Moon Crossing by Cathy Farr

Moon Crossing by Cathy Farr
Buy Moon Crossing by Cathy Farr at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: Pacy and exciting fantasy quest with energy and positivity embedded in every page, engaging characters, and those gorgeous fellhounds. What more could you want?
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 312	Date: April 2012
Publisher: Grosvenor House
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 1781485151
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Wil Calloway returns to Saran in the most unwelcome of circumstances. Tally, Lady Elanor's young sister, has been abducted by the evil Lord Rexmoore in an attempt to find the whereabouts of the Legacy. Tally doesn't know it, but that won't save her. So Wil has come to rejoin his Fellmen friends and mount a rescue mission. But it's not going to be easy. Gisella and Mortimer aren't talking. Seth is as accident-prone as ever. And Leon and his father are still deeply suspicious about Wil's part in Giles's death during the last Moon Chase.

The task ahead is daunting: they must make it across the fell with its eagards and Wraithe wolves, find a way into the city and once there, face Lord Rexmoore and his soldiers if they are to free Tally. And they must make it before the festival of Alcama if Tally is to be truly safe...

I thought Moon Crossing was a tremendously satisfying follow-up to Moon Chase, in which we met Wil Calloway and the fellhounds for the first time. The beautiful and sometimes forbidding landscape of Thesk rises vividly from the pages and you get a real sense of Farr's imagined world. Gradually, too, its mythology is taking real shape. In this story, we learn that Thesk has two moons and the time at which their paths cross in the sky is one of great signficance, amplifying both magic and danger. Magic itself is less important to the plot than the quest, but it still has its place in Lady Elanor's wondrous medications and in Wil's ability to inhabit the minds of animals.

The villains are truly villainous without a single redeeming feature between them, but Wil and the Fellmen are well-rounded characters - essentially good and brave but all capable of mistakes and petty jealousies. This gives rise to enough conflict between them to lend the story some genuine depth. Even nice people tell lies sometimes. And even good people - Tally, for instance - can be spiteful when their affections aren't returned in the way they would like.

But the real worth of this novel, just as with its predecessor, lies in its goodheartness. It's clear that Farr thinks of Thesk with great affection. She loves the land she has created, her characters, and above all their fellhounds. It flows through every page in the book and it's irresistible. You just can't help but love it all just as much. The dialogue clunks a wee bit on occasions but this is more than made up for by some marvellous action scenes, including a wonderful dragon flight, a tense and exciting plot, and some sweet love interest.

It's a pacy and exciting fantasy quest with energy and positivity embedded in every page, engaging characters, and those gorgeous fellhounds. What more could you want? Recommended for tweens, teens, and all ages after that. Particularly if you love dogs. Big ones. As we do.

Fans of fantasy might also enjoy the Seventh Tower series by Garth Nix, set in a world of perpetual darkness. But if it's dogs and wolves that float your boat, you might enjoy The Last Wolf by Michael Morpurgo.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Moon Crossing by Cathy Farr at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Moon Crossing by Cathy Farr at Amazon.com.

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