science fiction

Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum - R.K. Mortenson Book Review

Enter a review
of your own!
Other books by
author R.K. Mortenson

"Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum"
Message Board
R.K. Mortenson Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR: Laura Southcombe

SCHOLARS:
Would you like to be a scholar and make five dollars per review? Click here to submit a review!
Review Summaries
"Book 3 of the Landon Snow series is a water / island adventure. Landon, a twelve year old boy, has had two journeys into the fantastic world of Wonderwood, using a passage he discovered at the library in his grandpa's hometown. When he and his two sisters go to visit grandpa again, Landon is looking forward to yet another adventure. However, things are different this time. Landon and the girls go to the library at daytime, not at night as they did before; the books do not come alive, and there is no passage to Wonderwood. Things seem as normal as normal can be… until the small drip from a leaking pipe turns into a stream, and the stream turns into a flood. The children climb into a stone boat, a part of the tombstone of Bartholomew G. Benneford the library is named after. The boat suddenly turns into a real rowboat, and then into a ship; before they know it, Landon, Holly and Bridget are in the midst of an ocean, sailing along. Landon has no idea of what's going on and what to do; he only knows it is not Wonderwood where he'd been before. The children explore the ship and discover that they are alone on it. No other ships are seen in the ocean, either. They also find out that the ship is controlled by a large book on the helm that serves as a steering wheel: in order to turn the vessel left or right you must turn the pages. Having secured the book pages with a rope so that the ship keeps going straight ahead, Landon and his sisters continue exploring. They find food supplies, clothes, swords, and canons. Still, there is no answer to the question of what is happening and what they are supposed to do. The answer comes on the next day when a bigger ship overtakes them. Landon is happy to recognize his friends from Wonderwood: the short dwarflike Hardy and the talking horse Melech. Hardy and Melech come aboard and tell Landon that they are heading to the Island of Arcanum where all the animals of Wonderwood had been taken and are kept captive by the evil Malus Quidam. It is time to rescue the animals and bring them home. And they need Landon's help. Landon agrees to help. They sail to the island and come ashore. The girls stay on the ship, and Landon, Melech, Hardy, and two of Hardy's friends go into a tunnel that leads to the place where animals are kept. In the tunnel, they encounter two more people from Wonderwood, a couple named Griggs and Dot. These two had willingly gone to the island with the animals, hoping to bring them back someday, but it turned out to be impossible. The Chief Arcanum has put a spell on the animals, making them listen to only his voice, so they wouldn't leave the island even if they could. The chief repeats his spell every day, and everyone who hears it falls under its power. Griggs and Dot have been stuffing their ears with moss, so they are still free, but they don't know how to release the animals. Landon and his friends refuse to give up and continue on their way. They reach the animal keep with hundreds of skinny, starved animals. The arcans notice their intrusion, and the chief starts shouting the spell. But it turns out that the spell has no power over Landon, and he manages to break it by repeating the words and making the animals follow him. They all flee back to the ship, chased by the arcans. A battle takes place on the beach. Landon kills the Chief Arcan, the animals board the big ship and it sails away. The mission is accomplished. Landon and his sisters take off in their own ship. As they enter the food chamber, something happens, and they find themselves in their grandma's pantry. "
Laura Southcombe, Resident R.K. Mortenson Scholar


Click above for the new Obama Girl Parody video!

Overall Review
Our unique search engine breaks down books and movies into
dozens of literary elements, all of which are searchable.
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 30%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 10%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%




FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - part earth & part fantasy world
Explore/1st contact/ enviro story Yes
Plotlets: - exploring a CUTESY fantasy world
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Age: - a teen
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a little/some

Setting
Terrain - Water
Earth setting: - general past
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books by Gordonator ranking
Landon Snow And the Shadows of Malus Quidam by R.K. Mortenson
Landon Snow And the Auctor's Riddle by R.K. Mortenson
Magic City by Edith Nesbit
The Royal Book of Oz by Ruth Plumly Thompson
The Changeling by Joe Rogers




Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
Try our new Star Wars & Star Trek puzzle pictures! Click here

Advertise with us
Feedback
Star Wars Revenge of the Sith plot spoilers
Hobbits
The politics game
The lawyer game

3 Book search options!
1) Simple lookup
(title or author)

or
2) Detailed book search
(click here)
or

3) One-click plot searches! Simply click on a plot below!

Animal Story

Clones

Coming of age

Cultural problems, alien culture

Explore/1st contact/ enviro story

Family relations

GIANT monster(s)

Horror story?

Inner Struggle

Lifeform altered?

Mental/magical powers focus

Parody

Political power play

Religious overtones?

Repressive society story

Robots, Computers, VR

Romance

Spying & Investigations

Tech./$$$/Info hunt

Time Travel story?

Training/Apprent.

War or Invasion


Games:
Trivia Masters!

Rescue your favorite
scifi characters from
slavery!


Talk to your favorite
scifi characters!


Eating New Yorkers
Computer Game


Pomeranians

Most recent TV & Movie discussions:

Alien Hunter : Alien Hunter 8/28/2008 1:25:23 PM

A Boy and His Dog: A Boy and His Dog 8/27/2008 6:32:04 PM

Charmed: What's wrong with Rose McGowan's chin? 8/26/2008 8:21:36 AM

Charmed: What kind of name is Piper for a girl? 8/20/2008 5:34:24 PM

Blade Runner: Blade Runner 8/14/2008 11:21:07 PM

The Mask: The Mask 8/14/2008 11:06:36 PM

Young Frankenstein: Young Frankenstein 8/10/2008 12:10:26 AM

Doctor Who: Who was the best companion? 8/8/2008 6:19:08 AM

Xena: How could anyone like Joxer? 8/7/2008 3:37:46 AM

Space 1999: Silliest Episode 7/30/2008 2:49:34 PM


Newest slaves:
Admiral Paris 6:19:39 PM
The Nerd Barclay 6:15:13 PM
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) 6:05:23 PM
Icheb 5:59:48 PM
Christina Aguilera 5:57:22 PM
Dr. Zimmerman 5:56:09 PM
Bo Derek 5:55:50 PM
Britneys Spheres (Britney Spears) 5:53:11 PM
Harry Kim 5:51:36 PM
Mariah Carey 5:51:28 PM
All slaves
(click here)


Celebrity interviews:
President George W. Bush 6:32:00 PM
Jan-Michael Vincent 2:16:51 PM
Captain Kathryn Janeway 3:47:46 PM
Jack ONeill (Richard Dean Anderson) 1:39:22 PM
Jennifer Aniston (Friends) 5:01:07 PM
All celebrities
(click here)