The House of Power

Edgar lives in the desolate Tabletop, a place overshadowed by the mysterious Highlands. No one from Tabletop has ever been to the Highlands until Edgar successfully climbs up and finds a world opposite to his. He soon finds out the two worlds are, catastrophically, merging. Listening to this tale is a fully rounded experience. Carman's novel is engaging, and Jonathan Davis's narration is masterful. His cadence is a delight, and he moves gracefully from the stentorian tones of the rulers of the Highlands to the boyishness of Edgar to the resonant voice of the omniscient narrator. Dramatic points in the story are further enhanced by a sweeping musical score. Finally, bonus material includes illustrations from the book, studio photos, and more. M.R.P. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

March 12, 2007
In this launch title of the Atherton series, as with his The Dark Hills Divide
, Carman creates an isolated world whose very existence relies upon the hero venturing out of bounds. A trio of waterfalls connect the three-tiered world of Atherton, which is comprised of the upper-level Highlands, where the wealthy and powerful reside, the agrarian Tabletop beneath it, and the poverty-stricken Flatlands "at the distant bottom." Eleven-year-old Edgar lives in Tabletop, harvesting figs and scaling the cliff walls. A faint memory directs him to search for something hidden ("It will come for you
," says the voice in his memory)—and he discovers it on the way to the forbidden Highlands. Edgar's discovery is a book, and he must enlist the help of a Highlands servant boy to read it to him (the residents of Tabletop are illiterate); thus the author points out the importance of cooperation. The book, it turns out, was written for Edward and offers up a cautionary tale: Atherton was built as a home for escapees of an Earth-like "Dark Planet," now poisoned and dying. With subtlety, Carman delivers a strong message; he constructs a world in which water is precious above all, and tampering with nature always ends badly. The author occasionally breaks out of the narrative to address readers directly, and these intrusions mar the flow of what is otherwise a fluid and compelling fantasy and mystery. Ages 8-12.

June 1, 2007
Gr 7-10-This first book in the series starts out reading like a pastoral fantasy set on a fig farm where children and adults labor side by side to handle the trees and reap the harvest. The farm is on Tabletop, which is bordered by a rising cliff on one side and a drop-off on the other. Edgar vaguely remembers his deceased father telling him that he had placed something in the cliffs for his son. The boy teaches himself to climb up there even though it is forbidden. When he finds the book his father left him on the cliff face, he knows that he must travel all the way to the Highlands above to have someone read it to him. But the world is getting more treacherous as the ground itself begins to rumble, shift, and change. The book that Edgar has holds the secrets of their entire world and its changing future. Despite the setting, this novel is actually not a fantasy but rather pure science fiction where a manufactured world created by a madman is throwing the inhabitants' lives into turmoil. It is a fast-paced novel with a unique setting, fascinating plot, and cliff-hanger ending. It shines because of the author's imagination and skill. The characterizations of even the secondary figures are skillfully done, which makes the world all the more vivid and believable."Tasha Saecker, Menasha Public Library, WI"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.