#urchin of the riding stars

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

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[vio-starclad]

Books read so far this year

[lilrobotman]

re-listening to an audiobook I’ve had since I was a child, Urchin of the Riding Stars. The nostalgia is powerful and I’m having fun but....

spoilers for a 10+ year old book

....it’s so fucking obvious Husk is the murderer. LOL that’s not a detriment to the book, it is for children. But hearing this as an adult like.... he LITERALLY forced everyone to draw lots when every other character was like “hey dude, drawing lots is kinda stupid and not a good idea.” I haven’t finished the book yet and I don’t quite remember how the story ends. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Husk had a leaf of Crispin’s claw mark on it under his sleeve or something. Like he very clearly replanned shit on the spot once Crispin mentioned that he checked in on the royals bc then it became ammunition.

Anyways, I’m having fun

[wildivypsychic]

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

Cool questions!

1: when playing, does the duo re-act stuff from movies? Like anakin vs obi wan or when Shrek is escaping from the dragon?

2: what’s one thing that one does shocks the other? Like Chris disliking bananas on pancakes? (Read that from an earlier post of yours)

3: for the superfamily, what’s one story you would write for them?

4: what’s one story you would write for Chris for his own book?

5: same as Jake?

Phew! Took me a good while but I finally was able to get to answering this one @pin-crusher2000 . Thanks for the ask

1) Oh most definitely Chris and Jake would reenact so many Star Wars duels, especially Obi Wan vs Anakin as they can float around which make doing those fancy acrobatics all the easier. Bonus points if they utilize those cardboard tubes and paint them to their lightsaber colors and Jake using his speaker’s speakers to play the music in the background

Otherwise, they certainly would also do the Dragon Escape but most tellingly if Meredith was watching them, reenact kaiju battles

2) Oh, Jake putting Milk Before Cereal which horrifies not just Chris but also Mar’i and Dick

Also, Chris not minding the dumb fun of the Bayformers films as much as Jake does

3) I think I can have Clark, Lois, Kara, Conner, Chris and Jon get blasted across space and time, across multiple time periods, alternate histories or possible futures of Metropolis during a big battle against the Time Trapper. For example, Lois winds up in Metropolis in 1889 during the height of the Gilded Age, her mini adventure being to expose a corrupt all powerful banker while Conner is sent into a Metropolis that’s controlled by Germany in a scenario should they had won the Second World War. The finale for the arc would see the Superman Family reunite at the End of Time itself coming face to face with the Trapper, but it won’t be just the family as many of their new friends they met all across their little adventures assemble to help as well.

4) Less of an entire story and more a one to two issue arc involving Nightwing Phantom taking on a cosmic being in a game of wits and intelligence rather than fisticuffs, all for the sake of saving reality itself. Think this being akin to say A 4th Dimension Imp like Mr Mxyzptlk or more overtly the Celestial Toymaker from Doctor Who. The real meat though is whatever thoughts and emotions are transpiring inside of Chris’ mind space as I place this after he has his reaffirmation from Dad Clark of him belonging to Earth in light of Zod’s invasion. He thinks about this planet he’s trying to truly accept as his home in spite of his origins and how much he must defend it from this entity while also trying to reaffirm himself that he belongs with his real family the Kents despite Zod’s words permeating his thinking space.

