Gargantis

Review by Booklist Review

In this sequel to Malamander (2019), young (supposed) orphan Herbert Lemon is tasked with saving his town of Eerie-On-Sea and another terrifying but vulnerable sea monster. Being in charge of the Lost and Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, Herbert is used to receiving the odd "false nostril or bloodstained candlestick." But the arrival of a mysterious bottle with a sprightning trapped inside (think Tinkerbell with an electric charge) tests the limit of his determination to reunite lost items with their owners--because the sprightning has been stolen from Gargantis, a humongous flying storm-fish whose restless searches are subjecting the town to an escalating series of destructive gales and wall-cracking stormquakes. Fortunately, Herbert has several allies, notably pushy but clever Violet Parma and Clermit, a small but well-armed clockwork hermit crab, to help him quiet the monster but keep it alive. Said quest bears fruit, but only at the climax of a suspenseful narrative awash in old legends, secret codes, strange local characters, and hints of startling revelations to come. Finished illustrations not seen.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 5--7--In the opening scene of this sequel to Malamander, a dark and stormy night brings a sinister new guest to the Grand Nautilus Hotel who delivers a strange object to Lost-and-Founder Herbie Lemon--a spiky mechanical shell which scuttles about and plays a sea shanty. This launches Herbie and his spunky friend Violet on a perilous adventure. When a fish-shaped bottle with a mysterious light inside washes up on the beach at Eerie-by-the Sea, it is left in Herbie's care since both Mrs. Flotsam and Dr. Thalassi claim it for their respective enterprises. In pursuit of a fair decision as to who should have it, the young sleuths find themselves on a wild boat journey to find the source of a violent storm, personified as Gargantis, which is threatening the life of the town. Vividly drawn characters and setting, delicious humor, and Herbie's intimate second-person voice contribute to a thoroughly enjoyable story with many twists and turns--though Malamander readers might wish for a few more clues as to how Herbie came to wash up onshore in a lemon crate as a child and just what happened to Violet's parents who were somehow lost at sea. Black-and-white illustrations and a map appear liberally throughout. VERDICT Readers will gobble up this supernatural seaside adventure and eagerly await the next in the series.--Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

Legend says that St. Dismal rescued Eerie-on-Sea from Gargantis, a supernatural storm threatening to destroy the coastal village; centuries later, the storm is back. Herbie Lemon, Lost-and-Founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, has a well-founded fear of the ocean. It's tested when his imperious employer appoints him the one to decide who owns a fish-shaped glass bottle engraved with undecipherable Eerie Script. Professional beachcomber Mrs. Fossil found and claims it; Dr. Thalassi wants it for his museum; Eerie's fisherfolk insist that because St. Dismal, Eerie's first fisherman, invented the script, it's theirs; young Blaze Westerley hopes it's a clue to his uncle's disappearance. When Violet Parma, whose curiosity invariably overrules Herbie's caution, persuades him to open the bottle, what's inside leads them to Gargantis. As stormquakes shatter the rock beneath Eerie, terrifying hotel guest Deep Hood, face and body concealed (except for a snaking tentacle), bribes the fisherfolk to destroy Gargantis using Herbie as bait. Smart, impulsive Vi (who's biracial, with a black father) and thoughtful, steadfast Herbie (white, like most of the other characters) are well matched. The book-dispensing mermonkey and oracular cat from opening volume Malamander (2019) return in key roles. Underlying all the fun is a gentle, unforced message about life's interdependence. Human, animal, and mechanical characters (especially the charming hermit crab) are a winning assortment: enchanting or horrifying, quirky or droll, invariably original. Enticing mysteries remain to be solved. (Most art was unavailable for review.) Evocative settings, ingenious plotting, sly humor, and shivery suspense render this sequel an unmitigated delight. (Fantasy. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Chapter 1 Deep Hood If there's one thing hotels have a lot of, it's strangers. Hotels are kind of in the stranger business, after all. But no hotel in the world puts the strange in stranger quite like the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Take this guy, for example. The one who's just come in from the storm. The one walking across the empty marble floor of the lobby. See him? The one whose face is hidden by the enormous hood of a long waxed coat streaming with rainwater? He doesn't even pull his hood back to talk to the receptionist, and his luggage -- a metal-bound wooden box clutched in one gloved hand -- doesn't leave his side for a moment. Who is he? What's his story? What's in the box? Of course, we'll probably never know. And that's fine. People are entitled to their privacy. Privacy is something else hotels have a lot of. Besides, there's something sinister about this man, something threatening that makes me not want to know, to be honest. I'll be quite happy once he's up in his room, doing whatever dark and secret things he's come here to do, far away from me. He takes his key and steps away from the reception desk . . . . . . and starts walking in my direction! I sit up and adjust my cap. "May I help you, sir?" I say as the man in the overlong coat stops before the desk of my little cubbyhole. I look up and see nothing but darkness in that drooping hood. My cap starts to slip down the back of my head, so I straighten it. "Herbert Lemon." A voice comes from inside the hood, and I inch. There's an unnatural edge to that voice that makes my skin crawl. "Th-that's right, sir," I reply. "I'm Herbie Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, at your service. Have you lost something?" There's a sudden KER-KER-BOOM as a clap of thunder gallops around the town outside. The flash of lightning that rides with it only serves to highlight the darkness in the man's hood. The wind flings rain against the windowpanes, and the hotel lamps flicker. The man remains motionless, dripping rainwater on my counter. "Um-umbrella, perhaps?" I suggest. I glance at the metal-bound box in the man's hand. There's barely room for a change of underpants in a thing like that. "Or luggage, maybe?" My voice is almost a squeak now. The man leans in, his hood nearly closing over my head. My nostrils full with the stink of wet coat and fishy breath. "Do not ask what I have lost, Herbert Lemon," comes the man's voice, sounding as if each word is made with a great deal of effort. "Ask what I have found." And that's when there's another crash of thunder and the hotel's lights go out. Now, I know what you're thinking. Yes, you -- sitting there safe at home, staring into your book with bugged-out eyes, waiting for something horrible to happen to me. You're thinking that I'm going to freak out now. And I admit, I am considering it. But you don't get to be Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel without learning how to be a professional. So, OK, yes, maybe I'm not the bravest mouse in the basket, but I am in my place, behind my polished desk, master of my own little world of lost property and shiny buttons. And so that's why, when the lights come back on again, I'm still sitting exactly where I was, clutching my Lost-and-Founder's cap with both hands and blinking at empty space. Because, of course, the man with the deep hood has gone. Excerpted from Gargantis by Thomas Taylor All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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