Name: Maddigan's Fantasia
ISBN: 9781416918127

Margaret Mahy

In a world made uncertain by "the Chaos," two time-traveling boys, fifteen-year-old Timon and eleven-year-old Eden, seek to protect a magic talisman, aided by twelve-year-old Garland, a member of a traveling circus known as Maddigan's Fantasia.

Maddigan's Fantasia

Jeni Enjaian

This book never found solid ground. The entire plot felt a bit like the world it was describing, constantly being made, unmade and remade. The protagonist, Garland, felt unfamiliar to me, even at the end of the book. The antagonist felt undefined and nebulous. Nothing in this book took root. A plot without even the semblance of an anchor is not a plot worth salvaging. The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars instead of one is that occasionally Mahy's prose was quite beautiful. I'm quite disappointed in this book. Mahy created a world rich with potential for someone else to come along and take advantage of. It's a shame that she didn't do that herself.