The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme - The Floating Island by Elizabeth Haydon

Books Completed: 12
Date Completed: January 9, 2009
Pages: 368
Publication Date: April 1, 2008

Reason for Reading: Deslily wrote a great review; liked the other book I read by the same author.

Charles Magnus Ven Polypheme - known as Ven - is the youngest son of a long line of famous shipwrights. He dreams not of building ships, but of sailing them to far-off lands where magic thrives. Ven gets his chance when he is chosen to direct the Inspection of his family’s latest ship - and sets sail on the journey of a lifetime.

Attacked by fire pirates, lost at sea and near death, Ven is rescued by a passing ship on its way to the Island of Serendair. Thankful to be alive, little does Ven know that the pirate attack - and his subsequent rescue - may not have been an accident. Shadowy figures are hunting for the famed Floating Island, the only source of the mystical Water of Life. They think Ven can lead them to this treasure and will stop at nothing to get it - even murder...

I have had my eyes on this series for a while, but never picked it up. When I saw this book at the second-hand bookstore the other day, though, I decided to give it a try. I did start Haydon's other series, and while I really liked the first book, I have never been inspired to move on with the series. Not really surprising! Anyway, this book is a young adult book, and I tend to be rather picky about my young adult reads, but I liked this book. There was a lot going on in it. It has pirates. I have been saying for a while that I need to read more books with pirates! It has magic. Magic makes the Floating Island appear, for example. It has a ghost story. There are fairies and other magical creatures. You would almost think there was too much going on for one book, but Haydon carries it off well.

Ven is the youngest in his family. He is not human, though, he is a Nain. They are normally a race that lives below ground, but Ven's family has decided to make their living on the sea. They are experts at putting everything together and making fantastic sailing vessels, but they don't actually like going out on the ships that they build. Ven is different, though. He can actually swim! On his 50th birthday, he has come of age and is finally able to properly enter the ship-building family. All he wants to do is go on an inspection, where he gets to go on the sailing ship that his family just created. He draws the short straw, and that is the day when all of his adventures begin.

I like this series so far. I will be interested to see what happens as it progresses when I get a chance to read the rest of the books in the series. A recommended read!