Faerie Wars by Herbie Brennan

ISBN: 0747564671
See also: Herbie Brennan’s blog ; Rosemary for remembrance ; BookLust
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Book one in the Faerie Wars series

Henry got up early on the day that changed his life.

When this arrived in the post I was slightly put off by the cover, the American version is much nicer. The only reason I ordered it in the first place was because it is an upcoming group read. But once I started to read it I was glad I had. The first page had a few clunky sentences but it also had some great writing and the more I read the more I enjoyed the book. The main protagonist is Henry Atherton, whose parents are going through a bad patch, he works for an old man, Mr. Fogarty, who believes in aliens and fairies, and pretty soon he discovers that faeries are in fact real as he has to rescue one from the mouth of a cat. This rescued individual turns out to be Pyrgus Malvae, a prince in the realm of the Purple Emperor who has been sent to the “alternate” reality that is our earth. Cross-overs like this aren’t my favourite type of fantasy, but in this case it works well, and Brennan blends the faerie world and the human world well, he even manages to bring in the demon world and aliens.

It does have a few cliches, and I’ve a feeling that one of the sign-posted baddies that turned out to not be implicated will probably have a bit more of a role in the sequel. And on one or two occasions plot points seemed to pushed in rather than developed. It isn’t the best book I’ve ever read but it is a quick entertaining read that is probably perfect for the intended audience, early teens or maybe a bit younger.

And if you take a look at the website you’ll find out that the names of the faeries are actual butterfly names. Which is a nice idea.