Everything a Kids Fantasy Should Be — and More!
Saving Fable
by Scott Reintgen
Series: Talespinners (Book 1)
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Length: 384pp
ISBN-13: 978-0525646686
Related Links:
Scott Reintgen’s Website
Publisher’s Website (with excerpt)
Publisher Synopsis
Side characters can be heroes too!
Indira has been a character-in-waiting her entire life. So she can’t believe her luck when she’s finally chosen to travel to Fable and study at the renowned Protagonist Preparatory, a school known for producing the best heroes.
But Indira’s dreams of achieving hero status don’t exactly go as planned. A failed audition lands her in the school’s side-character track, and her best efforts to prove advisors–famous characters like Alice from Wonderland and Professor Darcy–wrong are constantly sabotaged. Indira is starting to feel like an evil antagonist might be to blame.
As the danger spreads, Indira discovers all of Fable is under siege. With her friends Maxi and Phoenix by her side, she pieces together clues that will reveal who is behind the dark magic threatening them all. But the more Indira uncovers, the more doubt she feels about her place in this world of stories. After all, can a side character really save the day?
My Review
Saving Fable has everything you could ask for in a Kids fantasy: a unique, magical city and school; diverse, likeable characters; an original — to me — and intriguing concept; and an interesting plot that builds into something frightening. It’s also fun! We take classes from famous fictional characters, now professors — Alice, Odysseus, Mr. Darcy, and others — watch the Grammar Police* in action, chase dog-ears, and meet the friendly Marks — walking, talking bookmarks. Protagonist Prep’s student advisers are Brainstorms, and Indira Story, our budding heroine, is mentored by none other than Deus Ex Machina himself. And then there’s the bumbling, often hilarious, Detective Malaprop, a worthy, and no doubt direct, descendant of Sheridan’s entertaining character.
Residents of the city of Fable are training to be protagonists or side characters in books or stories in the real world. Indira desperately wants to change her destiny and become a hero in a novel, thereby saving her brother, who, not being worthy of a story of his own, is trapped in a life of drudgery. But some things are not what they seem in Fable, and Indira, armed like Thor with a magical hammer, must use her wits, strength, and friends to uncover and battle the evil that threatens to destroy the city.
This is a can’t-put-down read that gradually moves you from the rear to the edge of your seat. Happily, there is plenty of room for a sequel; for starters, we never visited the city of Fester, where antagonists train. Much is left to explore in this imaginative world, and it will be a joy to revisit the characters and follow their stories.
— Jennifer Michelle
* ‘Imbalance’ and ‘imbalanced’ (OED: “a lack of proper proportion”) are used when ‘unbalance’ and ‘unbalanced’ (“to throw off balance”) should be. It’s especially grating to see ‘imbalance’ function as a verb (“How am I supposed to imbalance that?” “Try to imbalance the creature…”). As Fable’s Grammar Police would point out, ‘imbalance’ is a noun. (Note: I read an ARC, so these errors may have been corrected.)
Verdict
5 of 5 Hearts. Everything a Kids fantasy should be — and more!
Buy the Book
*Disclosure of Material Connection: I would like to thank Netgalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for providing me with a protected MOBI copy of Saving Fable in exchange for an honest review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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