Erik Olsen

Garden of the Lost Souls by Erik Olsen
4 STARS This series Flin's Destiny series has 5 books in it. Garden of the Lost Souls is book 2. I have only read Garden of the Lost Souls so far and think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book first. It can stand alone but I have a feeling it will be better if you read the books in order. A bus load of students are trapped in a world under the ground. The princible thinks they had better start school up and she had a manual with her to study on the field trip. Flin 14 and Flowell get seperated from the rest when they get trapped in the lake. Everyone thinks they have died. Flin and Flowell are in a different part of the underworld and don't know how to get back to thier friends. Things are always happening to them on thier journey and then in the dark they get seperated. Flin meets Skip who tells him the fork of the river that he did not go but Flowell went on a little farther then over a waterfall that no one survives. Skip is a lepercaun but he was thrown out of home. He told Flin that you don't trust anyone even he does not trust himself. To get rid of Flin he shows him how to get out of the area he is in. Flin gets caught and trapped but when an earthquake frightens his capters away he is able to get out. When he sees the lepercauns wrisking thier lives to save the women and children from the lava that starts coming and soon will all be trapped and killed he gets an idea how he can stop the lava and runs back and tells them to get more water as he hurrys with buckets full and starts to build a gully with water the lepercauns are helping and Flinn uses magic and turns the water into a ice wall that saves everyone. The next day the Jadestone that protects Clover Cavern was stolen that Flin's own great grandfather gave to them. So he goes with two lepercauns to find it and return it before others can find Clover Cavern. On thier quest Flin finds out that Flowell is alive but a prisoner he splits off to find her. Everytime something is going right than another thimg happens to someone. It keeps your attention. I look forward to the next book in the series. I was given this ebook to read in exchange of honest review from Netgalley. 07/10/2012 PUB Cedar Fort… (mais)

Flin is excited for his school trip to Ireland. Everything is going great until there's an earthquake. Flin and his companions soon find themselves in a mysterious cave, and with further travel they discover they are under the sea. Here they discover new peoples and things they never had imagined. It will take all Flin and company have to survive their new world and make it back to their own.

This was definitely a fun adventure. I will admit to being a bit confused in the beginning. I wasn't really getting what was going on there. Things picked up once he went to Ireland though. Personally, I found the dialogue to be a bit jumpy. I guess I would just like it to flow a bit smoother. The bad guys were a bit over-the-top too. Flin and some of his other classmates were really fun though. I found the Cobbles to be very cool (even if I had a hard time reading their dialect). I think kids might enjoy this book more than me though, boys in particular. I can see some parts of the story that would be very appealing to them. There is certainly non-stop adventure. I think younger readers will have a great time with Flin.

Galley provided for review.… (mais)

Original, fun story. A story to be shared with your children.
This book is the journey of a lifetime. 13 year old Flin and his debate team classmates are on a field trip to Ireland. A land of magic and mystery. An earthquake occurs and the kids get swallowed into the Earth. They must find their way back to the surface against tremendous odd. This book involves magic, fantasy, and strange and amazing creatures.

A wonderful elementary/middle grade book. It is the first in a series. I am anxiously awaiting the next book.… (mais)