Archibald Finch and the Curse of the Phoenix

by Michel Guyon

Overview

The Archibald Finch saga continues with another thrilling adventure! It’s been months since our hero returned from Lemurea, but nothing is back to normal. When Archibald realizes he isn’t the only thing that crash-landed at the manor that night, he knows he’ll need to return to the dark world he only just left.

Archibald is a changed boy. He stands up to bullies and hangs out with the gargoyles that used to scare him. But for all his new toughness, he's also a lost boy who misses his friends in Lemurea. When strange footprints are discovered on the manor grounds, he realizes a piece of that world has followed him home...

Without golems, witches or magic, Archibald knows there's little to stop what's prowling the London suburbs, which means he'll have to return to Lemurea to seek Faerydae's help.

In a new adventure for Archibald, Hailee, Oliver, and Faerydae, two worlds collide—two worlds with more in common than any of the kids could’ve imagined. A hunt for clues, golems, and Marodors unearths some shocking answers and hard truths as Archibald and his companions embark on yet another daring journey that tests each of them in different ways. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781524871369
Publisher:	Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication date:	09/26/2023
Series:	Archibald Finch , #2
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	667,005
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.50(d)
Lexile:	860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michel Guyon was born in France, in a small medieval town perched on a rock, surrounded by high walls, with the remains of an ancient fortress at its heart. That's where the author had his first brush with ancient myths, puzzling legends, and dark tales of the Middle Ages. Since then, Michel has learned a thing or two about mining for clues and connecting the dots, mainly as an investigative journalist for newspapers and magazines. While his childhood fed his fertile imagination, his travels as a reporter, from Bosnia to Afghanistan, were crucial in shaping his view of the world.

Editorial Reviews

2022-08-31
A cruel ancient conflict between Earth and a hidden dimension involving witches and monsters continues in this second installment of the Archibald Finch series.

One year after 11-year-old Archibald escaped Lemurea, an underworld where witches are hiding, he returns to find Faerydae, the only person who can help him catch the Marodor that followed him home. Faerydae refuses to leave, but Archibald tricks and abducts her, bringing her back to Earth with him. To make matters worse, the Orbatrum, a device that opens portals between their realms, breaks, leaving Faerydae no choice but to confront the Marodor and the world she left behind centuries ago if she wants to get back home. On their hunt for the Marodor, the all-White team of Archibald; his sister, Hailee; former thief Oliver; and Faerydae encounter a vicious witch hunter who has a beaklike nose. The large or hooked noses of other villains are a recurrent theme that evokes antisemitic stereotypes, in stark contrast to the explicit mention of Archibald’s small nose. The description of an antagonistic multiracial army of witches led by an African former child soldier stands out as the only direct representation of people of color. The characters’ magic includes elements from various cultures: golems, Romanian animal spirits, and shamans (who are equated with wizards and sorcerers). Hailee, who likes boys, shopping, and fashion, is portrayed as unintelligent. Apart from all this, the plot itself is a chaos of tiring twists and turns.

Messy in execution and representation. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews