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Adventure Comes To Book Store
Author of 'Pendragon' series comes to Jabberwocky
Date published: 5/29/2008
By COLLETTE CAPRARA FOR THE FREE LANCE-STAR The classic challenge for fiction writers is to create a cohesive alternative world, and provide readers with a threshold into that realm. Multiply that task by 10 and you have the mission that D.J. MacHale took on eight years ago, when he launched his Pendragon series for young readers. Tomorrow, MacHale will celebrate the release of the ninth book in the series, "Raven Rise," at Jabberwocky, Fredericksburg's book store for children and youths. In addition, the first graphic novel depicting Book 1 of the series, "The Merchant of Death," is also newly released and will be available at the book signing. In each book in the series, the protagonist, young Bobby Pendragon, combats a plot of the evil Saint Dane whose ultimate goal is to destroy all of "Halla"--everything that has ever existed and ever will exist. Each of these battles is waged in a different world, or territory, with unique inhabitants, landscape and physics. In the first book, 14-year-old Bobby is tutored by his Uncle Press, who reveals that the youth has been chosen to be a traveler, with a mission of saving each realm and, ultimately, Halla. With that, the reluctant hero begins a series of adventures, traveling to successive worlds via transporting "flumes" to take on each new challenge. While the fantastic dynamics of the series would lead one to believe that author MacHale had a background in quantum physics, in fact, he says that it is the idea of the story that dictated the depiction of the fantasy realms in which it would play out. "I'm not a 'science fiction' guy, and I'm barely a 'science fact' guy!" MacHale said. "I'm less interested in the mechanics of it all than in finding interesting ways to create dilemmas and situations where the actions people take can affect other people and history. The idea of telling a multi-themed story came first, and creating different worlds became a mechanism to do that." To date, sales of the Pendragon books have surpassed 3 million. Their wild popularity is due, in part, to their believability. While the action takes place in bizarre realms, Bobby is not a superhero or morphed nerd with magical abilities. He's a down-to-earth teen who uses his natural physical skills, creativity and instincts to meet the challenges that confront him.
Date published: 5/29/2008
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