up literally moments after the first book ended. Being more conventional than the first, I thought it was a wonderful bridge book, but lacked the originality of the previous installment, yet built up even greater expectations for the next. The first book set up Nate's past and the new journey and new friends he would make in this path his life was taking since the disappearance of his parents. He learned of the wonders of his family heritage and of the value of friends and relatives. He also learned of the dangers that his legacy contains and the threat from outsiders, particularity of red headed men. In this book, we don't get any further revelations, we don't learn any more about his mysterious nanny or about who the red haired man might be, but we do get a great adventure. While I'm a fan of the story arc, the greater movements of the pieces to come to the endgame, sometimes I know you need an interlude, a break from this, and that's what this book felt like.

Even though it is, or perhaps because of it being, only the second book, you can't have too much revelation, you can't have all the secrets revealed and the curtain lifted, because otherwise this would be a very short series, and that is something I don't want. Instead we have Nate learning that the Beasts can be not only very beautiful, but also very dangerous. Here we have a Basilisk, something slightly different, but still familiar to readers who loved Harry Potter. It's the immediate threat of the Basilisk that must be attended to, no matter how much I wanted them to be on their way back to England to get to the bottom of the Fludd's disappearance. I think that this book will really appeal to the younger age bracket for which it is written, versus, say, myself. I have my eyes on the end, where a younger reader will have their eyes on the immediate struggle. And while the way the Basilisk is handled is unique and original I still felt that perhaps this beast is a little overplayed... but then again the Phoenix worked... so perhaps it's just the lack of secondary and tertiary plots that made it fall a little flat for me. But you can count me in as a reader for the next installment, I can't wait to see where Nate goes and see how his friendship with Greasle grows. I just can't get enough of that morally ambiguous, oil eating gremlin, who is always there when you need her most. ...more

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Jul 05, 2014 An Odd1 rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

September 1928. Nate accompanies intrepid Aunt Phil, insists on keeping small gremlin Greasle, named for her oil hunger. Phil pilots to Sudan West Africa, Cairo for fuel, then Bamako, on camel to remote village where basilisk escaped, now leaves trail of venom destruction heading to Niger River, where poison would spread far by water.

Here weasels tease and distract monster, part of Nate's plan to conquer. Conveniently, Nate remembers what he needs from The Book of Beasts. After "droplets of poi September 1928. Nate accompanies intrepid Aunt Phil, insists on keeping small gremlin Greasle, named for her oil hunger. Phil pilots to Sudan West Africa, Cairo for fuel, then Bamako, on camel to remote village where basilisk escaped, now leaves trail of venom destruction heading to Niger River, where poison would spread far by water.

Here weasels tease and distract monster, part of Nate's plan to conquer. Conveniently, Nate remembers what he needs from The Book of Beasts. After "droplets of poison raining down" p 120, "Aunt Phil took one last wheezing breath, then lay still" p 123. Surprising ending. (view spoiler)

When Greasle "scampered down a cavern" attracted by brightly colored scales, Nate waits to the last minute, in the lair, to warn her that scales are poison. Suspense is artificially raised because he keeps calling only her name, even "whispered" p 83.

Another question. Are navigating furrows constantly re-dug? Otherwise wouldn't wind and storms blow them in and away?

Sketches start atop chapters, one bone above Chapter One, up to Eighteen. Full page shows tiny Nate dangle his sniggle pole miniscule bait in front of monster grown gigantic in close-up perspective p 117. Early on, he was forlorn and wistful atop his camel p 4. He balances nervously across a very high flimsy ladder bridge p 74. Finally he smiles, Greasle waves, smile as big as his head, trotting his donkey "flew past" Phil towards answers.

Phil says his parents "disappearances are related to this stranger's sudden knowledge of where to find the beasts" p 142, as if the stranger has his father's copy of the bestiary. She wants to question the lawyer "and your Miss Lumpton" p 142, but I hope the next book may pursue another beast.

Looking for facts gets history according to medieval recorders, funnily may not match fiction. Definition here "cockerel egg hatched by a serpent .. cannot reproduce .. without gender" "or a toad" p 145 is opposite of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilisk "hatched by a cockerel from the egg of a serpent or toad". Here rue repels basilisk, wiki says "Most cats dislike the smell".

