The Chestnut King

Twelve-year-old Henry York, finally reunited with his family, works with them and the Chestnut King, the long-deposed and mythic leader of the faeren people, to destroy Nimiane and her forces of evil.

User reviews

LibraryThing member jmoncton

So, here's the plot... Henry is staying with his relatives in Kansas, when their house is transported to a magical world and they must battle an evil witch. OK, Toto, sound familiar?

Well other than getting a general idea of the story, I find myself completely lost while listening to this

audiobook. The plot definitely shows promise. In his uncle and aunt's house, Henry discovers a cupboard with 99 doors that lead into other worlds. But, an evil witch, Niniane, must be defeated before she kills Henry and his family. Good overall story and some clever plot twists. So what went wrong? I'm guessing that I had a problem with the narration. This is definitely an example of a narrator overacting a story. There are so many dramatic pauses, that I find myself completely lost as to what is going on. This book has some very high reviews. I might have to revisit this one in print, but the audio version did not work for me.

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LibraryThing member TurboSnails

Book 3 of the series and I'm not really sure what to say. Parts of it were hands-down better than the last book (finding out about Henry's family and battling the Fingerlings) but I can't say I really enjoyed much of it. Fantasy isn't typically my genre of choice and it really doesn't compare with

Harry Potter or The Hobbit.

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LibraryThing member meow9th

I agree with a previous reviewer that the ending felt too neat. My other complaint is that the world-building was a bit lacking; though the title of the book is The Chestnut King, we really don't find out much about him and his relationship to the faerie queene. The pacing was a bit stop-and-go;

there were several parties, with different parties going different places for different reasons, and parties sometimes splitting up or joining up. All in all it was a bit confusing, and in the end, unnecessary; lots of attention focused on journeys that didn't matter so much and characters who didn't really do anything. The book would've benefited from more focus on the important journeys and characters, and fewer words given to other plotlines and characters.

The book does tie up the Nimiane loose end, and gives you a glimpse into the 'ever after' part of Henry's life.

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