The Robe Of Skulls wasn’t quite what i expected it to be based on the title. That certainly wasn’t a bad thing, but the title did make the book sounds a bit scary. This book is actually quite cheery and fun. There are three main characters that have an equal amount of focus throughout the book, and there stories don’t tie together at first. when you first start reading, it seems like you are reading three different stories for a while. The author of this book is Vivian French, who has written other books in the series called The Tales From Five Kingdoms. The Robe Of Skulls is the first book in this series.
Although the authors last name is French, she is actually from scotland. Vivian French is a best known for writing childrens books, which she has published over 200 of. She has been writing since 1990, so she has plenty of experience writing. The books also have very fitting art work about every dozen pages and on the cover, which is drawn by Ross Collins. Collins is a popular childrens book illustrator who is also from scotland. The art he draws for the book works very well with the story and you can really see how the author was trying to portray the characters in his illustrations.
The main initiator of this story is a robe with skulls, as you can see from the title. A sorceress name Lady Lamorna wants a new robe, but she realizes that she doesn’t have the funds to pay for it. She comes up with an elaborate scheme to make enough money to pay for the robe. This scheme involves turning princes into frogs. Throughout the story, you follow the tales of Gracie Gillypot, who is a young girl living with her not so nice stepfather and stepsister, Prince Marcus, a young prince who is second in line for the throne behind his more well behaved twin brother Arioso, and Lady Lamorna who is trying to get her new skull brandished robe. All three of the characters tales begin to intertwine as they go along. Its a nice story in a series I would love to continue.
There are many choices the author made that really made me enjoy this book and made the story work very well. One choice the author made that I really enjoyed was the way the story was structured. Learning about all of the characters and their conflicts before they meet is a very good way to give the characters more life and really let the reader learn about them. Another choice the author made that was good was the way the characters communicated so smoothly and swiftly. This would be an example of this.
“So make sure you get a good nights sleep boys” King Frank rubbed his hands together and smiled proudly at his sons. “After all, who knows what other royal alliances might be made tomorrow in Dreghorn, eh? Eh?” And he nudged Arry.
“Exactly so, father,” Arry said, and blushed.
Marcus sighed, but quietly. “I’m never going to have a crush on a girl,” he promised himself. “It makes you look sick like a sheep.”
A choice the author made that i enjoyed was how the author slowly revealed information about the story and leave the readers guessing for sometime. There are many people and places that you don’t know much about in the beginning chapters of the book. And having the main characters and conflicts separated for a while makes it easier to understand them.
The Robe Of Skulls is a fairy tale book that i enjoyed reading very much, with nice characters, a nice plot, and great illustrations. I’m very much looking forward to reading the other books in this series.