This is a wonderfully creative and imaginative story. We have frog-like characters such as Bouncer, who is a bit bumbling, and who thinks he likes June but finds he really is better matched with Lily. Bouncer can use his tongue and do amazing things—even using it like a vine to swing across from tree to tree when he gets into trouble, which actually happens pretty frequently. Lily doesn’t want to be his second choice when she learns he first liked June, but fate throws them together into a wild adventure.
Joining the story’s imaginative plot in the enchanted lands of Eosis is Kat, short for Katrina, a beautiful, silver and black-striped cat. She wears a velvet cape and is a memorable character. She never lets any of the other characters forget that she’s present. Also featured is Pan, a member of wizard scientists, wizard Pangolins, and robot troopers known as Legionnaires. They’re small but they carry heavy crossbows and are a menace to content with.
This fantasy/adventure contains several uses of humor, including a comment by Kat regarding the Legionnaires, when she says, “It’s time to kick some ro-butt.” There would be no good story without some conflict and an evil villain, and in this case it is “The Crow”, a man-like robot with glowing red eyes and machine wings with an impressive expanse. He pursues Kat and Bouncer and intends to burn the enchanted forest. Kat is determined to stop him.
The story contains lots of action and yet slower moments for character development. When Bouncer discovers he likes Lily, who works in a library, he flicks books off the shelves with his tongue and then comments, “It takes a lot longer to put books on a shelf than it does to throw them on the floor. Who knew?”
Throw into the mix a rock monster along with some martial arts-style fighting, and the good vs. evil premise is easily sustained with such interesting characters and the humorous moments. There are several fight sequences and a valley of bones, with skeletons reforming to do battle. The imagination is never starved in this rambunctious story. Due to the battle scenes and fighting, and a comment about a character drooling over one of the lady characters, we are awarding the manuscript our Dove seal for Ages 12+.
The Dove Take:
This is an energetic, rollicking adventure with far-out but interesting characters which would make a terrific animated movie or an epic special-effects film!
