SarahJanet's Books

Peter and the Shadow Thieves

by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

I read the first book in this series, Peter and the Starcatchers, rather warily. It was a YRCA book this year, so I had to read it, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. They are prequels to Peter Pan, and while they don’t quite live up to the original, they’re pretty compelling stories on their own.

While Peter and the Starcatchers was the story of how Peter became the Peter Pan we all know, this is a sequel to the prequel and doesn’t set up quite as much of the original. Although I suspect that Peter’s detached shadow is somehow a result of one of the Shadow Thieves. Lord Ombra, one of said shadow thieves, is an appropriately creepy bad guy, and although his constant groaning got a little tedious, overall it was a good story. It probably could have been a little shorter, though. Nobody seems to want to edit anything anymore. I like a good fat book as much as the next person – I’m a fast reader and I hate skimpy stories that leave me wanting more – but this was a bit excessive.

posted by SarahJanet @ 1:37 PM