Review: Freiyon Fables: The Rochester Runes by Justin Hunt

The Rochester Ruins is the second book in the series Freiyon Fables by Justin Hunt, too which the first book only received a 2 from me. The timeline this book and the first appear to overlap to some extent at the beginning. Old friends and foes, as well as new, make an appearance in this book as well.

Unlike the first book that detailed a lightning-tailed squirrel's journey through Freiyon this story follows the three human Rochester siblings. The three siblings., Robert, Charles, and Sarah move with their mother into their grandparent’s old manor. None of the children are exactly thrilled about the move and are surprised to find the manor to have traps in it. After finding a mysterious stone that unlocks a door at the end of a secret passage the children find themselves in Freiyon.

It is in this world of talking animals and sentient trees that they search for the rune stones that will lift their family’s curse. The rune stones, once gathered together also have the ability to grant wishes. The Rochester siblings. use these wishes to aid them in protecting Freiyon from The Grabbers, who are also in search of the rune stones. This is an adventure that will bring their entire family together, but it may also tear some of them apart.

What I liked best was Freiyon still feeling a lot like Narnia. Then there is also the fact that this book is tied very nicely in with the first one. Some of the human characters even made me question if they are in any way related to the unnamed boy at the end of the first book, but that is just speculation on my part. What I did not like is just like the first book the writing felt oversimplified. At times it did seem like maybe this was on purpose with the goal of preventing the book from being too long. If that is the case than the book suffers from it. The ending also felt very confusing and as if it was unnecessary for things to turn out the way the did, but I don’t want to give any major spoilers.

Once again I would suggest that middle school-aged children and some elementary students can visit the would of Freiyon. The violence that made me question how some parent’s of younger children might perceive this series even appeared to be a little less graphic this time around. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 just like the first. Once again the book seems to jump from one major sequence of events to another with only minimal transitioning. Still, the world itself is intriguing if only it was given a better description. The ending of this one also made it lose major points.

Check out the author's page at https://martinvsmicklang.wixsite.com/justinthunt?fbclid=IwAR1R2QUxJuFxRnsvu_jKZ6lq-7bn_gSo205XpHupNOBD2VxRbL4mDT9wMj4
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