Before SANTA was SANTA, he was North, Nicholas St. North—a daredevil swordsman whose prowess with double scimitars was legendary. Like any swashbuckling young warrior, North seeks treasure and adventure, leading him to the fiercely guarded village of Santoff Claussen, said to be home to the greatest treasure in all the East, and to an even greater wizard, Ombric Shalazar. But when North arrives, legends of riches have given way to terrors of epic proportions! North must decide whether to seek his fortune…or save the village.
When our rebellious hero gets sucked into the chaos (literally), the fight becomes very personal. The Nightmare King and his evil Fearlings are ruling the night, owning the shadows, and sending waves of fear through all of Santoff Clausen. For North, this is a battle worth fighting...and, he’s not alone. There are five other Guardians out there. He only has to find them in time.
What can I say about this book? Nothing negative that I can really think of. There’s a reason these books were popular enough to make a movie, after all. My sister has all three that are out so far, and so I’ll be borrowing the second and third as soon as possible.
Anyway, people reading this review may be familiar with the
movie Rise of the Guardians, but Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the
Nightmare King actually does not have any of the events from the movie. The series takes place a few hundred years
ago, this one telling of how North, known to us mortals as Santa Claus, became
a guardian.
In theory this series is for children, but I don’t see why
it has to be limited to them. The
writing is not dumbed-down like many books for elementary or junior high/middle
school often are. I found myself
continuing to read much longer than I have with many books lately just because
I wanted to, not because I felt an obligation to finish.
The story itself reads almost like a fairytale; there is
plenty of action, but the prose takes on a mystical quality as the village of
Santoff Claussen is described, or North’s mission to master magic unfolds.
The characters themselves are interesting, from the titular
character to ones who didn’t show up in the movie, such as Ombric and
Nightlight. I’m actually sad that we don’t
get to see Katherine in the movie; she was a brave character, and she and North
had such a close bond. However, as I’m
only on the first book, I don’t know the whole story. Only the guardians become immortal, after
all.
All in all, definitely worth the read. The fourth book in the series, about the
sandman, comes out in September, and I hope very much that they release it on
NetGalley so I can snag an early-reading copy.
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