Reviews

Although not suitable to be read first in chronological order, this prequel is an imaginative tale that Stewart & Riddell are able to make seem brand new, even though the Edge was traveled thoroughly in the first three books. Colourful characters such as Maris give wonderful depth to the story, and surprising bits of humor are sprinkled around, although the book can get quite dark and serious. The busyness of the floating city is portrayed wonderfully (the Viaduct Steps chapter is particularly brilliant) which leads to an eerie contrast under the city. An interesting plotline, with Linius' experimenting leading to the creation of the actual villain. One thing that really lacked in the book was character development, as Quint, the main character, is fairly static throughout. All in all, the setting really shines in this book, and the excellent illustrations definitely add to that.

ixelus's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5

lorameep's review against another edition

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5.0

I started reading some of these books many years ago when I was 13 years old. One of my best friends back then introduced me to these books and I've been meaning to read all the books for years now. Last year finally I started.
The Curse of the Gloamglozer was easy to read, fun, adventurous, thrilling and made me lose myself in this new world. I love the imagination the author and illustrator have in this series. And I love the pictures in between the pages.
I can only recommend this book to all ages if you love fantasy, new worlds and adventure. I'm looking forward to the second book!

wyrmbergmalcolm's review against another edition

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3.0

The first book of the prequel trilogy chronicling the adventures of Twig's father, Quint.
Based largely on the floating city of Sanctaphrax, this story took a long time to get going with a lot of vague mystery and general goings on taking up much of the book.
Once the plot actually got going, the story flowed just fine with some interesting developments.
I read this to my son and he enjoyed it.

actualresultsmayvary's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I am very clearly above the target age group for these books but they still retain their charm.
The writing style is a little simple but I do actually really enjoy the illustrations, I think they really add to my ability to imagine what's going on. And I always like when books start out with maps!
The world is clearly vast, unique, interesting and a look forward to seeing how the rest of the world expands in the other books and sagas.
The Gloamglozer genuinely freaked me out and I didn't like that it is still out there and could reappear at any point in future books!
I thought the plot was well threaded together and, although almost all the revealing was done in one chapter, the scene setting and information given early in the book felt very relevant to the later book.
The morality was a bit heavy handed with the sky scholars a bit unrealistically villainous but it is a children's book and Linius was actually quite morally grey.
Overall, I enjoyed it, although the thought of reading all ten of the other books does feel a little daunting and I'm not sure I it will be worth it.

leherb's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

tobestik's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense

4.0

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