5) Here, I take some inspiration from the Batman TAS episode “The Underdwellers” in which like in that episode, Jake would be investigating some recent pickpocketing going on across the Bludhaven streets, all of them being committed by street urchins and runaways, a lot of them around his age range doing such under the tyrannical rule of a supposed caretaker who treats them rather horribly. After running into one of the urchins and rescuing them from an incoming subway train, Jake and the kid become friendly with each other to where the kid can lead our hero to the whereabouts of his comrades. Coming along for the ride is one of Jake’s rouges, long time best frenemy Cody Cunningham aka Lion Master, who also had caught wind of the pickpocketing so he comes along with Skybird in this investigation, forming something of an alliance between them. This proves handy as like the Sewer King in “The Underdwellers”, the villain has vicious sewer gators that serve him which Cody’s lions are able to fend off while Skybird persues and eventually captures the villain. With that, the orphans are finally freed from his reign, taken in by the Services and able to see the light outside once again. Throughout this story, we not only can get glimpses into Jake’s head as this in a way is deja vu with his history of failing to save street orphans from a supervillain once before but also once Lion Master enters the picture, the two can have talks about each other’s deal and how Lion Master in many ways just wants a place to call a home after surviving in the streets for so long and his sympathies for Jake’s situation in light of this case.

As the two were successful working together and Cody realizes he feels much better doing some actual good rather than remaining a small time thief with a gimmick, he finally takes up Jake’s offer to renounce his old life as a rouge, first turning himself in to the authorities and spending some time in Juvie to make up for his robberies (his lions we’re thankfully tamed enough for the authorities to keep in that meantime) then once he gets out of his sentence for good behavior, moves into the Grayson Apartment complex with a place of his own. A new fresh start for him, especially when his new landlord, Dick Grayson, drops by and hearing of his skills as a lion tamer offers him and his feline companions a job at Haly Circus.

[worldofpotsandpans]

tagged by @c0wboyjunkie to spell my url out in song titles!!

what i'm trying to say- stars

o leaozinho- caetano veloso

rolling moon- the chills

little hammer- pale saints

don't look back in anger- oasis

oh yeah- ash

fait accompli- curve

pristine christine- the sea urchins

option 8- horsegirl

the heart of my stupefaction- wimp factor 14

sistine chapel ceiling- adorable

a teenager in love- the pains of being pure at heart

nobody like you- echobelly

delilah sands- the brilliant corners

polar bear- the charlatans (or i guess also ride)

a summer wasting- belle and sebastian

nurse!- bar italia

secretly minnesotan- tullycraft

tagging anyone who would like to do this!

[trippygalaxy]

Ya know that one song but kate bush, army dreamers right?

(Small thing that came to my mind, did this a while ago but wanna share but probably delete later)

The main chorus goes

“What could he do? Should of been a rockstar but he didn’t have the money for a gituar”

“What could he do? Should of been a politician. But he never had a proper education.”

“What could he do? Should of been a father. But he never even made it to his twenties”

Well, i was thinking and doing some angsting thoughts about my aog boys, and just—

What could Legacy do? Should of been a rock star. But he didnt have the money for a guitar. Too busy rushing to the army in hopes of getting enough money to support his sick sister, his father’s guitar far gone and sold off to get food on the table. A dream he never reaches for again, his blood soaked hands too slippery to puck the rough strings of a instrument.

What could Urchin do? Should of been a politician, but he never got a proper education. A boy sailing the seas, riding over a drowned kingdom but being the one who was the closest to bring it back. No, he would never drain the great sea, or rebuild the castle of hyrule, but he was the closest anyone had been to reuniting the people under one cause. He had been the closest thing those people had to a king, not because of his blood or power, but because of his empathy and ability to touch their hearts and bring them together.

What could Shifter do? Should of been a father. But he never mentally made it to his twenties, and by the time he did he was too deep in his in the grave to pull himself out. A father never knowing his children walked the earth he slept under, not until he saw a boy bearing the mark he once did, bearing the burden he once did, bearing the smile his grandmother used to have.

