The Mask Wearer

January 1, 2011

Chucking in characters, incidents and motifs from various mythologies and folktale traditions, Perro opens his Amos Daragon series—which runs to 12 volumes in the original French—with early exploits of his trickster hero against a brutal but stupid overlord (" 'I'm boiling water for dinner, my good lord. We'll make a soup from stones!' ") and then a sorcerous man-snake (one of a race of shape-changing "humanimals") and his army of gorgons. Along the way, young Amos picks up a man-bear sidekick (onomatopoeically named Beorf), along with the first of four elemental masks and the first of 16 "power stones" that will set him up as a "warrior of equilibrium," charged with maintaining the balance between Good and a newly resurgent Evil. Aside from the tried-and-true borrowed elements, it's all paint-by-numbers, tailor-made for audiences that prefer stock casts and comfortably predictable quests. Occasionally complicated names aside, it's best considered training wheels for fantasy readers. (Fantasy. 10-12)

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April 1, 2011

Gr 4-7-Amos Daragon is a peasant boy living a life of servitude with his mother and father under the watchful eye of Lord Edonf. One day, he wanders off to catch crabs for his family's meal and meets a dying mermaid who entrusts him to help restore the balance between good and evil. Using his knowledge and wit, he outsmarts rulers and monsters across the land to help protect the inhabitants, who are gripped with fear of the terrifying and havoc-wreaking gorgons, a clan of Medusa-like beings. Amos discovers that a dangerous magician named Karmakas is controlling the gorgons and other creatures of darkness, all of whom he sends to kill off humankind. In order to stop them, Amos needs to find and intercept Karmakas. He is determined to help the inhabitants of a torn world, and they give him the honor of mask wearer, humans who are chosen for "their spiritual and intellectual qualities." Armed with the mask, he wields his powers to defeat the sorcerer, but Karmakas's mentor, Seth the Snake God, continues his plan to rid the world of good and allow for evil to take hold. He is aided in his quest by Beorf, one of the few remaining humanimals. Amos's journey of self-discovery and his quick thinking are sure to keep readers turning the pages to discover the truth behind the never-ending chaos.-Kathryn Kennedy, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2011
Grades 4-7 Fast paced, with a litany of new friends and foes introduced in every chapter, this first installment in the Amos Daragon series is a smart choice for die-hard fantasy lovers. Young Amos, a child of peasants in a mythical realm ruled by an evil king, is chosen to fight a mysterious and wicked force by collecting four masks that represent earth, wind, fire, and water and along the way eliminating the malevolent forces corrupting the woods of Tarkasis. In his quest, Amos encounters mermaids and mermen, druids and fairies, and he befriends the humanimal Beorf. The plot is complex, and the fantasy can be heavy-handed at times, but a mythological lexicon appears as an addendum and provides some cultural context regarding many of the creatures who appear in the story. This is ultimately a tale about finding ones own independence, and the climax will leave readers eager for the next installment in the series. Fans of Cornelia Funkes Inkheart trilogy will approve.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)