Showing posts with label Buckingham. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buckingham. Show all posts
ROYCE BUCKINGHAM DECLARED MONSTER MEISTER FOR DEMONKEEPER II PUBLISHER PENHALIGON
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AEI CLIENT ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S GOBLINS TOUTED ON THEKOOLAIDMOM SITE
Title: Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure Author: Royce Buckingham
Hardcover: 232 pages
Date Published: 2008
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons (div of Penguin Young Readers Group)
ISBN: 9780399250026
PJ put on one of his father’s spare POLICE jackets. “C’mon, we’re already here. Besides, you said it takes an hour round trip to get to the border crossing and back. Any smugglers would probably still be forty minutes away.”
PJ was reaching to put the car into park when something moved in the darkness. A patch of shadow shifted against a background of dark trees. As soon as he noticed it, it was gone. “What was that?” he said.
“What was what?” Sam said, staring into the forest. “I can’t see a thing. It’s pitch-black.”
PJ reached down and flipped the headlight switch. The sudden light glared on a dark, husky human shape in front of the car. It waved a club-shaped object and brought it down onto the metal hood of the cruiser.
Wham!
“Smuggler!” Sam yelled.
PJ’s foot was still on the gas pedal. He jammed it down instinctively, and the car lurched forward. There was no time for the figure to move. Thud! It went down like a bowling pin and disappeared beneath the bumper.
PJ hit the brakes and the police cruiser jerked to a stop. He took a deep breath and quickly locked the door.
“You hit him!” Sam cried.
“I know,” PJ breathed, staring into the woods.
“He’s under the car!”
“I know!”
“What if he’s a farmer or something?” Sam said.
“You’re the one who screamed that he was a smuggler.”
“How do I know who he is?”
“It’s your stupid little town!” PJ snapped.
A low, pained growl rose from beneath the car.
“He’s alive,” PJ said, relieved. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We can’t leave him,” Sam said. “There’s no way he can be okay after you smushed him.”
PJ shook his head. “Dude, I just ran over a guy in a borrowed police car. My instincts tell me to drive far away and never speak of this again.”
-Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham, pages 16-17
Goblins! by Royce Buckingham has been some of the most fun 200-some pages of reading I’ve had in a while. The characters are normal, average teens who are called upon to act in extraordinary ways to save each other and to protect their world from the goblins of the UnderEarth.
One of the things I like about this book is that there are no 100% evil bad guys in the book, they’re a mix of good and bad. While PJ would prefer to stay out of things, he chooses to step up and take responsibility for his actions and for Sam, who was left in his care by his father. Sam wants adventure, and bites off a lot more than he can chew, but nevertheless manages to prove he has a heart of a warrior. The goblins have silly, descriptive names like “General Eww-Yuk,” “Slurp,” “Slouch,” “Thick,” etc, enjoy eating humans, fighting, humans as well as each other, are dumber than a bag of hammers, yet they are extremely inquisitive and quick to learn and adapt.
Another thing that I liked about Goblins! is that the writing is simple, the details are just enough to make things easy to picture but not so thick that it bogs you down. At times it reminds me of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and at other times Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Besides having a highly imaginative setting and great actions scenes, including 7 foot bugs-versus-human battles, it also has a great sense of humor. It is a book with teenagers as the heroes and main characters, so the surliness and sarcasm of the age often shines through. For instance: When Sam is brought before General Eww-yuk by the goblin Bargle
“Have you talked to it?” Eww-yuk asked.
“Yes,” Bargle said. “It barks the words ’screw’ and ‘off’ … over and over.”
-Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham, page 71
I think this book is ideal for the tweenage-early teen years, 9-14, and probably more for boys than girls, though I think Mags will enjoy and laugh at it. I’d also like to warn that this book does contain the deaths of central characters that readers may get attached to, so if your reader is potentially sensitive to this, then you might want to wait.
For being one of the most enjoyable, reality-suspending, relaxing books I’ve read in a long time, a book that wasn’t teaching the reader or delivering a message (if it was, I didn’t notice at all), a book that was just like losing 25 years and being on the playground again… I give Goblins! An UnderEarth Adventure by Royce Buckingham 4 out of 5 stars. It probably won’t win any awards, but it is pure pleasure.
http://thekoolaidmom.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/goblins-an-underearth-adventure-by-royce-buckingham/
AEI CLIENT ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S DEMONKEEPER GETS STELLAR REVIEW FROM TOP AMAZON REVIEWER
A Keeper, June 30, 2009 By | drebbles |
With his mentor gone, teenaged Nat is the sole human in charge of a house filled with demons. He is still learning the ropes of living in a house that is literally alive, not to me ntion dealing with the Beast in the basement that would love to escape and indulge his appetite which includes a taste for animals and humans. While Nat isn't totally alone - he has the companionship of his dog Bel and three minions, Pernicious, Nikolai, and Flappy - he still longs for human friends and enters an uneasy relationship with junior librarian Sandy and street urchin Richie. Nat tries not to let these friendships interfere with his demon keeping duties but little does he know that he's going to need their help when things go horribly wrong in the house and his predecessor, the Thin Man, heads back to town wanting his job back.
