★ 07/08/2024

Riggs departs the Miss Peregrine universe to launch a fresh fantasy adventure grounded in contemporary Los Angeles. After his mother’s death five years ago, Leopold Berry’s grief-fueled obsession with the kitschy fantasy TV show Sunderworld began inducing “escapist dissociative episodes.” Now 17 and “perfectly average,” Leopold and his best friend Emmett learn that these seeming hallucinations are glimpses into an actual, magical Sunderworld that desperately seeks a powerful channeler to vanquish monsters and reverse magic shortages. Upon the duo’s arrival to Sunderworld, Leopold must participate in a televised spellcasting test if he wants to become a channeler. But when he fails, he and Emmett are banished, and their memories magically wiped with spells that backfire. While Leopold’s memories remain intact, Emmett develops troubling neurological symptoms, prompting Leopold to defy exile and search Sunderworld for a cure. What he finds instead is a deeper mystery involving an enigmatic girl, an enchanted map, and a charmed object that only he can activate. Riggs’s incandescent storytelling, exquisite worldbuilding, and vivid characterization kick off a propulsive series starter that subverts the chosen-one trope via a self-made antihero who learns to choose himself. If Leopold finds more questions than answers, readers will be heartened by the promise of more adventure and intrigue following this whirlwind opener. Leopold is white; secondary characters are racially diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Aug.)

★ "Riggs’s incandescent storytelling, exquisite worldbuilding, and vivid characterization kick off a propulsive series starter that subverts the chosen-one trope via a self-made antihero who learns to choose himself. If Leopold finds more questions than answers, readers will be heartened by the promise of more adventure and intrigue following this whirlwind opener."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ "Like the bittersweet Los Angeles it occupies, Leopold's offbeat Sunderworld is a little grimy and a little broken, but the magic is real and will stick with you."—Booklist, starred review

"Riggs' writing is tight and well paced. Some incredible action scenes leap off the pages, and Sunder is a blur of dangerous situations, well-drawn characters, and magical devices. The ending will make readers wish they couldimmediately reach for the second volume.... A fully imagined fantastical world with compelling characters and a nail-biting cliffhanger."—Kirkus Reviews

"This love letter to Los Angeles is brimming with magic, nostalgia, and eclectic characters. Riggs, in addition to creating a wildly imaginative world, handles topics of grief and loss with aplomb.... An intriguing and enigmatic first installment.”—Shelf Awareness

Praise for the #1 Bestselling Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children series

“Boy, can Ransom Riggs tell a story.”—NPR.org

“A visually rich literary experience.”—New York Times
  
“Chilling, wondrous.”—People
 
“Pulse-pounding.”—Booklist
 
“David Lynchian imagery, and rich eerie detail.”—Entertainment Weekly
 
“A thrilling, Tim Burton-esque tale.”—USA Today

07/19/2024

Gr 8 Up—Leopold Berry lost his mother to cancer when he was 12, and the subsequent five years with an overbearing and aggressive father have done nothing to assuage his grief. Leopold also experiences strange visions, things that seem more at home in his beloved 1990s fantasy series Max's Adventures in Sunderworld than modern Los Angeles. Leopold discovered it in a box of his mom's old VHS tapes, and his obsession with watching and rewatching the show, coupled with producing new scenes with his best friend, Emmet, serve to create a bond to her memory. So when he and Emmet actually find Sunder after a ride on a broken-down railway trolley, he is ready to experience all the promises of Max's adventures despite the perils that lie within. Riggs generates interest both through Leopold's exploration of the mysterious connection his mother had with Sunder, as well as the consequences of Leopold and Emmet's initial visit there. He also pokes fun at the "chosen one" motif when Leopold embarrasses himself in front of the Sunder community on a channeler test, becoming memed into "Lunchtray Larry." But less successful is the magic of Sunder, which, when coupled with Leopold's initial visions, presents as gritty and occasionally bizarre. Clearly intended as a multi-book series, a cliff-hanger mystery sets the focus for the sequel. VERDICT An easy sell to any fan of Riggs's "Peculiar Children" series, though its quirks limit the appeal to a broader fantasy audience. A general purchase.—Michael Van Wambeke

2024-07-04
Seventeen-year-old Leopold Berry discovers that the realm of Sunder from his favorite TV series, Max’s Adventures in Sunderworld, is in fact a real place with very real stakes.

When Leopold starts having bizarre visions, such as of a raccoon with its tail on fire and a speeding red trolley in the middle of busy Los Angeles traffic, he suspects he’s getting glimpses of the extraordinary place called Sunder, a fantasy world from his beloved show. He confesses his visions to his best friend, Emmet Worthington, and the pair wind up using a special token to take the trolley, Angels Flight, into Sunder. There, they discover that the complex world of sparks—people with magical abilities—includes connections to Leopold’s mother, who died when he was 12. At the heart of it all, Leopold is trying to figure out why he’s been pulled into this world and whether there’s more to him than his deep fear of being “average and insignificant” and dealing with his father’s frustrated rages. Riggs’ writing is tight and well paced. Some incredible action scenes leap off the pages, and Sunder is a blur of dangerous situations, well-drawn characters, and magical devices. The ending will make readers wish they could immediately reach for the second volume. Leopold, like most of the cast, is cued white; Emmet is Black.

A fully imagined fantastical world with compelling characters and a nail-biting cliffhanger.(Fantasy. 13-17)