Circle of Heroes (Familiars Series #3)

by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson

Overview

Aldwyn, a street-smart alley cat, pretended he had telekinetic powers so young wizard Jack would chose him as a familiar. Aldwyn then learned that he and two other familiars—Skylar the blue jay and Gilbert the tree frog—were destined to undertake a perilous quest to defeat Paksahara, an evil hare who’d been familiar to the queen.
 
In Circle of Heroes, the third book of The Familiars series for middle-grade readers, Paksahara and her undead animal army control the Shifting Fortress. Aldwyn and his friends have to recapture it to return magic to the queendom of Vastia.
 
Fans of The Guardians of Ga’hoole series and Erin Hunter’s Warriors books will love the mix of humor, magic, and animal adventure story in Circle of Heroes by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061961168
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/04/2013
Series:	Familiars Series , #3
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	327
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.90(d)
Lexile:	880L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Adam Jay Epstein spent his childhood in Great Neck, New York, while Andrew Jacobson grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the two met in Los Angeles. They have been writing together for film and television ever since.

Their interest in space dates back to their early years, when Adam attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama (and won the Right Stuff Award!), and Andrew went to a movie theater (for the first time) to see a rerelease of Star Wars.

Adam Jay Epstein lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Penny and Olive. Andrew Jacobson, his wife, Ashley, their son, Ryder, their daughter, Willa, and their two dogs live close by.

Adam Jay Epstein spent his childhood in Great Neck, New York, while Andrew Jacobson grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but the two met in Los Angeles. They have been writing together for film and television ever since.

Their interest in space dates back to their early years, when Adam attended Space Academy in Huntsville, Alabama (and won the Right Stuff Award!), and Andrew went to a movie theater (for the first time) to see a rerelease of Star Wars.

Adam Jay Epstein lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Jane, and their daughters, Penny and Olive. Andrew Jacobson, his wife, Ashley, their son, Ryder, their daughter, Willa, and their two dogs live close by.

Editorial Reviews

Highly entertaining. A perfect recommendation for fans of Kathryn Lasky’s ‘Guardians of Ga’hoole’ (Scholastic) and Erin Hunter’s ‘The Warriors’ series” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Despite obvious new injections of suspense and complexity, this quest-ender is mediocre. The "Prophesized Three"--telekinetic cat Aldwyn, illusion-summoning blue jay Skylar and frog Gilbert, who sees the future in puddles--leave their human "loyals" behind for safety (human magic's been stolen) and journey to collect "[d]escendants of the seven species that formed the First Phylum." In their way stands an army of ravaging zombie animals, raised from the Tomorrowlife by evil hare Paksahara. Paksahara claims she wants animals to rule themselves rather than being enslaved by humans, but it's clear that in this world a human-animal alliance is the morally superior goal. Obstacles are variable and sometimes adorable ("very, very small hippopotamuses….no taller than cucumbers wearing body armor and carrying blowguns"), but they're incredibly easy to defeat. (Knife thrown? Aldwyn's telekinesis will turn it aside. Exhausted? A neveryawn nut offers "a full night's sleep in mere seconds.") Beginning a sentence with the word "Amazingly" can't force excitement, nor can superlatives ("the fake glyphstone must have been their cleverest trick yet"). Welcome notes of unpredictability--an alternate-history concept and the question "what if… prophecies d[o]n't always come true?"--buckle before the obvious ending. The prose doesn't live up to the nuance it attempts, and narrative thrust is weak; hand this off to readers who crave episodic danger that doesn't feel too dangerous. (Fantasy. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews