Sunday, January 11, 2009

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!

8 comments:

  1. 12 books already?!!? Wow!!!

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  2. Yeah....I second what Carl said. That was my initial reaction too!! I just finished my 2nd!! Sheesh.

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  3. Hi Kelly, I just left another award on my blog :-)

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  4. Anonymous7:35 AM

    I agree that your reading pace is admirable! I've read 6 and a half so far myself though. Most of which are manga, one anthology and the 1/2 is manga related. Oh and I started a novel, but only by a chapter or so.

    Anyway, I could swear I left a comment recommending some manga but I don't know which post I commented on so I'm not sure you got it. Anyway, how many books is too many for a manga series? I'll post my recommendations again after I learn that.

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  5. i like this series too. Ven is a good character with personality and good supporting characters. I've read all the books out so far and looking forward to the next one!

    geez Kelly lol I'm only on my 3rd book this year!

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  6. Carl: I read some good books! I had such a bad reading year last year, I am determined to read, read, read this year! I am reading a graphic novel right now, and would be finished it, except I forgot it where I was reading it yesterday!

    Stephanie: It probably won't last. I get burned out after a while and start slowing down.

    Ana: Thanks! I will be over to check it out!

    Amanda: I think my most impressive feat was reading The Time Traveler's Wife in like a day. I was pretty proud about that! As to your manga recommendations, I don't recall seeing them. I get emails for comments, so not sure where it went! About ten and under is good for me.

    Deslily: I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series when I get a chance!

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  7. It sounds like an interesting read. Deslily has good taste even though I only dabble in this genre.

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  8. Deslily does have good taste. :) I think I will probably just get the rest of the books from the library.

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