[healerqueen]

50 Favorite Children’s Books

Inspired by Studio Ghibli director Hayao Miyazaki’s list of his earliest literary influences. This list is limited to books I read in childhood or youth. 50 Childhood Favorites

Caddie Woodlawn and sequel by Carol Ryrie Brink

Winter Cottage by Carol Ryrie Brink

The Saturdays, The Four-Story Mistake, and sequels by Elizabeth Enright

Enemy Brothers by Constance Savery

The Reb and the Redcoats by Constance Savery

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham

Derwood, Inc. by Jeri Massi

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Heidi by Joanna Spyri

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

The Wheel on the School by Meindert De Jong

All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Family Grandstand by Carol Ryrie Brink

Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink

Cheaper By the Dozen and sequel by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey

Rebecca’s War by Ann Finlayson

The Lost Baron by Allen French

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

The Winged Watchman by Hilda Van Stockum

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

By the Great Horn Spoon by Sid Fleischman

Captive Treasure by Milly Howard

Toliver’s Secret by Esther Wood Brady

Silver for General Washington by Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft

Emil’s Pranks by Astrid Lindgren

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien

Hitty: Her First Hundred Years by Rachel Field

Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

Freddy the Detective and Freddy the Pig series by Walter R. Brooks

The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Robert Lawson

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

The Wombles by Elisabeth Beresford

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi by Cindy Neuschwander and Wayne Geehan

Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George

The Bridge and Crown and Jewel by Jeri Massi

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

The Gammage Cup by Carol Kendall

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Young Adult:

The Eagle of the Ninth and other books by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Ranger’s Apprentice by John Flanagan

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Buffalo Brenda by Jill Pinkwater

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret (a nonfiction memoir)

Picture Books:

Make Way for Ducklings and other books by Robert McCloskey

Go, Dog, Go by P.D. Eastman

Sam and the Firefly by P.D. Eastman

Robert the Rose Horse by Joan Heilbroner

Ice-Cream Larry by Daniel Pinkwater

Mr. Putter and Tabby by Cynthia Rylant

Discovered as an Adult: Seesaw Girl by Linda Sue Park

The Ordinary Princess by M.M. Kaye

The Armourer’s House by Rosemary Sutcliff

Urchin of the Riding Stars and the Mistmantle Chronicles by M.I. McAllister

Princess Academy by Shannon Hale

Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

Escape to West Berlin by Maurine F. Dahlberg

Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan

The Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan

Courage in Her Hands by Iris Noble

Knight’s Fee by Rosemary Sutcliff

Victory at Valmy (Thunder of Valmy) by Geoffrey Trease

Word to Caesar (Message to Hadrian) by Geoffrey Trease

The Letter for the King by Tonke Dragt

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Reluctant Godfather by Allison Tebo

Seventh City by Emily Hayse

Escape to Vindor by Emily Golus

Valiant by Sarah McGuire

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart

[justsleepyrune]

@fallenlondonficswap @thedeafprophet 

In which a frog is chased, a little girl gets lost, and a new friend is made. I did my best to write Alex!! For the group swap!

General rating | Éadaoin Blank, Alex Hastings, Arlen Blank | 1645 words

The Neathy stars were glittering, the streets bustling in the afternoon’s buzz of activity and delight. One star seemed to be winking especially brightly, as if it were winking to the little girl who eagerly navigated the streets, Baba’s gloved hand held tightly in her grubby fingers. 

Éadaoin had tried to catch a cat, stumbling after it with waving arms, an eager coo in her voice. Thankfully her father had swept her up once she’d tripped on the pavement, calming her before any startled tears could begin to form. Now she was happily back to her adventure, freed from his grasp once more.

She was wearing her fancy hat today. It was purple. One of the best colors. It was almost as good as yellow, which was the best color in the world, even if Baba liked purple more.

A passerby’s hat, fuzzy brown fur, caught her eye and she waved. It shifted, revealing a cat, one that settled back onto its ride and yawned. She gasped, waving brightly, wriggling out of Baba’s hold in order to follow the cat a bit. He carefully pulled her back and she stuck out her tongue in exasperation. 

He tapped her head three times, a reminder to stay close. She nodded, leaning far to the left, pulling on his arm as they walked. A lady up ahead had pretty blue shoes. She wondered whether they were fun to walk in. 

