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Going to Ground: Shapeshifter Book 3 by Ali Sparkes (view source)
Revision as of 12:09, 14 May 2018
, 12:09, 14 May 2018no edit summary
{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=Going to Ground: Shapeshifter Book 3
|author=Ali Sparkes
|buy=Maybe
|borrow=Yes
|pages=352
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|date=May 2007
|isbn=978-0192754677
|amazonukcover=<amazonuk>019275467X</amazonuk>|amazonusaznuk=019275467X|aznus=<amazonus>019275467X</amazonus>
}}
It is, of course, reviewer's short-hand to say that the subject at hand is a mixture of 'something' with 'something else'. Here though the temptation is rather too strong, so I shall bow to it. The Shapeshifter series, from this third book anyway, is a cross between X-Men - the School Days, and Manimal.
Since I wrote the above, I have - due to the generosity of the publishers and kind correspondence with Ali Sparkes herself - been allowed to receive the first two volumes in the cycle to play catch-up.
The first, [[''Finding the Fox]] '' brilliantly launches you into immediate empathy with Dax, as he encounters the gross-out diet of a fox (dead spiders are nutty, apparently) almost before he realises he has the shape-shifting skill. Finely pitched sentiment and gentle humour lead Dax to the Minack-style setting of the school campus, and the initial adventures he has there. Five stars.
Those adventures clearly take their toll, as FoxDax's whiskers turn from black to white between books, the second of which pitches newcomers into the mix of tightly-knit main characters. Thus, again, great characterisation and sterling work on Dax's adventures and progress result - five stars for [[''Running the Risk]] '' too.
I still hold by what I wrote above for book three, with the addition that the is-he-good, is-he-bad question suffers for being a repetition. However I now know the Artemis Fowl reference to be cheap - this saga is very differently pitched, and a great tale in its own right. If the suggested battles ahead maintain the quality, and explain the maternal link that all Children of Limitless Ability have, then - to quote, "Fishes' pants!" - I hope to be there.
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[[Category:Thrillers]]