A review by ethan_libra
Arcade Catastrophe by Brandon Mull

2.0

While I don't remember reading this book as much as the original, I can still remember reading it on at least two separate occasions, and enjoying it as much as the original (maybe even more). But, let's just start at the beginning. One thing I really like about this book is that it gets straight to the action. Of course, being a sequel, it doesn't have to do all of the world-building The Candy Shop War had to, but I still like that it doesn't spend lots of time recounting the events of the previous novel. In addition, the somewhat tedious "normal" scenes from the predecessor (the ones that involved teachers, parents, bullies, etc.) are next to gone from this one. Indeed, many less interesting characters are discarded, but whether the new characters effectively fill the gap is debatable. Personally, I believe that many of the new characters fall into boring, two-word archetypes; cunning henchman, loyal defender, stubborn kids. Their powers are the only things that really set them apart. The adventure also progressed much like the first book, or something like this: the kids discover a suspicious magician who wants kids to help them get a treasure. They help the magician and get in too far over their heads, endangering their friends and family along the way. Nate saves the day using the treasure, and there's a celebration. Looking back, I can see why Mull didn't write a third book; it would be pretty hard to disguise this plot once again. I don't think Brandon Mull is a lazy author; on the contrary, I see the Fablehaven series as one of the most imaginative and fulfilling middle grade series I've ever read. This was just kind of a disappointment given how much I loved the book way back when, and how much I love Fablehaven. That's about all I have to say.