She had really pretty shoes too, but they weren’t blue. They were yellow, so they were the best, and they were boots. So maybe blue was more fun to walk in, even if it wasn’t as good. 

Suddenly, they stopped. Baba tapped her head once, a signal to pay attention. She nodded when he signed to stay beside him, making a face at the redheaded woman who had stopped him. She could tell he didn’t like her, his posture stiff and his face all frowns, so she didn’t like her much either. Baba always had good judgment when it came to people. 

She stood still for a moment, before a flash of color caught her attention. A frog was peaceably sitting underneath a lamppost, staring off into the distance, its yellow and blue skin a flag of interest among the muted shades of the crowd. She knocked her head against Baba’s knee to get his attention, but he didn’t look down. Too busy talking. She huffed. She’d just have to bring it to him. She waited for a break in the crowd and hurried forward, eyes on her new friend.

To her dismay, Éadaoin found that the crowds swept forward, catching her in them. A man with a chittering weasel in his arms bumped her to the left, causing her to crash into an urchin, who grimaced at her and made a strange face, before yanking her back by the neck of her jacket, right out of the path of another cab. She stumbled, reaching out to grab onto their arm for stability, but they’d already bolted.

Tears began to threaten. She looked back to find Baba, eyes widening when he wasn’t there. The crowd surged. Everyone was too tall. Too loud, all screams and jumbled noises. Her head hurt. She shook her head over and over, hoping to make some of the sound go away, but she ended up just dizzy. 

Hoping to find Baba again, she hurried away from the crowds. She tried to find quieter places, enough to let herself think. Back and forth she was pulled, having to duck away from mean people’s feet, from loud voices and the quick footed urchins who darted through the crowds. Finally, she escaped the masses. She took three deep breaths, just like Baba always did, and looked around. She would need to find someone trustworthy to help her.

There. A man sat on one of the benches, stuffing a mask into a bag. He took a hat out, putting it atop his brown curls.

Personally, Éadaoin thought the mask was better. But Suzy had told her that they didn’t judge outfits out loud, since people got all fussy and mad. Baba always judged people’s clothes. 

She walked towards the man, stomping with her yellow boots. She would need to get his attention. She marched up, not waiting for him to notice her, before headbutting his knee. 

That typically got people’s attention.

He yelped, jerking his legs away from her. “Oh! Hi!” The startled expression was replaced with a smile. 

She stared at him, wiping her nose. “Your clothes ‘re borin’,” she sniffed, carefully signing along with her words. “You should wear yellow.”

He opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, and then stopped. She nodded.

“I like your mas’.” She didn’t know how to sign mask. She mumbled for a moment, sounding out the word, before fingerspelling it. The man was still watching her, not saying a word. “Your hat is bad though,” she helpfully told him.

“Oh.”

“Yeah. It’d be better if it was yellow. Or purple. Like my hat.”

“Would it?”

“Yeah. My hat’s better.”

“I understand.” He didn’t seem like he understood, but that was okay. People took some time to get things sometimes. 

She rubbed her nose again, wiping it on her sleeve. “My name’s Éadaoin.”

“Uh. Alex. I’m Alex. Do you have parents around?” His head turned back and forth as he looked around. 

“Baba. I lost ‘im though.” She paused. She wouldn’t seem very responsible if she’d just walked away, but she needed help to find Baba again. “He walked off an’ now I can’t find him.”

“He walked off?” Alex seemed worried now. He made a funny face. 

“Yeah.” She nodded sagely. “To fin’ a frog.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Wanted to show me, ‘cause I like frogs. But he lost me instead.”

Alex paused. “Oh, okay.” 

“Do you like my hat?”

“Yes. Your hat is fantastic.”

“That’s a long word. Can you help me find Baba?” She sighed dramatically. “He gets scared without me ‘round.”

He nodded, standing and offering her a hand. “Yes, um, we can do that.” She took his hand, making sure to squeeze his fingers so he knew where she was. Sometimes Baba forgot. “So you like frogs?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice. I know someone else who likes frogs a lot too. Do you have a favorite frog?”

