This is the first Landover novel for over ten years, and if, like this reviewer, you are a fan of this delightful series then you will be thrilled to revisit this special place once again. Ben and Willow’s daughter is fifteen now, and reluctantly attending the Carrington Women’s Preparatory in our world. But she hates it and fails to fit in, having a somewhat different perspective on things than the average human being. Suspended by an angry headmistress, she goes back home to despairing parents. But she must do something useful— how about sorting out the library? Nobody has been there for years and it ought to be reopened to the inhabitants of Landover. Surely this is a really safe, simple job verging on the boring...?

I referred to these books as being delightful, and this is the best term for them. They possess a certain charm normally missing from this type of thing (at least in my opinion) that is hard to define. An engaging story, with characters verging on the cute, perhaps, but having too much personality and drive to truly qualify for that insulting term. An interesting setting helps. This time we get to spend time with some more g’home gnomes, discover what life is like in the Greensward baronies, and meet a character perhaps a bit too much like Horris Kew. It all rolls merrily along and before I knew it I had finished, a trait more books might do well to aim for and anybody who can write a fantasy novel with under 350 pages gets my vote.

This is not the strongest book in the series (The Tangle Box [Amazon US || UK] would win this hands down) but for sheer entertainment it delivers the goods. As the book begins and ends with a visit to a certain zoo inhabitant it looks as though book VII might not be too long in the future either.