Wiki says "not more than twelve fingers in length" whereas here "not more than twenty fingers long"; Nate faces another "Nearly as tall as Aunt Phil" p 116. In Wiki, Pliny the Elder and Leonardo da Vinci both agree, and believe "weasel destroys the basilisk by its odor, but dies itself in this struggle of nature against its own self", and "crow of a rooster is fatal".

Typo:
p 22 He only "took one" yet "He picked at his eggs", plural. ...more

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Mar 01, 2017 Tessa rated it really liked it

Shelves: liams-shelf

Liam and I have been loving this series. Can't wait to read the next one! ...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Emma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: vine

Nate Fludd, Beastologist in training, has just barely recovered from his adventure protecting the Phoenix egg and rescuing Aunt Phil from the Bedouin when adventure once again comes knocking while Nate is struggling with his (lacking) navigation skills. A basilisk, the King of the Serpents, is loose and must be contained before he destroys a Dhughani village and poisons the entire region's water supply.

Nate would much rather return to London with his new pet/friend Greasle the Gremlin than trek ...more

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Nov 02, 2009 Jennifer Wardrip rated it really liked it

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, read-by-other-reviewers

Reviewed by Joan Stradling for TeensReadToo.com

After saving the Phoenix from extinction, ten-year-old Nate continues his adventures with his Aunt Phil. This time they're headed to Africa to investigate the escape of a basilisk. Nate is supposed to "watch and learn" as his aunt deals with this dangerous and deadly beast that can kill with just a look.

Unfortunately, things tend to go wrong when Nate and his best friend, Greasle (a gremlin), are around. Things won't be easy, especially when it seem ...more

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Jun 12, 2010 Robyn Hawk rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviews, childrens, favorites

This is book two of the continuing saga of Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist!

You may remember from the first book Flight of the Phoenix (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book I) Nathaniel Fludd is a beastologist in training - learning at the hands of his quirky Aunt Phil. Unfortunately it appears that the first book was not a fluke and it looks like Aunt Phil favors the "learn by doing" method. So in book two The Basilisk's Lair (Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist, Book 2) she drags the young boy beastolog ...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it really liked it

This is the second book in the Nathaniel Fludd, Beastologist series. Overall I enjoyed it, although it is a pretty short book meant for younger readers.

Right on the heels of his first adventure with the Phoenix, Nathaniel is spirited away by his Aunt to help capture a Basilisk that has gone astray.

This book is very short, would probably take an adult 20-30 minutes to read, but is very readable and enjoyable. There are nice pictures throughout so children just starting chapter books would be a go ...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Charlyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: adventure, fiction, strong-male-character, family_story, series, fantasy

I really like this series because it is just right for those children who really, really want to read a fantasy but just can't take on the challenge of a book that's three inches thick. Nathaniel Fludd is an apprentice beastologist, a position he has not gotten because of desire for the job. No, Nathaniel's parents are gone and Aunt Phil, herself a beastologist, has taken on rearing and training Nathaniel to take on the familial responsibility. Now he finds himself reluctantly accompanying Aunt ...more

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Jul 14, 2014 J.S. rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-elem-mg, vine

After saving a phoenix egg, Nathaniel Fludd is off on another adventure to see a basilisk. Unfortunately, Nate looks in his aunt's Book of Beasts and learns that a basilisk is extremely dangerous. He tries to suggest that he should stay behind, but Aunt Phil will have none of that.

This seems to be a good series for boys who've maybe grown out of the Magic Tree House or who liked the Secrets of Droon series. I picked it up for my 8 year old daughter who enjoyed the Magic Tree House books, but is ...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Angie rated it it was ok

Shelves: juvenile-fic

Apparently I must really need to read the first one and then give this one another shot. It averages four stars? Don't get me wrong. I love the author. Theodosia is one of my favorite characters.

I just couldn't help feeling that a lot of the story was sacrificed for brevity in a way that left me wanting. I don't necessarily think that is the way to make a fantasy story for a middle reader. Could I have done any better? No. I do know that. I just know I left this one wanting ... and the story pre ...more

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Feb 05, 2014 Liana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: low-fantasy, historical-fiction, childrens, creatures, adventure, mythology

This series is wonderful! (LOVERS OF MYTHICAL CREATURES, GO AND SUPPORT THIS SERIES!) I really REALLY like this story about a basilisk, it was actually pretty scary for a kids book! When (view spoiler) my jaw literally dropped and my mind screamed, "THIS IS NOT THE WAY A CHILDREN'S BOOK SHOULD END!" Well, I knew it wouldn't REALLY end that way, but still. It certainly caught me by surprise, and I loved every moment of it.

