susanvoss18

Finn and his sister are new to England, their father recently having moved the family to near Stonehenge. With his mother newly killed in a car accident, his father has been mostly absence, throwing himself into his work. It’s up to Finn to get his sister to and from school and make sure she’s fed. But Finn’s life is about to get a bit tougher, because Faery Prince Zaneyr needs a human body. Zaneyr’s father, king of the Faery realm, has a crazy plan to reunite Earth and Faery. But many worry that will simply kill many humans and potentially destroy both worlds. So Zaneyr plans to flee the Faery realm and take up permanent residence in the human world.

This was a great listen. I quickly became attached to Finn and then his little sister. The story started off pretty light with just a bit of bullying and a still-grieving father. Once Zaneyr takes Finn’s body, he has to figure out what the human world is all about…and that leads to some funny misunderstandings. While Zaneyr struggles with concepts like enforced schooling and gets sucked into handheld games, Finn is struggling to understand the Faery realm as a disembodied spirit. He runs into a few helpful people…..or perhaps they just want to use Finn for their own means. One such is Pix, who wants to keep Finn around to assist him with his poetic aspirations. Pix was a very amusing side character!

And then things get a little more serious as we learn more about the Faery King’s plans and the potential for destroying lives, if not worlds. Zaneyr’s concern comes through loud and clear at this point and you really feel for the (what feels like) impossible situation he finds himself in. We also learn more about Finn’s father and his latest work with physics, which ties directly into the possibility of the two worlds crashing into one another.

There’s a couple times that Zaneyr and Finn face off and they were some of the most intense scenes in the book. I was a bit torn as to who to route for! The mix of humor, fantasy, action, and intensity was perfect. Definitely a worthy read!

Narration: Mark Mullaney was a great pick for this narration. He did a perfect American-transplanted-to-England Finn voice. Same for his little sister. He also had a handful of British accents to pull off. Then his faery voices, especially for Zaneyr, were great, having a bit of a lilt to them. His voice for Pix was both amusing and menacing.