“Nope. I just like ‘em.”

“Well, that’s nice too. Do you have any other things you like?” She didn’t think either of them knew where they were going. He seemed content to be walking around in circles, looking around occasionally. Maybe he just wasn’t good with directions.

“Yellow. It’s the best color.”

“Is it? I didn’t know that.”

“Do you wanna be my friend?” she looked up at him, sticking her tongue out at him when she smiled.

He smiled back. It was a nice smile. “I would love to be your friend.”

“Good. You can be my friend, but you gotta wear yellow, because I’m only friends with people who wear yellow. An’ people who are three. But you’re old.”

“I’m old?”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re so tall. Maybe try shrinking, I guess.”

Alex paused, before nodding. “I’ll take that into consideration.” She wasn’t completely sure what that meant, but she nodded, because she was pretty smart. 

“Excuse me.” Baba’s voice came from behind them. It wasn’t one of his nice voices, or his shop voice. It was his angry voice, the one that he used whenever the blonde woman with the yellow eyes came around. 

“Hi, baba!” she waved. “This is Alex. He’s my new bes’ friend an’ he’s gonna wear yellow now.”

Alex waved. “I was trying to help her find you. She seems to have gotten a little lost? She said that you walked off and I wasn’t sure,” he trailed off, shrugging.

Baba looked down at her, carefully watching her as he signed his disapproval. She huffed, explaining about the frog, tiny fingers making quick motions. Alex stood to the side, looking around again, like he wasn’t sure what to do. 

Finally Baba looked back up to him, sighing. “Arlen Blank. This is my daughter, Éadaoin. I lost her in the crowd, thank you for finding her.”

“Of course. She’s a sweet kid. She just came up to me, I was on the bench over there. Waiting for my partner. Oh! I’m Alex. Alex Hastings. Nice to meet you.”

“Hm.” Baba looked him over. “Your shirt needs hemming.”

“Oh. Uh, thanks? It’s fine.”

“Of course.” Baba tilted his head, watching him for a moment, before shrugging. “Well, have a nice day. We’ll be going.”

Éadaoin grinned, taking off her best purple hat and offering it to him. “Here!” She grinned. “‘Cause you’re my friend now. An’ now you have a better hat! Yours is bad.”

Alex’s eyebrows raised as he crouched down to meet her eyes. “Well, thank you. I don’t want to take your,” he paused, looking at Baba, before nodding, “alright, thank you for the hat.” He took it from her, carefully balancing it on top of his other hat. 

“That’s not how you wear it,” she told him, because she was helpful. “You gotta take the other one off.”

“Perhaps Mr. Hastings is simply not the best at wearing hats. I’m sure he’ll learn,” Baba said, quickly taking her hand. “We’ll need to be going now. Interesting to meet you, sir.”

“Bye-bye!” Éadaoin waved, trying to keep her eyes on him as they walked away. He waved back, tipping his new purple hat, with a bright smile. 

The Neath’s stars glittered brightly. One had even shifted position. Even though Baba was lecturing, Éadaoin was utterly content. She had her father back, a brand new adventure to tell Suzy all about, and she’d even made a new friend. Plus, she’d given the best fashion advice ever, just like Baba would.

[clowngirl9]

When I was a teenager my marine biology class took a field trip to the aquarium. It was raining and we were up early at school on a Saturday to ride the school bus. I sat next to my classmate on the window seat and listened to my favorite songs while looking out. We saw the fish, identified species, and filled out a worksheet. Afterwards we went to a nearby beach to see the marine life on the low tide. We rolled up our jeans and took off our shoes and walked barefoot on the rocks to find sea urchins and shellfish. The sea urchins hugged our fingers with their spines when we touched them. It was lightly raining. We rode back home on the school bus all wet. Afterward I went home and baked small star shaped cookies for my family. I edited the pictures I took of the jellyfish and sent then to my classmates. I'll never get that feeling back again.

