The House at the Edge of Magic

Product Information

We follow Nine, and orphaned thiefling who finds herself inside a magical house, inhabited by Dr Spoon the alchemist, Eric the troll housekeeper, and Flabberghast, High Wizard, Chair of the Tea Tasters Committee, World Hopscotch Champion 1835. The house is cursed… the inhabitants cannot leave it, the toilets moves around, the toad’s tongue is missing so they cannot move around, and worst of all: they cannot open the tea cupboard. And Nine is the only one who can break this curse. At the Strangeworlds Travel Agency, each suitcase transports you to a different world. All you have to do is step inside . . . There are secrets hidden beneath the ice . . . bring the magic home in the frosty fourth instalment of the bestselling Pinch of Magic Adventures, from the award-winning Michelle Harrison.

And with a large, rough hand, it grabbed Nine by the collar, pulled her inside and slammed the door behind her.I received a eARC from the publishers through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It has not affected my opinions. Das Ende schließt die Geschichte zum Teil ab, lässt aber die ein oder andere Frage offen, es ist also Potenzial für einen dritten Band da. Irgendwo habe ich auch gelesen, dass es eine Trilogie werden soll, konnte dazu jetzt aber nichts weiter finden. Ich bin gespannt, eine weitere Fortsetzung würde mich sehr freuen.

The Tower At The End Of Time by Amy Sparkes is the perfect addition to The House At The Edge Of Magic series. Amy lives in Devon with her husband and five young children. When she's not off on an adventure with them,Amy enjoys drinking tea and climbing trees. Now, don’t go read this book expecting a deep, complicated story with a bow wow twist and ending. The wonderful thing about this book is on the journey itself. It will take you on a magical ride, laugh with you, and made you forget your problem a little bit. It’s like a good friend that will cheer you up in an instant. Okay, Imagine going a theme park with a good friend. That’s how I feel!!! There’s only one problem: the House is nervous about travelling – and gets the hiccups! Bouncing from world to world with every “HIC!”, they finally land at the championships, only for Flabberghast to have an unfortunate run-in with square number seven, and find himself faced with the terrible Tower at the End of Time. I was so hopeful for this book to be as Diana Wynne Jones-ish as the blurb sounded, but it's a very different kettle of fish. Where DWJ's books are character-focused and charmingly, dryly British in their humour, The House at the Edge of Magic is a loud, zany book with humour derived from a lot of yelling, bat droppings and trolls in aprons. Characters shout and exclaim almost every line, and the whole thing is suffused with high energy and surprises popping out every which-way, to the point that it actually felt like an effort for me, an introvert, to read. The silly humour and tone were not my cup of tea at all, but it will definitely entertain kids of about 7-10 looking for a riotous read. The oddball cast of characters are amusing caricatures that all have interesting quirks, but they were under-developed and barely seemed to go through any growth.I really loved this book. A book that is also fun for older children and even adults. The book is full of fantasy and magic and I definitely recommend it. Enough happens in the story to keep you interested. The story and the characters are very nice.... Read Full Review It’s another Bookwagon day in our house. The kids were so excited to get their latest books in the post. Wundervoll geschrieben, für Jung und Alt geeignet und einfach was fürs Herz in dieser doch sehr schwierigen Zeit. Amy Sparkes has done a fantastic job with this book. The characters have grown and become more solid and believable, and the story was both interesting and character-driven. On top of that, the writing was perfectly paced and easy to read. Now that I have finished this book I am excited to dive into the next book in this series.

The second book of The House at the Edge of Magic series. I like this book better than its predecessor, because the story is more interesting, with lots of different sides of the magical world. The tone is still a bit too childish sometimes, but at least we got a better character development here, and even had a glimpse of Nine's origin. Thanks so much for your lovely message and for everything that you do with Book Wagon. Yourself and Bob are much cherished in our booky world and I personally really appreciate everything that you do.

I haven't read middle grade in a while... what a shame! This book was everything I was looking for! But first, can we stop and admire this wonderful cover? This cover is the very reason I've been wanted to read this book! Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments

The House at the Edge of Magic is an incredibly enjoyable story, that is brimming with magic and imagination. I knew from the stunning cover (by Ben Mantle) and the blurb that I was going to love this book and Amy Sparkes cast a delightful spell over me as I read. I laughed so much reading it, whether it was the conversations between the characters or the many hilarious ways that the house has been cursed. My favourite part (and the bit that had me laughing hardest) is when Nine goes to make tea for the first time. Every time they try to touch the handle to the tea cupboard, each of the characters get transformed in some ridiculous way, like their skin turning blue, their legs turning into springs or becoming an oversized yellow spotty teapot. There seemed to be no end to the different cursed rooms in the house, from the library with its vicious flying books to the cellar containing the ‘Sometimes Dead.’ Involved in what, you ask? Well, there's still a bit of question about that, since Flaberghast isn't the most forthcoming person. Who is Flaberghast, you ask? Why, he's the boy coming down the stairs in the sparkling indigo gown. Why is he wearing a gown? Well, you'd really have to ask Flabberghast that. But, you should probably wait until after the curse is lifted. What curse? Oh, that's right. I haven't mentioned the curse, have I? Well, the curse is the rather troublesome thing that is causing all sorts of problems, but it might also just be the way that Nine can gain her freedom.

Synopsis

THE TOWER AT THE END OF TIME continues the bizarre, imagination-gone-wild feel of the previous entry. The House is now able to move, but it's got hiccups! Which is very much not a good thing when you're travelling the world between worlds after three stationary years. And so everything is going a little (more) wrong inside (than usual!) Reading this sequel right after the first book. I enjoyed the first book as a whole although there were some unfulfilled expectations (please see my brief review for the first book).