Solid children’s fantasy on all fronts, but it begins to coalesce pretty late in a far too formulaic manner designed to hook people with a cliffhanger. 70% setup 20% B plot payoff 10% hook for the next book. By no means bad, and I’ll read the next book even; It’s just a pacing mechanic that doesn’t work well for me. I expect with the setup behind us the second book will appeal more.