Philip Reeve - Goblins - Book Review

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• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Marion Lloyd Books; 1 edition (5 April 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 1407115278
• Age: 9+

The dark, dark abandoned fortress, Clovenstone, where the adventure starts in home to seven bands of warring Goblins, each occupying a different tower and each bent on sating their own Goblin-tastic thirst for fighting, looting and eating. And fighting. And looting. Looting and fishing.

But there's one Goblin who stands out from the crowd (the crowd that's doing the fighting, looting and eating) and he's called Skarper. Skarper's the only Goblin clever and cunning enough to have found out about the old magician old magic that once made the castle the centre of the darstardly wizard Lord Lych's kingdom. An old magic which is beginning to stir and will soon sweep Goblins, fortune-seekers, trolls, giants cloud-madiens boglins, swamp monsters and tree-warriors up into thrilling magical conflict.

It is always exciting to have a new book by Philip Reeve land on your doorstep. It would be fair to say that this is not a book that you will easily miss - with an luminous green cover and matching page ends. The fantastic book cover illustration is by local boy, Dave Semple.

Venturing into Philip's mind is never straight forward; you can never guess what is coming next in the story. Instead you fall into it head first - excited and intrigued as to the journey that lay ahead. He's always highly imaginative; hooking the reader and plonking them down in a fantastical world that only the best can ever dream of.

There are so many ingredients that make this book so enjoyable to read. There is humour, which is at times, dripping with sarcasm. It's clever and witty as Philip is such a great story builder. He constructs the most amazing worlds that manifest into something out of the ordinary. As an admirer of Philip's writing, I'm always looking out for the characters. In this book you are sucked into feeling something and wanting everything to workout with a happy ending. `however, whether you get one . . . . . . .you'll just have to wait and see. 

This story is action packed and full of great ideas. I particular loved the Boglins, which are crossed between a giant frog and a Goblin and live in the Swamps. One of my favourite parts of the book was in the chapter "IN Natterdon Mire" - featuring the Boglins and their brilliant leader, Bospoldew. 

This is a captivating story incorporating rhyming songs and little bits of poetry which are sprinkled in for good measure. True to form, this is like a good old-fashioned fairytale.

What a brilliant family read - loaded with energy. This book will have you locked into the pages until it finally leaves you with a feeling of loss once it has all come to an end. Will we have more? To be quite honest, I'm really not sure but I hope so.

Other great series by Phillip include: 

Fever Crumb Series

Mortal Engines Quartet
Larklight trilogy

Here Lies Arthur and No Such Things As Dragons