"Demonkeeper" is a deliciously creepy yet wickedly funny novel aimed at readers aged 9 -12. Author Royce Buckingham has done a wonderful job of creating a world filled with demons, especially the house Nat lives in which is filled with usually inanimate objects like rugs, lamps, and plants that are alive. The book is filled with nonstop action, starting from the very first page and readers will sympathize with both Nat and Richie who seem to go from one bad situation to another without ever feeling safe. Buckingham has a wonderful sense of humor and does a great job of mixing horror with humor. While there are plenty of scary moments and plenty of implied gore especially involving the beast, nothing is graphically described so it's not too tough to read for younger readers. Underneath the fun and scary moments, there is a sense of sadness throughout the=2 0book. Outside of Sandy, whose parents are mentioned but not seen, all of the children in the book are orphans forced to survive on their own. The only "adult" in the book is the Thin Man who is hardly a role model.
"Demonkeeper" is a wonderfully inventive, Stephen King-like novel for children.
BLISSTREE.COM HOSTS GIVEAWAY OF AEI CLIENT ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S GOBLINS
Blisstree has hosted a giveaway of the book. 45 comments were made by readers attempting to win the book.
http://www.blisstree.com/playlibrary/book-giveaway-goblins
The winner was announced here:
http://www.blisstree.com/playlibrary/goblins-book-winner
ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S GOBLINS SNAGS GOOD REVIEW!
Goblins by Royce Buckingham - Book ReviewWhat makes a good book for teen boys? How do you get a reluctant reader invested in a story? Which factors will entice the most challenging reading student to pick up a book?
With Goblins!: An UnderEarth Adventure,
author Royce Buckingham has answered some of these dilemmas.He begins with an action-filled opener – a goblin has escaped the UnderEarth. He features identifiable protagonists - twelve-year-old Sam on the brink of juvenile delinquency and seventeen-year-old PJ, stuck in a nowhere small-town while he visits his policeman father. These two form an unlikely, but appreciable, dynamic duo as they follow the Guardians of UnderEarth on a battle to keep the goblins from finding the tunnel that leads to our world.
Additionally, author Buckingham, propels the reader from one battle scene to the next. Goblins!
action not only begins fast, it is spooned out in small doses. Chapters are kept short and descriptive language is limited. There are bloody battle scenes, bravery and death. Still, before the story ever gets a chance to venture into a weighty realm, the author throws in a few laughs.And though the telling might flow easily and prove enticing to even the most reluctant of readers, Goblins!
hides some decent themes within it. PJ and Sam demonstrate fortitude and make the right choices when making the right choices count most.Goblins!: An UnderEarth Adventure,
aimed toward the middle-grade male – even though the cover art appears to be too juvenile for that crowd, is a story many reluctant and action-adventure story enthusiasts will devour.Here's the book trailer for good measure:
DIRECTOR SAM FELL SIGNS ON FOR AEI CLIENT ROYCE BUCKINGHAM’S DEMON KEEPER
Sam Fell to direct 'Demonkeeper'
Fox taps 'Despereaux' helmer for live-action pic
By MICHAEL FLEMING
Sam Fell, director of the animated films "The Tale of Despereaux" and "Flushed Away," is attached to direct "Demonkeeper," a live-action adaptation of the Royce Buckingham novel for Fox 2000.
Script is being written by Laeta Kalogridis, who scripted the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed "Shutter Island" for Paramount and "Battle Angel," which James Cameron will direct for Fox.
AEI's Ken Atchity and Chi-Li Wong are producing "Demonkeeper."
Story follows a Seattle teen who inherits responsibility for a house filled with demons. When the youth finally breaks free of his charges to go on a date, he returns to discover that kids have broken into the house, unleashing its most vicious demon, the Beast, Killer of Lost Children.
Studio bought rights to the book before it was published by Putnam (Daily Variety, Jan. 25, 2006).
Buy Demonkeeper on Amazon
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