Goblins
Clovenstone is a mysterious place full of lost magic and forbidden places. By lost magic I mean sorcerers such as the Lynch Lord once ruled over all Clovenstone. Clovenstone is a castle protected by a wall and in the very middle is a keep, home to the Goblins and what a boisterous lot they are. They are split into towers and are always fighting, looting, eating, and fighting more, that is pretty much all they do.
As bloodthirsty as they are, there are some who are special. Where do they come from? I hear you ask. Well, there is a river of lava running underneath Clovenstone and once a year the horns of the new moon seem to set on the keep.
King Knobler the chief of this one goblin tribe has a sword called Chop-u-up and would order Breslau, the egg-stone keeper (who was born special) to push a wheelbarrow down to the lake where it would spit out lumps of lava which turn into egg stones. Patiently using a long handled shovel and wrapped in wet skins, Breslaw would hobble back and forth along the hot shores collecting the egg stones. Sometime if he squints through the smoke he can see other goblin tribes protecting their eggs.
Skarper is special like Breslaw and he is too clever . Breslau decides to show him the bumwipe heaps – I won’t tell you what this is otherwise it will spoil the book, you will just have to read it to find out. He meets a boy called Henwyn who has got into trouble and likes magic too much. They decide to go into the keep to discover what secrets it hides.
Goblins vs Dwarves
Tap...tap...tap... Dwarves are hard at work underground. They have found out that the Goblins own something powerful and they think all Goblins are bad. Skarper is back in this second book and needs some help, quickly. They need a plan and with no time to waste, they head to the High King himself to ask for the heroes to come down and show who is boss. Lots of characters from the first book are back as well and new people such as, Etty who is a Dwarf but joins the Goblins side.
Goblin Quest
Prince Rhind has a quest, involving magic, elves, and a back scratcher. You could read this book by itself, but it would be better to read the other two first so that it makes more sense and you can really follow the story. The plot is fast and has lots of twists, there are quests and mini-quests. This is a book full of adventure and made me laugh out loud.
I rate all three books five stars, so really this is a 15 star review for Philips Reeve. If you like cheese monsters there aren’t many books for you to choose from, Goblins is pretty much your only choice. The language that the Goblins and Dwarves speak and the funny words that they use takes a little while to get used to, but when you do it is really funny. The characters are very funny too and I particularly liked Skarper and Henwyn, and…. all of them!
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop
