Unwanteds: Island of Silence

Now that Artime has been exposed to Quill and the Necessaries of Quill see how poorly they are being treated, Quill is a shell of it's former self and Artime is bustling with activity.  But for twins Alex and Aaron, life continues to be complicated.  Aaron, on the Quill side, has lost his position in the High Priests Palace and has even been sent out of university.  Alex, on the Artime side continues to grow as a magician, which leads Mr. Today to name him his heir, a title that Alex is not ready for.  Minor skirmishes abound as the Quilleans try to force their Necessaries back to Quill, but Aaron has a more exciting plan in mind.  He starts to gain the trust of other Wanteds and begins to build an army, all while Mr. Today looks to take a little vacation and leave Alex in charge.  Finally, a battle takes place that catches both sides by surprise and leaves the reader wanting for the final book.

I loved the first book in this series simply titled The Unwanteds.  The new residents to Artime spent their time learning spells and marveling that such a place existed.  Now in volume two, the novelty has worn off, and it seemed like this book was much more focused on keeping the peace between the two lands than forging new ground.  I can't say that I was able to maintain my interest in this book, despite the easy reading level.  I just could not bring myself to care.

So, when the action finally did pick up, when magicians become castaways on a silent island, when Simber falls out of the sky, when Mr. Today pulls a Dumbledore, I kept reading, but my heart wasn't in it.  The magic and simplicity of the first novel was not here.  This seemed too forced and deliberate to be much fun, and quite frankly, I think that I am done with this series.  It slumped a little too much for me to forgive.

All that said, it's still a magical adventure book, but I think that those books might be on the decline now.  If your library has the first, stick with it and there will be some readers for it, but this isn't the next Harry Potter.

Happy Reading!