In the Coils of the Snake: Book III -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy - Hardcover

Dunkle, Clare B.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805077472 ISBN 13: 9780805077476

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2005

Synopsis

"What is the spell for?" Miranda asked curiously, stepping close beside him to squeeze through the first ring of trees. She didn't know of any goblin spells that used flowers unless they were crushed like herbs.
"Do you really want to know?" murmured the elf absently, looking up at the dark crowns of the ancient oaks.
"Yes," she said. She had always liked magic. He glanced back down at her then.
"It's for you," he said. And the instant they passed the great trunks, his hand closed over her wrist.

The powerful final volume of the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy

Miranda has waited her whole life to come home to the goblin kingdom, but she never imagined she'd feel so alone there. Her beloved Marak, the center of her world since childhood, has reached the end of his reign.

But Marak didn't raise a coward. Miranda needs all her courage when a mysterious elf lord takes her prisoner, reigniting an age-old battle. Caught between two hostile races, she becomes their greatest reason for war--and their only hope for a future.

In this final volume of the Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, Clare B. Dunkle draws readers deep into her magical realm for one last incredible story.

About this title

About the Author

Clare B. Dunkle is also the author of By These Ten Bones. A native of north Texas, she and her family currently live in Germany.

Reviews

Grade 6-10–In the final volume in the trilogy, the action moves to the next generation. Marak, the goblin king, is dying, and his son, Marak Catspaw, is taking over the throne. Miranda, the human girl whom Marak has raised to be Catspaw's wife, has come to the underground goblin lands eager to start her role as King's Wife. When a new elf leader arrives and offers Catspaw an elven wife, Miranda's destiny disappears. She escapes the goblin kingdom and is captured by the elf leader, Nir. Meanwhile, elven Arianna, Catspaw's new Wife, is deeply unhappy with her underground life. In the end, both girls play a role in choosing a new life for both elves and goblins. Dunkle has created a tightly drawn fantasy with a pair of strong, independent female protagonists striving to find their places in new societies. The author's themes of the need for tolerance and her exploration of the often-superficial differences between races are continued from earlier volumes and add meaning to the text. Because of this book's focus on the elf and goblin worlds, less attention is given to the alternate Victorian England of the humans than in earlier volumes. Dunkle's language and plotting help build the mood and move her suspenseful story through its twists to its satisfying finish.–Beth L. Meister, Pleasant View Elementary School, Franklin, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* Gr. 7-10. Taking place 30 years after the events of Close Kin (2004), this satisfying conclusion to the Hollow Kingdom trilogy more closely examines relations between the tough, practical goblins and the sensitive, graceful elves, the two magical races dwelling in Dunkle's Victorian England. As in previous books, a plot rich in cultural misunderstandings swirls forth from the goblins' tradition of intermarrying with elves to bolster faltering bloodlines. Events center on an elf traded to goblin Catspaw as the new King's Bride, and Miranda, a human ward of the goblins who has been seized by the elven lord. The captives heighten tensions that drive the races toward a climactic clash, even as the two displaced women find things to appreciate, and perhaps even love, about their captors. Although the romance, as always, tends to mix strangely with themes of imprisonment and cool reproductive imperatives, the grounding in a fully imagined history, the chaste tenor of on-screen interactions between mates, the inventive role of magic, and the sympathetic portrayals of both societies clear space in readers' minds to accept all aspects of the premise. Followers of the series will revel in this (evidently) final opportunity to lose themselves in Dunkle's distinctive, intriguingly disquieting vision. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805077472
• ISBN 13: 9780805077476
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240