#Rejex review cracker#

That's a brave move to start with, bringing in a whole bunch of characters for a sequel - the only other stories that do that are usually straight-to-DVD sequels for popular slasher films and they're not renowned for being all that great - but here it works beautifully. For starters, apart from a couple of cameos, nearly all the characters in this story are brand new. This second volume rather caught me by surprise. So at the start of the story, a small group of children, 'aberrants' as they are known, on which the book does not work, are rounded up and taken to a weekend camp where every last effort will be made to convert them over. When we begin this second volume, Freax and Rejex,the book has taken over nearly all of Britain, except for a handful of people. (Which is kind of a cross between an Alice in Wonderland playing card world and a dark Disney fairytale world.) Meanwhile, they just regard the real world as a sort of dream state that they have to endure before being able to escape back into the fantasy. Almost - and that's an important word 'almost' - anyone who reads or hears the book gets sucked into the slightly twee, technicolour world of Mooncaster, where they find themselves as one of the characters in the fantasy world. In the first book in this trilogy, an evil book called Dancing Jacks written by an early 20th century occultist, Austerly Fellows, is discovered and starts to pass around the small coastal town of Felixstowe. So as a result, while his earlier books would have been suitable for about age 10 and up, these ones are definitely for more mature readers. So Jarvis has responded by taking it to a whole other level in his latest trilogy, Dancing Jax. and Hogwarts and Stephanie and Twilight and all of a sudden, darkness became mainstream. In the early 90s, in comparison with much other YA fiction that was out there, his stuff was pretty dark. but have been catching up on his latest stuff. Easily the most gripping novel that I've read this year.įor those who came in late, Robin Jarvis was my favourite childhood author, but due to the passage of time, it's been one of those things where I've missed a few of his middle period books when I was off at uni/starting work, etc.

#Rejex review cracker#

In the early 9 Probably one of the last books that I'll finish for the year, but certainly a cracker of a way to end the fiction-reading year. For those who came in late, Robin Jarvis was my favourite childhood author, but due to the passage of time, it's been one of those things where I've missed a few of his middle period books when I was off at uni/starting work, etc. Easily the most gripping novel that I've read this year. Probably one of the last books that I'll finish for the year, but certainly a cracker of a way to end the fiction-reading year. And it soon becomes apparent that the place is not a camp and the children are not guests. A barbed wire fence is put up around the site. But after the holiday is over, the children are told their stay has been extended. With the critical eyes of the rest of the world turned towards Britain, the Ismus decides to send the children for an intensive holiday camp, where they will study the sacred text and learn to embrace it. The number of unaffected children between the ages of 7 and 15 is only 49. Yet a tiny percentage of the population have proven to be immune to the words of Austerly Fellows. The entire country is now under its evil spell. It is on its ninth reprint and tens of millions of copies have been sold in the UK. Yet a tiny percentage of the po The second novel in the extraordinary, ground-breaking, genre-busting new trilogy from master of fantasy Robin Jarvis Five months have passed since the publication of the devilish book discovered in Dancing Jax. The second novel in the extraordinary, ground-breaking, genre-busting new trilogy from master of fantasy Robin Jarvis Five months have passed since the publication of the devilish book discovered in Dancing Jax.