middle grade fantasy | Musings of the Monster Librarian

Book Review: Grimmworld: The Witch in the Woods by Michaelbrent Collings

Grimmworld: The Witch in the Woods, by Michaelbrent Collings

Shadow Mountain Publishing, March 2024 (not yet released)

ISBN: 9781639932320

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Michaelbrent Collings writes good thrillers, and writes them fast: his pace has always been Dean Koontz-like. Grimmworld is his first attempt at a middle grade fantasy novel, and not surprisingly, it’s very good. Collings has no trouble shifting his high-octane writing to fantasy, Kids and adults both will love this.

The book is a nifty new way to use Grimm’s Fairy Tales for backdrop. The first 90 pages are a bit slow, but it’s just the setup for the real story. Twins Jake and Willow Grimm are living in a new town, where their parents are involved in top secret research. Through a collision of multiverses, the twins wind up in Grimmworld, where all the old fairy tales actually happen, for real. However, the endings are very different in Grimmworld, and not happy ones, either– the original Brothers Grimm changed the endings when they wrote them. Once the story shifts to Grimmworld, it takes off, and kicks into high gear. Jake and Willow do get some scientific explanation for the different worlds from a friend and wizard, Old Eli. Collings does a nice job balancing a plausible scientific theory and making it understandable to young readers.. The ‘bubble’ analogy the author used really helps tie this section together. The lovable, enigmatic mole-rat, Chet, also helps the twins, although his Cheshire-cat style of talking does drive them somewhat nuts.

The last half of the book is fantastic, with Jake and Willow attempting to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch’s oven. There are a lot of outstanding riddles and puzzles in this section: riddling hasn’t been this much fun since Bilbo went toe to toe with Gollum all those years ago. The ‘slow camel’ race and magic tree demonstrate real planning on the author’s part, and they are simple enough for readers to follow. It’s the perfect wrap-up to a very good story. Thankfully, this isn’t the end: Collings has already promised another if he gets a good response from readers. Based on this, he won’t have any trouble getting it.

Bottom line is, this does what a good middle grade fantasy should do: thrill younger and older readers alike. Schools should have this, to help kids see that reading has a LOT more to offer than staring at cell phones. As for the author, who knows what else he has in his bag of tricks? Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Graphic Novel Review: Wingbearer (Wingbearer Saga #1) by Marjorie Liu, art by Teny Issakhanian

Wingbearer (Wingbearer Saga #1) by Marjorie Liu, art by Teny Issakhanian

Quill Tree, 2022

ISBN-13: 9780062741165

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle, Comixology

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

Marjorie Liu takes a step away from horror and dark fantasy with her middle grade graphic novel, Wingbearer. Zuli, raised in the Great Tree by mysterious bird spirits, is unique. She doesn’t look at all like the bird spirits, and she has never seen anyone like her. She has never left the safety of the branches of her home. When an evil magic begins to affect the new growth of the tree and bird souls are not returned to its branches for rebirth, Zuli sets out to spread her wings with her guardian owl, Frowly, to discover the problem and return the bird souls home. Zuli is also on a quest to discover who she is and where she comes from. Along the way, she meets new friends and foes, and perhaps comes face-to-face with her biggest threat or salvation, the Witch-Queen.

Upon seeing the world beyond the Great Tree, she finds the land ravaged, broken ruins everywhere. Her first encounter with any other living creature is when she is attacked by giant spiders. She discovers this world is not what she was hoping and dreaming about in the safe branches of her home. Throughout her journey, she also finds that not everything is black and white: there are grey areas that she must grapple with. A memorable scene is when she becomes distraught after she sees other goblins in her friend Orien’s camp chopping tree branches for building materials and fuel. She does not understand why the destruction of even one branch of a tree is necessary for others to live. Zuli grapples with other philosophical and identity-related themes, as well as having to learn new things.

Liu’s creative power is in her world building, and Wingbearer does not disappoint. She creates a complex world without bogging down the story with too much detail, and everything is cohesive and well-constructed. As with her Monstress series, she fills the world with compelling and driven characters, each with their own motivations and personalities shining through. For instance, Zuli’s friendship with the goblin Orien progresses in a very real way, with philosophical and cultural conflict, as well as learning more about each other.

Teny Issakhanian, an Armenian-American artist, provides lush and beautiful illustrations. She really brings the characters to life, the emotion in their facial expressions is so powerful. The bird spirits are particularly beautiful. Her previous work includes DreamWorks TV Animation, Disney TV Animation, and the Jim Henson Company.

Reading Wingbearer was like revisiting past Dungeons and Dragons games for me. High adventure, magic, good and evil butting heads, interparty conflict…all the great stuff from RPGs. For parents wanting to introduce their kids to the fantasy genre, Liu and Issakhanian would be a great first read. This is the first of the series, and I am very much looking forward to the second volume. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker