The Empire of Gut and Bone

May 1, 2011

The third of what is now billed as the Norumbegan Quartet, this sequel to Game of Sunken Places (2004) and Suburb Beyond the Stars (2010) gives new meaning to the term "introspective."

Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian, Gregory and the mechanical troll Kalgrash pass through an interdimensional curtain—to find themselves inside an organic alien body. It is so vast that entire cities of both Norumbegans and their now-rebellious mechanical servants have sprung up despite sudden destructive floods of ichor and other bodily fluids. Arriving at the capital city in, literally, the heart of the "Empire of the Innards," the trio discovers that the elves are an effete, degenerate lot dwelling in a slum, wrapped up in their own intrigues and about to be assaulted by the teeming hordes of resentful mechanicals they created. Along with tucking in plenty of poker-faced absurdity, Anderson really stacks the deck here. Not only are the boys able to raise no more than flickers of interest in their cause from their self-absorbed hosts, they become embroiled in a murder investigation. Worse yet, as the relentless Thusser spread back on Earth, they also begin appearing in the Empire.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Gr 6-9-At the end of The Suburb Beyond the Stars (Scholastic, 2010), Brian and Gregory passed through a portal to the world of the Norumbegans to enlist help in defeating the Thussers, who have defied the rules of the game that was supposed to settle the ancient conflict between these two peoples. To their dismay, Brian and Gregory discover a lazy, morose people who have no desire to revive the rules. The Norumbegans now live within an alien body, deceiving themselves from facing the fact that they have descended into squalor. Their servant automatons are now revolting, however politely, against them. Brian and Gregory are flung into the role of detectives as they try to solve the murder of the Norumbegan Regent and save the life of their automaton troll friend Kalgrash, who is suspected of the crime. Anderson has done nothing less than create a true American fantasy with inspiration from a mythological New England settlement. He has fashioned an ongoing work that is a worthy successor to the books of Susan Cooper and Lloyd Alexander. It also doesn't hurt that the author's wit is running on all cylinders here, and he never squanders an opportunity to unleash amazing verbal pyrotechnics. This book is not for readers new to the quartet, but as the penultimate book in the series, it offers a thrilling conclusion.-Tim Wadham, St. Louis County Library, MO

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2011
Grades 5-8 This third book in the Norumbegan Quartet (following The Game of Sunken Places, 2004, and The Suburb beyond the Stars, 2010) switches gears to present a bit of court intrigue dressed up in a mishmash of sf-fantasy garb. Brian and best-bud Gregory are whisked off through a portal to the land of New Norumbega, which is noteworthy primarily for being inside a huge alien body. There, they plead with the sniffy Norumbegan aristocracy to help stave off the Thusser hordes invasion of New England and, eventually, the rest of the earth. We have better things to do with our afternoons, theyre told. No wonder, as the ancient elfin people have their own bundle of troubles between the assassination of a powerful court member and an army of their automaton servants rising up and irritatingly demanding freedom. Andersons razor-sharp wit is on full display in this talky adventure, full of snappy, cross-species insultery and persistently high-brow absurdism. The action can be a slog at times, but things heat up near the end in anticipation of the final volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2011
"Running down an alley...being chased by small clockwork monsters with razor blades on stalks...Gregory felt that perhaps he needed to make some changes in how he spent his free time." In their third story, Gregory and Brian go down the rabbit hole (in this case an esophagus). Fans of the bizarre and imaginative series will enjoy the pair's latest adventures.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

May 1, 2011

The third of what is now billed as the Norumbegan Quartet, this sequel to Game of Sunken Places (2004) and Suburb Beyond the Stars (2010) gives new meaning to the term "introspective."

Bent on tracking down the elven Norumbegans in order to save Vermont from an invasion of dream-sucking Thusser, Brian, Gregory and the mechanical troll Kalgrash pass through an interdimensional curtain--to find themselves inside an organic alien body. It is so vast that entire cities of both Norumbegans and their now-rebellious mechanical servants have sprung up despite sudden destructive floods of ichor and other bodily fluids. Arriving at the capital city in, literally, the heart of the "Empire of the Innards," the trio discovers that the elves are an effete, degenerate lot dwelling in a slum, wrapped up in their own intrigues and about to be assaulted by the teeming hordes of resentful mechanicals they created. Along with tucking in plenty of poker-faced absurdity, Anderson really stacks the deck here. Not only are the boys able to raise no more than flickers of interest in their cause from their self-absorbed hosts, they become embroiled in a murder investigation. Worse yet, as the relentless Thusser spread back on Earth, they also begin appearing in the Empire.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)