[angrenwen]

Mistmantle Chronicles

Urchin of the Riding Stars

[danse--macabre]

thinking about how ch'lakhou was supposed to go up to the stars and conquer and then be taken by the beast that is the dark urge and slaughter their kin and ride back to faerun bloody and victorious on a dragon

and instead they got chucked out of the crèche so we have an urchin raised by a priest in the grimiest area of baldur's gate, who has religious issues and whose main life achievements include 'ran a number of pickpocketing, swindling, and scamming schemes that culminated in being in charge of a small gang as a teenager' and 'ran off and became a very penitent monk for five years'.

and it puts all that nonsense about royalty, birthright, thrones etc. that Sceleritas is always going on about into perspective. This is not some grand lost princeling up in the stars; this is a rotten little thief from Brampton, Lower City, who has been destitute and starving more than once in their life. And they move from that 'dizzying height' to rule over just a rotten little hole of blood and entrails in the sewers. The fucking king of rats.

I don't even know if they can see how small it all looks from the outside.

[sateiiimes]

Urchin of the Riding Stars // Captain Husk of Mistmantle

[ayessanoleal]

Beauty of Books

Have you ever felt like you've stepped into another world? In a world that is so far from reality? Have you ever felt a momentary escape from reality? Have you ever felt like smiling and soon noticed that your tears were starting to fall? Because I, I have felt it. With books, I have felt all of it.

In a world full of pain, cruelty, and negativity, books are my quick escape.

Books. Upon hearing this word, the first thing that comes to mind is peace. Since childhood, I have been fond of story books. As a kid, being able to see the creative illustrations on each page makes me happy. Even though I can't read yet, I'm already collecting storybooks. And when the time came that I learned to read, I didn't stop reading the story books I had. I even remember re-reading them because I had a hard time understanding what the book was about. Some of my favorite books are Aladdin, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, and Pinocchio. But among my books, Aladdin was my favorite back then. Why? Because the story is about a princess who fell in love with a street urchin. And upon remembering, I've realized that ever since I was a kid, I loved to read stories where the main characters fell in love with each other and lived happily ever after.

Fast forward, the COVID-19 pandemic happened, and in that era I became more fond of books. That is when I discovered Wattpad. Wattpad is an online literature platform where millions of books are published. Because of Wattpad, I was able to read different kinds of stories and meet different characters. In fact, I can finish a book in just one day. I read a lot, and I read hard. Now, my favorite books are "Her" by Pierre Alex Jeanty and "Our Yesterday’s Escape" by Gwydion Saludes.

But what's in books? Why am I so interested in them?

Books present me facts. Books provide me life lessons. Books are filled with experiences and emotions. Books bring me peace.

Reading is like riding a roller coaster. Upon opening a page, you will start feeling all kinds of emotions. You will be happy, sad, frustrated, angry, surprised, flattered, and you will also cry. And that’s the reason why I say that reading is magical. Every time I read, I am given the chance to meet different kinds of people. When I read, I feel like I am experiencing things that I could never experience in real life. When I read, I feel like I am a different person and am living a life far from reality. Every time I read, I dream, and the feeling of dreaming is beautiful and fantastic.

Reading is also like treasure hunting. Upon starting the game, it’s hard to back out knowing what awaits you in the end. Just like when reading. It’s hard to stop the book you are reading, especially if what awaits you is a life lesson you can carry with you forever. In treasure hunting, we search for treasures like gold, and in reading, we are looking for a treasure too. Treasure in the form of letters and words, facts, and knowledge.

Now, aren’t books fascinating? Aren’t they magical? Aren’t they beautiful? Well, they are.

Like birds during sunset, like dolphins in the sea, like every ray of sunlight, like stars in the night sky, and like the brightness of the moon, books are fascinating, magical, and beautiful too.

