The Dark Island

January 1, 2016
Searching for her missing brother on the flying island of Astaroth, Dessa uncovers evidence of a shadowy conspiracy of grand scope. Reaching the island using homemade gliders, Dessa and her nonhuman companions, Topper and Fisk, discover a delightful playground built for four children--all kidnapped from royal families--by a mysterious "Toymaker" whose underground realm turns out to occupy the island's entire core. Meanwhile, back on the mainland, the warrior Capt. Drake captures Dessa's amnesiac brother, Jared, after a merry chase and receives from him hints of treacherous doings involving the sinister royal chamberlain, Greyfalcon. Still on Dessa's trail, Drake gallops on to take ship for Astaroth. As usual, predicaments, rescues, heroic physical feats, and startling revelations pile on in sequences of clear and easily readable panels. But series fans hoping that Drake will finally catch up here with his elusive quarry are in for disappointment, as Chantler, after picking up both storylines right where they left off in the previous outing, moves them only a little before cutting off at the end with a double cliffhanger. Moreover, not only is the continual shifting back and forth likely to be wearing on readers, but the pacing takes on a herky-jerky feel as the author adds filler panels here and crams too much action into some sequences there. At best, about half an episode's worth of plot for this otherwise above-average series. (Graphic fantasy. 10-12)

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Starred review from March 15, 2016
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* Six books into the Three Thieves, Chantler remarkably manages to deepen the effect of his story and hone the precision of his visuals. Continuing directly from Pirates of the Silver Coast (2014), daring Dessa's quest for her lost brother brings her to a gilded cage, a floating island that serves as a prison for royal children. Staunch soldier Drake's hunt for Dessa, meanwhile, brings him to finally confront just where his loyalty lies. Particularly since The King's Dragon (2014), the series has become a showcase for Chantler's virtuosic intertwining of pictures and story. On a large scale, there is the simplicity and fluidity with which he cuts between his two primary tales and other substories for maximum tension and humor. On a smaller scale, there is his use of formal technique to fully exploit his story's power, as in the use of wordless passages to sharpen suspense and splash pages to intensify forceful drama. His action sequences are as rousing and inventive as ever but are deftly heightened by the emotional investment of both character and reader, which he brings to a head with the climax's apparently tragic sacrifice. As skillful an example of visual storytelling as you're likely to find in contemporary American comics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)