Fablehaven Complete Set (Boxed Set): Fablehaven; Rise of the Evening Star; Grip of the Shadow Plague; Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary; Keys to the Demon Prison

Fable haven is written for young teenagers but that doesn't mean that older readers cannot also enjoy this. This series is brilliantly written. The character development was what got me as I find characterisation and their growth very important. The characters have their flaws to make them believable but like any good fantasy series, the flaws don't serve to dominate the character. What is important is how these characters are different from their peers--therefore making them the recipients of a great adventure. This book is low fantasy with a magical world existing within our own. I find some low fantasy difficult to believe because of how the magic is so ethereally written that in contrast to the solidness of our real world it doesn't take solid shape (and this reflects how the author's imagination can have difficulty taking flight from the solidity of the real world). However, the world of Fablehaven is so well crafted, while reading it, it was as if I was not looking at a page of words but at a screen showing me everything. Furthermore, every character in the story has some importance and that's why a series has come into play. It needed the length for plot and character interaction. Adults in the story actually behaved like proper grown-ups. And that is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading young adult fantasy--the main characters are usually young people and interact with those older than themselves who truly behave like how adults in the real world would behave. A truly good book for everyone. The influences of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings (which are also books this writer has admired and influenced his life) are here but this book is not a spin off of either. But it stays true to the adventure fantasy genre in the best way.

This book set was well worth the price. The binding has withstood three of my five kiddos reading through the series and they have all loved it. I read the first three chapters with my oldest to get him into the book... That was all it took and he took off reading through them... He talked them up to his brother and sister who can now say they've read them as well. Every entertaining for the pre-teen/ young teen age group.

I loved these books! I'm an adult devotee of YA fantasy, so these books were right up my alley and they did not disappoint! These books were really fast paced and exciting - the characters were interesting and endearing, the magical characters and environments were entertaining and tangible, and the plot twists were just twisted enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. What a fun read this series was - I don't think I've enjoyed a YA series this much since the Bartimaeus books. I'm so glad that I purchased the complete series, because I totally binge-read this. If you, like me, were reading Harry Potter as it was published, (or if you're a GoT fan now!) you know how correct Tom Petty was when he sang, "The Waiting is the Hardest Part!" Fear not, brave reader - none of the terrible waiting for years for the next book to come out - if you get into Fablehaven, you have over 2000 pages of epic YA fantasy awaiting your attention. What a fun series. Definitely worth a re-read, if not an Audiobook purchase for a relisten!

My kids and I had a great time reading the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series together. They are currently 10 and 7 (boy and girl), for reference. The Fablehaven series was recommended to me by a friend with kids the same gender and age split, and I'm so pleased that she did! The series is everything we like about the other two iconic series: relatable young characters in harrowing and exciting adventures... mythological and fantastic creatures and worlds... moral dilemmas and a little humor to boot. My two especially love that the main characters, Kendra and Seth, have a very similar relationship to their own (they drive each other crazy at times, and love to poke fun at each other, but in the end are the two truest of companions). Although we are reading the series together, I can honestly say that if I was solo I would plow through it alone, and often want to read on after the kids are in bed! Bravo to Brandon Mull, and check this series out if you like similar reads.

This is such a fun, adventurous, and engaging series! I love it!

Bought this on a whim when i finished a book one night based on a description that was just intriguing enough to get me to "one click" it. Glad I did. Fantasy has been done a 1000 different ways in a 1000 different settings. This one managed to feel new to me, and i quickly found myself reading into the early AM hours. Brandon Mulls writing is straight forward and fast paced. Events unwind at a enjoyable rate with the occasional plot twist. The "just one more chapter" problem plagued me with this book, as there was seldom a place where current events wrapped up without also providing another avenue for investigation. The only downside to this is the ever shrinking amount of time left to sleep before the alarm clock chimes. Still its a GOOD problem. This is a young adult novel, and takes place in the current day real world. Comparisons to Harry Potter are inevitable, in one way they are the same, in that there is a complete vibrant magical society existing in parallel with the real world. Both endeavor to keep their societies secret, but while in HP its done by simply not doing magic where it would be noticed. In Fablehaven, the mechanism i quite different...i want to say it here, but i think you should find out the same way Kendra did. There is one additional difference that i really liked in Fablehaven. In HP there was very little ambiguity on who was good or who was evil. OK, Snape was hard to figure out, but in Fablehaven, the situation is less clear cut, and the characters in general less singular in their behavior. I hear Brandon has another series planned for this setting...i will be reading it as soon as its available.

My 8-year-old son and I began reading this series together in the evenings before bed, one chapter at a time. By the end of book 2, my son was enthralled with the story, and he carried on through to the end of the series on his own. I recently had a chance to catch up in my own time and quite enjoyed the characters and story. While perhaps not my favorite fantasy series I've ever read, I would highly recommend it for anyone who is either looking to break into fantasy or is doing intermediate-level novel reading. They are the first novels my son has read, which has been a nice upgrade for him from the smaller chapter books to something with strong vocabulary choices.

I will never tire of this series. Never tire of Kendra and Seth, never tired of their ridiculous adventures and all of the Fablehaven creatures. This series lives in my heart.