Fablehaven: Rise of the Evening Star

Plot introduction

At the end of the school year Kendra finds a kobold has infiltrated her eighth grade class. She can see mystical creatures without drinking a magical milk that is usually needed to enable humans to see such beings. Kendra can see this unseen world and its inhabitants without the milk elixir because the year before some fairies kissed her and gave her the power.To her he is hideously repugnant but to everyone else he seems to be perfectly normal, like every girl's dream. She knows this has problems written all over it. A couple days later, a man, who introduces himself as Errol Fisk, is found standing outside the school door stating that he can get rid of the problem creature. To accomplish this, Kendra's brother, Seth, must retrieve a magical item from a mortuary. The mortuary is age protected from anyone who is 13 and older meaning that Seth, who is 12, is the only one that can enter. When he succeeds in getting the item, it bites him and teeth marks are left in his skin. Later, Errol asks Kendra and Seth to help him retrieve another object that can help save their grandparent's secret preserve for mythical beings, Fablehaven. Kendra is suspicious and so decides to call her Grandpa Sorenson but he fails to respond. After many failed attempts her grandpa finally calls back and tells them not to go with Errol because it could possibly be a trap. Instead he tells them that a ride will be coming to pick them up and not to leave the house until then. Soon, a woman named Vanessa Santoro picks them up in a red sports car. Errol pursues them, but they get away and arrive at the Fablehaven preserve safely in a short two hours.

The Society of the Evening Star, an ancient organization determined to overthrow magical preserves and use them for their own intents and purposes, is determined to infiltrate Fablehaven. Worst yet, the word abroad is that the Society of the Evening Star (SES) is rising in power and working its mischief faster than ever. Preserves all over the world are falling at an alarming rate. Stanley Sorenson, Kendra and Seth's grandad, who is also the Fablehaven caretaker, invites three specialists, approved by the mysterious Sphinx, to aid in the protection of the property: "Tanu" the Potion Master, Coulter a magical relics collector and his old friend,Vanessa who is a mystical creature trapper. In addition to protection, these three specialists have a more perilous assignment— to find an artifact of great power that is hidden on the Fablehaven property. This mysterious artifact is one piece of a key that opens the great demon prison, Zzyzx, home to hundreds of thousands of the worst demons. if Zzyzx opens, the world as they know it would end.

Later, The Sphinx meets with Kendra and Seth to discuss the situation. After giving Kendra an uncharged magical object, he determines her fairykind, and not "very kind." Being fairykind is a completely unusual thing that had not happened for centuries. Then, the Sphinx speaks to Seth and explains that Olloch the Glutton will prove perilous to him as Olloch's only goal is to consume Seth. After being fed by him in the beginning of the book, Olloch will continue to consume creatures until becoming large and strong enough to destroy anything and everything keeping him from Seth.

When Olloch the Glutton pervades the gates of Fablehaven, all evidence points towards the fact that someone inside the preserve is a traitor. Which of the three visitors is it? Figuring out who is essential; if the artifact falls into the wrong hands, it could mean the downfall of other preserves and possibly the world. With their good intent, Kendra and Seth become both a help and a hindrance to their grandfather’s cry to protect Fablehaven.

Coulter awakens Seth and persuaded him to accompany him to an extremely dangerous part of Fablehaven, the place where Dale's brother, Warren, lost his mind. In the morning back at the house, Kendra is distraught about the supposed death of her brother Seth. Grandpa Sorenson finally resolves that Coulter was not acting of his own accord because his plan was so clumsy. That night, Dale is caught up in the Thief's Net which guards an artificial, pretend key. He had awoken to find himself stuck there. Suddenly, all the evidence matches up and the traitor seizes control of the house.

In order to save their family, friends, the Fablehaven preserve and ultimately the world, Kendra and Seth must take huge risks they would never have dreamed of taking had their situation been less perilous. Unfortunately, for them the fate of the whole world rests on their young shoulders!

Reception

Fablehaven reception has mainly been positive along with the other books. Many other authors have said it is the new Harry Potter. It currently holds on barnesandnoble.com, a 5 stars out of 5.