[youngestrunningleek]

Urchin of the Riding Stars

This is gonna be a long one, because I liked this book!

Content warning: this review will discuss culling “unwanted” parts of the population, and vomit.

Urchin of the Riding Stars is the first book in the Mistmantle Chronicles. It was written by M. I. McAllister and illustrated by Omar Rayyan, and published in 2005.

The book is about the island of Mistmantle, which has a castle and magical mists around it. The protagonist is a squirrel named Urchin. That’s a little confusing since urchin is also a term for hedgehogs, and this is a world with hedgehogs, red squirrels, otters and moles… but that’s his name.

He is an orphan with a prophecy around his birth. He’s also different because he’s honey-colored instead of red, except at his ear- and tail-tips. Yeah, it’s one of those books. It’s not challenging writing, since it’s meant for children, and personally that was just what I needed when I read this.

“Fantasy with small woodland creatures” is a relatively small genre, but this book is one of the best examples of it that I’ve read. This is the first book I’ve reviewed that is truly in that niche, so it’s a great opportunity to talk about the genre as a whole.

One thing that I think is notable is the violence. My opinion is that having little critters, instead of humans, lets you get away with more in a children’s book. The prologue is about a mother in labor, and she’s dead by the second page. Shortly after that, we hear about culling “undesirable” babies. And then we see the body of the prince, a baby hedgehog, after he’s been stabbed. That’s all within the first three chapters.

Some notes on their level of anthropomorphism:

Clothes are optional. They wear them for special occasions, or for warmth.

They might be human-sized? There’s an important detail about marking leaves with claws, like a signature. That implies the leaves are hand-sized. And, the book cover has a sea urchin next to Urchin, and it’s sized like it would be next to a human.

They have priests, monarchy, and marriage. Fantasy often has those elements and you take it as a given, but when there are no humans it does feel a little more odd.

I’m not certain if they live human lifespans, or if they age like their actual species, but it seems like human aging.

Generally, their species matters a lot. Squirrels easily leap, otters swim, moles are short-sighted. At points they use smell to see who has been in a place, and characters walk on all fours. They use claws or teeth like knives.

Overall, I’m a huge fan of this. I like that they aren’t just humans with flavor text. Using claw marks like a fingerprint is pretty unique.

They also drink alcohol. There’s a great deal of giving the king wine so he’ll be drunk and look bad, and then other characters try to give him spring water instead… You can also tell that McAllister loves the word “cordial”. They talk so much about cordials.

I mention that because squirrels probably wouldn’t drink alcohol in real life. Rodent’s can’t vomit, so mice and rats don’t drink alcohol.

People aren’t trying to poison squirrels in the same way, but I’m pretty sure in real life squirrels would not drink alcohol. I do know other animals drink alcohol. I’m less sure about otters, moles, and hedgehogs. Two minutes of internet searching didn’t find anything other than a few cool pictures of Sonic.

They imply a kind of racial hierarchy. That’s pretty common in fantasy, and it’s obviously a whole conversation.

What I found interesting was that it seems to have changed, over the years. At the time of the story, the king is a hedgehog, and squirrels could be considered as second in power. The usurper is a squirrel who wants to be in control. Then, broadly, are otters, and then moles. But in the past, there was a legendary Old Palace made by moles. And even before that, a squirrel was king. There’s also an assassin mole in the modern day who thinks a mole should be king, instead of a squirrel. I really like that the history is bumpy, in a way. It’s not as simple as “hedgehogs always get to be king”. We have a little bit from different species saying “we’re the best”.

Another thing I appreciate is that the person/nonperson distinction is relatively clear. You definitely run into that problem, with books like this, but it’s pretty distinct in Mistmantle.

They kill and eat fish, as well as worms and beetles. Those are clearly not people, and they’re not closely related. It’s not like there are fish-people at the same time as we’re eating fish, or even squirrel-people while we eat rabbit meat.

