Fablehaven, Book 5:Keys to the Demon Prison

I am sad that this is the ending of the series, but WOW what a way to go! I could not put it down, and I plan to read it again several times! Another great fantasy series for my book shelf!

This book in the series is non-stop action, a few new characters, great character development for some of my favorite characters, and all the loose ends tied up. What more can you ask for in a series finale?

If you like fantasy or fairy tales, I would recommend that you definitely check out this series! There is a brother and sister hero and heroine so I think both guys and gals can find something they relate to in the books. Also, all the favorites of fantasy are included: dragons, fairies, centaurs, unicorns, witches/hags, demons and some interesting twists on vampires.

I agree with the other reviewers that the series is fairly intricate so reading them in order is a must, but it is a great journey. Props to Brandon Mull for providing such an amazing series to lovers of fantasy!

Mull blew this series in the end in what is claimed to be a planned 5 book series, but probably only in contract and not actual planning. The story lacked the positive sides of Mull's previous books. He normally has great dialogue and interaction between children. In this book, Seth and Kendra are separated until the very end. In the previous books and Candy Shop Wars he maintained a moral of the story. In this one, there was none to be found. I personally, found what could be taken from this book on the ethical level, to have destroyed the moral points behind the rest of the series. Mull also usually has good pacing, building to a natural climax, in this, it's hit the ground running and rammed it all together with no actual fleshing out of the plot. The entire book was anti-climatic, making a disappointing read and again invalidating the series as a whole.

Without Mull's normal good points, it makes other points horrible. All the creatures and concepts shown in this series can be found in many of the classics, leaving an author with only two options, to reinvent by truly fleshing out new mythos or remaining true the original mythos. Things like a pop surprise that the Fairy Queen is actually a unicorn and had four unicorn children with her unicorn consort is an insult to both options. An example of better writing might have been: With the Fairykind that Kendra was and Seth as a Shadow Charmer, he could have used that as a mirrored theme with the more traditional roles where the Fairy Queen's consort was actually the Shadow King who's traditional downfall would have been sinking to far into the darkness. It would have made more sense with the Fairy Queen punishing the astrids, instead of them fighting valiantly, but ultimately failing to defend the King from a being even she could not hope to defeat. Further, the characters in these books also had almost no fleshing out; with, this book being the worst. A character, Victor is introduced and killed in the first 50 pages. Another new character Bracken shows up, with no for-shadowing, although he was one of the key saviours of the main plot of the whole series and Kendra's love interest. Characters that had a bit more fleshing out such as Warren are relegated to nothing more then being present. Perhaps the worst move he made, was with the Sphinx, a character built up as being evil, cruel, cold hearted, a man of trickery and deceit, of high intelligence, and inhuman patience is turned into a, misguided, caring, lenient, fool that was merely a former slave railing against prisons. Atrocious!

Finally, the actual events had almost no point. An example, Seth needed to hunt down this almost impossible to find sword only to end up asking some advice, following it, and being handed the sword. Kendra meanwhile was given the ability to restore the astrids, an ability the Fairy Queen could have done herself, only for her to not even pursue it in any great length, until they were suddenly all at the last shrine with the Fairy Queen. And where there was a point, it was too easy to achieve, such as Kendra defeated a demon that the Fairy Queen and all the other warriors and creatures of the light where merely hoping to wound by chance, in an entire 3 swings of a sword.

I hate writing this review, I really enjoyed the Fablehaven series up to this point. I realize it's just a children's series, but there are many many stories for children much better written in the end without nearly the acclaim. I had hoped that it would be a series to hold onto and point my children to once they are a bit older. Sadly, I regret buying them in hardcover and will likely donate them to a library or something.

I love the Fablehaven series. I was very excited to read the final book. I liked how many questions were answered and the action was fun. However, I think this book had too much action. I think it could have been divided into two or three books and fleshed out more. The finding of the final artifacts and the final battle with the evil forces sort of ran together and provided no respite for the reader. Of course maybe reading it in one day was part of my problem. At any rate, if you like the fablehaven series this one is a must read.

I like Fablehaven series because the plots are interesting. But unfortunately it takes much more than a decent plot to have a good book, and in the last book it is more evident than in the others. Perhaps the last book was a bit rushed by the publishers and it did not help.
So, among the pros:
- interesting inventive plotting. Some turns are downright unpredictable. This is why I have bought all 5 books, the stories do stand out.
- good comic relief: satyrs Doren and Newel. Who would have guessed that satyrs were such fans of junk food, speeding and daytime television?
- occasional characters are well fleshed out, like Seth and Sphynx, Patton. In the previous books - Lena.
Sadly that is about all that I can say positive about the book. It is not as bad as it sounds, there are much worse books on the market.
The cons:
- All but a very few characters are extremely one-dimentional and flat.
- Dialogue is horrible except for occasional banter, mostly involving Seth and satyres. Everybody else is talking super efficiently, always explains everything with plenty of logic and summarizing, and lacks emotion. People do not have any distinctive voices here. Perhaps that is a side effect of lacking the distinctive personalities as well.
- Btracken-Kendra attraction seems extremely forced. Sure, she's 15, she needs a love interest. But this one jumps out from nowhere. There was no way to detect any attraction before the narcoblix blurts this out as a secret.
- The whole language of the series grates a lot. The last book is no exception. Everything happens fast, is explained compactly and efficiently, but the beauty of literature and especially of fairy tales is in details and lingering over the most worthy details. No lingering here. And sometimes I would prefer a good description rather than a bookful of statements and information dumps. I do not like to read that the pancakes were a perfection, show me the smell, the look, the taste or the texture to prove that they were a perfection.
- Some plot points are weak. The demon king, for example, was defeated way too easily. Was it too hard to think of some additional coincedence allowing such easy defeat at the hands of an extremely inexperienced person?
Despite the problems, the book is fun, and thanks to all the shortcomings, it also can be a handy example of what mistakes not to make when writing a Young Adult novel.

