I’m continually blown away by the depth, variety and vividness of Brandon Mull’s imagination. It also occurred to me in thinking about this book after finishing it that I should also be more impressed by his writing ability, but he writes so well it’s practically invisible. Very seldom does his writing call attention to itself. The more I think about it the more he ranks right up there with my favorite authors. I don’t care if he writes “kids books”. They’re still better than many of the adult books I read.
Death Weavers continues the story of Cole, a teenager who, along with his friends and many of his schoolmates, gets kidnapped and pulled into The Outskirts, a separate world where magic not only exists, but is segregated out into five kingdoms, each with it’s own variety of “shaping.” Initially on a quest to find his friends and return to Earth, Cole soon finds himself neck-deep in events in The Outskirts as he helps a princess reclaim her stolen powers and fight against her tyrant father.
Along the way Cole discovers that he, too, has shaping ability, but soon loses it when evil shapers mangle it so that he can no longer access it. But he and his friends, both new and old, push onward, hoping to find and rescue all four of the princesses in order to overthrow the king and restore freedom to The Five Kingdoms–and perhaps even get home again to a world that has forgotten he ever existed.
In Death Weavers Cole and company head for Necronum, where shaping gives a person access to the realm of spirits, known as the Echolands, and also where Nazeem, a powerful and ancient evil, is imprisoned. But Nazeem is growing closer to escaping, and the shaping in Necronum involves subtlety and cunning that Cole finds dangerous and hard to avoid. Things are starting to look pretty grim for our adventurers.
If there’s one thing that ties this series together it’s the creativity and sheer wonder of Mull’s settings. I’m regularly reading along and thinking, “Dude, that is so cool! He thinks it all through, and establishes rules that readers can rely on to try and think their way out of things on Cole’s behalf. And perhaps one of the most cool elements in this installment is the ability to bring in “guest appearances” by some of our favorite characters from other series. It was fun to see some beloved characters get to take another bow.
Where Mull really excels in this book, however, is in his ability to seamlessly work in moral dilemmas and concepts. Cole is really run through the wringer in this book; given several opportunities to do what’s best for him and ultimately decide matters most in the face of overwhelming opposition and certain death. And yet it never feels preachy, even while dealing with such weighty topics as the purpose of life and the nature of faith. Instead he sets up situations where such questions come out naturally. Heavy stuff, and in a kids book, no less!
The one frustration is that it’ll be late next year before the final book comes out. And it’ll be early next year before his new Dragon Watch series begins. But let’s face it, no good writer ever writes fast enough to satisfy us.