I’m also tremendously appreciative of what species populate Mistmantle. It would really eat away at me if we had, say, otters, weasels, badgers and hedgehogs (three mustelids and then a whole different family). Or mice, rats, squirrels and moles (three rodents and then the family Talpidae). When it comes to evolutionary closeness, squirrels, otters, hedgehogs and moles feel like they’re on the same level of closeness. It’s just something that really satisfies my brain.

There is some gray area with birds— another island is ruled by swans, who talk. But on Mistmantle they mention birdsong, which makes it sound like birds are just another animal. They never employ the songbirds as spies, or anything. But they also don’t eat bird meat or farm chickens for eggs, so it’s not terribly jarring.

I was pleasantly surprised by the number of female characters. I found myself expecting someone to be “he” and then catching my assumption when the book said “she”. The cast has so many gender-neutral names, like Apple, Needle, Crackle, Spindle, Tumble, and other things that don’t end in -le.

I wouldn’t mind fewer characters, though. Or a list of who’s who.

There’s one case of fridging, IMO. The captain Crispin meets another squirrel while banished, who helps him get through it. But she dies tragically before he returns to Mistmantle. She doesn’t really exist independent of him.

I will say, there’s a bit less sword fighting than I was expecting, and more court intrigue. The middle bit of the book gets a little slow because of the machinations and back-and-forth, but I guess that’s to be expected when it’s Macbeth.

Yes, this book is heavily drawing from Macbeth. We have a traitorous murdering couple who aspire to the throne. The bad guy is supremely confident because he thinks the one thing that could stop him is impossible. He is extremely sleep-deprived because he has nightmares about the murder he’s done.

It makes me really happy to think of all the kids who grew up, read Macbeth in English class, and thought “hey wait a second, this is just like that squirrel book!”

Another small note- squirrels do a lot of eavesdropping and rumor-spreading in this story. Intentionally or not, it’s reminiscent of Ratatoskr! That’s the squirrel from Norse mythology who runs up and down the World Tree sending insults from the bird at the top to the dragon at the bottom.

There’s kind of a lot of baby-culling content. I personally wouldn’t have included so much in a book for young people but, hey, whatever works, I guess?

I would say it’s broadly a good depiction. The good guys want to save the babies even though the bad guy wants to kill them for being “too weak”. The language they use is derogatory, but I can sign off on the overall premise of hiding away the children so they can survive. That’s good.

I really like that Urchin is good with children. That’s a very endearing trait, especially from an orphan who was raised by a community. I don’t know if a young reader would feel the same way, but I liked that he was nurturing in that way.

This book also made me think about connection with nonhuman protagonists. Sometimes people think that a nonhuman protagonist is hard to relate to. But, you’re telling me we meet the hero as a baby squirrel shivering in the cold? You’re telling me we gotta defend a baby hedgehog? Of COURSE I’m attached to that character! Obviously I’m rooting for him!

Some other fun worldbuilding things:

I already mentioned the leaves-as-signatures. There are also capital-T Threadings, which I’m curious about for the future books. They seem like just tapestries that tell a story, but it’s capitalized. So they have to be important!

One of the coolest things is that “falling stars” is not metaphorical. Urchin is “of the falling stars” because he was born on a night when the stars leave their orbits. That’s freakin’ sick!

Also, the illustrations are well done. They’re simple and small, at the head of each chapter, but they get the job done. Good job, Omar Rayyan!

One final note about rats, since rats are my faves: the only mention of them is when the swans call squirrels tree-rats. So, that’s treated as a derogatory thing.

Overall, I am pleased as punch with this book. I was approaching it thinking “oh well, it’s in my genre so I might as well read it”. Maybe it’s just that I needed a light read, but oh boy, I really loved it. I would 100% recommend it as an example of little critter fantasy. I’m going to read the next book in the series right away.

My personal rating: 4

Overall rating: 4