The Tapestry Series Part 1

After I finished the Fablehaven series, I decided to see if I could find another series which was recommended to readers of Fablehaven. I found this page.

Battle for the Harry Potter Throne: Fablehaven vs. Tapestry

I was intrigued, since I had never heard of the Tapestry series, which was written by Henry H. Neff. I rather like trying out series which are not particularly well known, since I have far less chance of getting spoiled.

I was someone who resisted Harry Potter until close to the release of the fourth book. I disliked all the hype. Once I read the books, I loved them, but I found the continued hype to be a bit detrimental to my enjoyment. With each new book release, reporters, who had probably never read Harry Potter, prattled on about possible plot details. I found it all quite obnoxious.

After reading the comments about the Tapestry series, I decided to learn more about it. The Tapestry series will ultimately consist of four volumes, three of which have already been published. The first three books are The Hound of Rowan (2007), The Second Siege (2008), and The Fiend and the Forge (2010).

After carefully checking just a few reviews, which is always a risk due to spoilers, I decided to try the first book in the series. Most all of these fantasy series are said to be inspired by Harry Potter. The first book seems a bit more like Harry Potter than the other series I have read, like Percy Jackson, Nicholas Flamel, and Fablehaven.

Here is a review taken from the Amazon site.

In a hidden alcove within Chicago's Art Institute, Max McDaniels discovers a faded tapestry. As he watches, the tapestry begins to glow; soon after, he receives an invitation to attend a private boarding school in New England. When he arrives at Rowan Academy, where young people with Potential are trained to fight an unnamed enemy, he and the other apprentices are housed in magically morphing rooms and assigned animal charges. Max is paired with the last lymrill in the world, a nocturnal creature with metallic quills. They train on the Course, where they experience different scenarios as they try to achieve a goal and move up levels as they progress. Meanwhile, apprentices and even some full-fledged agents are disappearing all over the world. This novel's sprawling, quirky boarding school has obvious parallels to Hogwarts, but Neff's storytelling boasts charms of its own, and U.S. readers may appreciate that this magical adventure, the first installment in the planned Tapestry series, takes place here rather than abroad. Tixier Herald, Diana

During a good part of this book, I was trying to figure out where the plot was heading and kept skimming ahead a chapter or so to see if I could get a clue. It was not until well into the book that the situation became clear. The series is titled the Tapestry series, not just because of the glowing tapestry, but for another reason. I dislike giving too many details, so I will not elaborate.

I always like to read the critical reviews on Amazon once I have finished a book. The favorable reviews are never very interesting since they gush about the book and how wonderful it is. The more critical reviews bring up the actual flaws that a book has, so those are the ones I read. The critical reviews brought up some really good points concerning the flaws in this book.

While I found some parts of the book not to be particularly interesting, I enjoyed this book enough to want to read the next installment.