The world of Fablehaven is captivating, adventurous, and downright clever at times. I am amazed that Brandon Mull managed to get so much story into one final book. This book is a wonderful example of the phenomenon when an author manages to resolve a story in a such satisfying way that, although the reader is content, they find themselves wishing for more pages to turn just to delay leaving such a beloved world behind. I would recommend the Fablehaven series to anybody who loves a great story.

Keys to the Demon Prison is full of action, but that is about all there is to it. The book picks up right in the midst of things and never lets up. I personally didn't enjoy it. There are about 20 tasks that need to be completed and the characters systematically go through them. Traveling to each event takes 20 or so pages, the actual event takes a page, and then it is on to the next thing. There is no flow here, and no elegance. I loved the whimsical nature of the first Fablehaven book. It's a book that really made me want to live the lives of the characters. What could be more fun and interesting than exploring a place full of mystical creatures and uncovering secrets? Now these books feel like chores, as if each character is presented with a list of things to do, and they go do them. It is just not enough. I really didn't care what person or place was coming up next. In fact, throughout this entire book all I wanted was for it to be over. I felt the same way about the last Percy Jackson book. Running around from place to place does not make an interesting novel. It's extremely repetitious and boring, no matter how much action you want to throw in there. The characters don't help the book much either. The book is so focused on events that the characters feel like bystanders. You could insert any character in the novel and they would do just fine. The personalities aren't really as present in this book as in others, and no one has matured or changed much from book one. Throwing in many additional characters in each book does not help improve the series, it just adds to the short choppy nature of each book. Each character gets a few sentences of explanation, then off they go to complete their tasks. The only interesting part of this book was the beginning. I did enjoy exploring the first dungeon, but once I realized that running through dangerous areas was all the book was about, my interest took a nose dive. Keys to the Demon Prison felt more like a video game than an exciting novel with specific tasks to complete, objects to retrieve and places to go. Fans of the series should read it for closure alone, but I was very disappointed and struggled to finish it.

At the end of book 4, I had my serious doubts at how the author was going to wrap up such a series in only one more book. He proved me wrong, but I worry it was at the expensive of the story a little. Don't get me wrong, it's still wonderful. There's just so much that happens in such a short amount of time. And for some reason all of it happens with such ease. The previous 4 book felt like there was more of a battle to get what they were after. Seth alone has 6 different adventures (and not all of them include Kendra). I did love watching him mature in this book. He learned that not all wrong decisions are done for the wrong reasons. I think he learned what true courage was. I also love the involvement of the Satyrs. They were fantastic, providing just enough comic relief throughout the story! Kendra seems to have fulfilled the big sister role. She doesn't seem to play much of a part in the bigger picture until the very end when she single-handedly swoops in and saves the day (without even really meaning too). I really liked how the author threw in a love interest. It was so appropriate and very tastefully done. Overall, I thought it was a fantastic ending to the series. I just think the author could have easily gotten one more book out of the series by drawing out some of the tasks a little. I will be looking forward to see what Brandon Mull comes up with next!

The Fablehaven series is one of my favorite and book 5 does not disappoint. It is non stop action and many of the mysteries from the previous books are revealed.

*If you haven't read the previous book (Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary), consider this your SPOILER ALERT*

Keys to the Demon Prison picks up approximately three months after the events in book four, at Wyrmroost, the Dragon Sanctuary. Warren is still trapped in the storage room in the knapsack, Vanessa still dangles her secret as a bargaining chip, and the Society of the Evening Star still holds Kendra and Seth's parents captive. The Sphinx is still searching for the last artifacts needed to open Zzyxx, the demon prison.

I expected this book to be like the others, where the beginning takes you easily into the story, and a few chapters later something terrible is discovered and the fun begins. It is not. From the beginning, I got the sense that tensions here high. The action begins in the first few chapters, and does not let up until the end. Kendra and Seth are separated for the majority of the book, each with their own support band, following their own dangerous and trying quests.

Brandon Mull really showed his mastery of deception and plot in this book, as he revealed secrets I didn't know were secrets, and answered any questions I had from the previous books. I was surprised with how well things fit together with the entire series. Mull definitely planned this out well. Although I am sad to see the Fablehaven series come to an end (it's one of my favorites), I think this book did the series justice. It was tied up quite nicely, and I felt like there was a definite end to it. Mull certainly knows how to let a series go out with a bang!

I loved the Fabelhaven series. Reading in an adult's perspective, from book one I adored Seth, found Kendra a little over-bearing, and had loads of fun with their adventures. I probably liked book 4 the best. I did enjoy this book as well, but I agree with many other reviewers who think it should have been broken up into more books. (The only problem there, is I would have had to wait another year or two to get to the end.) There were some things that bothered me as far as not fleshing out the characters as much as possible, but the story was still wicked-fun.
I would definitely recommend this series to 5th graders and up, especially to boys. (Girls will also like this series, but I think the boys are harder to please - and this would hit the mark.)
All of my brothers (from 11 years old to 30) enjoyed the series, and I think it ranks as one of my favorites.

(FYI: I'm a 24 year old mother of 2 who typically enjoys fantasy, fairy tales, romantic stories and mysteries.)