Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Scholastic Inc.
Pages
423
Description
Max Spencer is an underachiever but when a carnivorous unicorn, Princess the Destroyer, and an evil wizard, Rezormoor, bring him, the only one who can read the legendary Codex of Infinite Knowability, to their magical realm, he must find the courage to save himself, his friends, and the entire human race.
Series
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
423 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0545690781 / 9780545690782
Similar in this library
Lexile
870L
User reviews
LibraryThing member jnmwheels
The boys will love it. it is irreverent and inappropriate at times. The characters come to life in the whimsical tale of fantasy meets contemparry realistic fantasy.
LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
I picked this book up from a thrift store mostly based on the title and the unicorn on the cover. As a children's book, I was expecting something a bit silly, but fun. And it is silly, and fun, but not my sort of silly and fun. I can see this book in the hand of 8 year old boys who are totally
I could go on about how the plot is silly, totally doesn't make sense, but here's the thing - this book is aimed at an entirely different reader, and to rate it on that would do a disservice to a book that actually is fun to read (if you are kid). I did enjoy the word play, but its not exactly subtle and I found that it got old, fast.
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against rainbows and glittery unicorns. In other words, its not great literature, but something aimed at those kids who think a fart joke is hilarious.I could go on about how the plot is silly, totally doesn't make sense, but here's the thing - this book is aimed at an entirely different reader, and to rate it on that would do a disservice to a book that actually is fun to read (if you are kid). I did enjoy the word play, but its not exactly subtle and I found that it got old, fast.
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LibraryThing member jennybeast
Ok, I read this book for the cover, which is extraordinary and hilarious and just flat-out delightful. There weren't enough squirrels in the book, but Princess the Destroyer is a worthy evil unicorn. On the whole, an excellent story for middle grade boys. Not quite enough in it for middle aged
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ladies, but some priceless dialogue between bad unicorn and her minion, and remarkably funny frobbit antics. Show Less
LibraryThing member BookConcierge
I am clearly NOT the target audience for this sci-fi fantasy adventure knock-off of Harry Potter.
There are two main domains: The Magrus (i.e. the place of magic) and the Techrus (the “technological” world … i.e. reality). In between these two worlds is the Mesoshire. At least I think
Anyway, there’s a book – the Codex of Infinite Knowability – that been lost to the ages, but middle-schooler Max Spencer finds it under his bed. He doesn’t know he has magical abilities, but he is a direct descendant of the author so is the only one who can read any of the material in the Codex.
Princess the Destroyer is a magic unicorn who is a spoiled brat intent on wreaking havoc everywhere. She’s got a toady wizard who helps her (or kowtows to her to avoid being destroyed). She wants the Codex so she can move freely between worlds.
Max and his friends Sarah and Dirk, along with Dwight (a dwarf), and Glenn (a talking dagger) find themselves transported through time to a far future Techrus, where all humans are dead and the world is run by machines with rudimentary AI capabilities.
Anyway …. It took me two months to slog through this and I completed it only because of a challenge and I just refused to give up. There were a couple of things that redeemed it. I loved Sarah. She rises to the challenge every time. She’s strong, intelligent, a born leader and will never give up. Max also, eventually, rises to the challenge of being the leader.
I do admit that the last couple of chapters were pretty interesting with Max going up against Princess and her giant killing machines.
So, I can understand why some kids would find this entertaining, but I still thought it was pretty terrible. Clark spent way too much time trying to prove how clever he is rather than crafting a compelling and entertaining story.
Oh, and it ends in a cliffhanger because Clark cannot trust that his audience will want to read more so he has to try to force them to read another book.
There are two main domains: The Magrus (i.e. the place of magic) and the Techrus (the “technological” world … i.e. reality). In between these two worlds is the Mesoshire. At least I think
Show More
that’s right. I frankly lost interest in keeping everything straight. Anyway, there’s a book – the Codex of Infinite Knowability – that been lost to the ages, but middle-schooler Max Spencer finds it under his bed. He doesn’t know he has magical abilities, but he is a direct descendant of the author so is the only one who can read any of the material in the Codex.
Princess the Destroyer is a magic unicorn who is a spoiled brat intent on wreaking havoc everywhere. She’s got a toady wizard who helps her (or kowtows to her to avoid being destroyed). She wants the Codex so she can move freely between worlds.
Max and his friends Sarah and Dirk, along with Dwight (a dwarf), and Glenn (a talking dagger) find themselves transported through time to a far future Techrus, where all humans are dead and the world is run by machines with rudimentary AI capabilities.
Anyway …. It took me two months to slog through this and I completed it only because of a challenge and I just refused to give up. There were a couple of things that redeemed it. I loved Sarah. She rises to the challenge every time. She’s strong, intelligent, a born leader and will never give up. Max also, eventually, rises to the challenge of being the leader.
I do admit that the last couple of chapters were pretty interesting with Max going up against Princess and her giant killing machines.
So, I can understand why some kids would find this entertaining, but I still thought it was pretty terrible. Clark spent way too much time trying to prove how clever he is rather than crafting a compelling and entertaining story.
Oh, and it ends in a cliffhanger because Clark cannot trust that his audience will want to read more so he has to try to force them to read another book.
Show Less
Call number
J4A.Cla