This story is very, ...more

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Feb 01, 2010 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, teen-ya-na

The kids and I really enjoyed this second book in the series and can't wait for the third! We hope she writes a lot more. But we sure don't like the waiting in between. I guess that's why it can be better to read a series that is already written, instead of one that is a work in progress!

Samantha was trying to explain to Mikey the other night how I won an Advanced Readers Copy from the author. She told him, "Guess what? We get to read it before everyone else! It isn't even for sale yet!" He tur ...more

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Feb 13, 2013 lia rated it really liked it

Shelves: children-books

Another adventure of beastologist, Nathaniel Fludd!

Right after the saving the pheonix, aunt phill found out the basilisk, king of serpent, is missing! Of course as beastologist, they have to save it. What's more they have to save the Dhugani village from it. Basilisk as we all know is deadly.

In case you are wondering, this is what a basilisk look like
description

It look like part snake part cockerel which it exactly is. ...more

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Aug 04, 2013 Colten Hibbs rated it really liked it

These books are such great fun to read. Straightforward adventure without trying so hard to be complicated and overwrought as many middle-grade fantasies do nowadays. The characters are loveable (Greasle is one of my all time favorite sidekicks - in my head she sounds like Eliza Doolittle). these books are perfect for a quick read while you sit on the patio, your favorite shady spot in the backyard, your your comfortable reading chair. Perfect adventure without taking hardly more than an hour ou ...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Kevin rated it liked it

I read first book in this series of chapter books awhile back and so when I saw it at the library decided to check out the second book. This one continues the theme and style of the series: new mythological beast presents new challenge; Nathaniel is not sure he is up to it; but in the end he finds a way.

Cute and well packaged series but not enough suspense of imagination for me to continue to read but recommended for age appropriate readers. (Grade 3–5)

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Jan 05, 2011 EOL Juv Staff rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, adventure

This sequel to the Beastologist series does not disappoint. In this story, Nathaniel is on the hunt for a basilik. Nathaniel once again finds himself in an excited world that blends monsters and mythology while showcasing the beauty of exotic places around the globe. This book is a great new chapter book for readers that are looking for an exciting adventure. Any fledgling fantasy readers will enjoy. Recommended for young elementary readers and anyone just starting to read chapter books.

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Mar 21, 2011 Shelli rated it really liked it

Shelves: small-chapter-books

Nathaniel Fludd is turning out to be a Beastologist that honors his family lineage. In this adventure Nate, Aunt Phil and his small gremlin friend Greasle travel to Niger to return a rare basilisk back to his/her lair. Dangerous beast these creatures are, but no match for Nathaniel Fludd. Sadly this book brought the reader no closer to find out the questions that were left in book one... holding hopes that book three has answers as well as adventures.

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Mar 12, 2012 Liz rated it liked it

Another quick and compelling read about Nate Fludd. This time, his adventures take him to save an entire Dhughani village from a Basilisk. His gremlin friend, Greasle, makes herself useful once again. The main protagonists of Nate, Greasle, and Aunt Phil are endearing...and the mystery behind the disappearance of Nate's parents keep the series going. I can definitely see my youngest children reading these books and being delighted with them. ...more

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Dec 03, 2013 Amanda rated it really liked it

Shelves: childrens, 2013

A mash up of 1920s adventurers and mythical creatures complete with a high-flying aviatrix for an aunt, it's as fun as the first book, with a more dangerous task. I would still recommended it to young readers, though it irked me a bit that Nathaniel Fludd was experiencing a rehashing of his clash with fear without truly developing from the previous adventure. Kids will still love it, and want to read more. ...more

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About R.L. LaFevers

R.L. LaFevers

2,067 followers

R.L. LaFevers (Robin Lorraine when she’s in really big trouble) grew up surrounded by shelves of old dusty books and a passel of brothers. She has also spent a large portion of her life being told she was making up things that weren’t there, which only proves she was destined to write fiction. She is the author of over fourteen books for young readers, including THEODOSIA AND THE SERPENTS OF CHAOS ...more