Fablehaven: Difference between revisions

''Fablehaven'' is a fantasy book series by Brandon Mull. It's kinda like ''[[Harry Potter]]...'' [[Dissimile|Except it's set in America]], there's no [[Wizarding School]], the two main characters are siblings instead of friends, and it replaces the [[Nightmare Fuel]] of the Death Eaters with the utter [[Paranoia Fuel]] that is the Society of the Evening Star.

...Maybe we should start from the beginning.

The intelligent and measured Kendra Sorenson and her [[Sibling Yin-Yang|knuckleheaded younger brother Seth]] are shipped off to spend the summer with their paternal grandparents after their mother's parents are killed in an accident. (Part of their grandparent's will stipulated that a portion of their money be used to send their children on a cruise as a "parting gift.") Reeling from the loss, they don't expect to enjoy the trip much, but are pleasantly surprised to discover that their other grandparents live in a spacious mansion. They've also got a garden filled with more birds, insects, and flowers than anyone they've ever met. But after sipping some of the milk left out for the "birds," they learn the truth: The "birds and insects" are actually ''fairies!'' The milk enables them to see them in their true forms. Their grandfather reveals that they are actually caretakers of a wildlife preserve for magical creatures named Fablehaven. It's filled to the brim with colorful fairies, witty and [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]] fauns, [[Gentle Giant]] golems, and a couple dangerous giants and trolls. Grandpa, along with his assistants Dale and Lena, offers to show the two siblings around the preserve, and begin to teach them the strange and exiciting ways of the magical reserves.

A witch named Muriel nearly unleashes a demon and overthrows the preserve, and the Fairy Queen turns Kendra into an honorary fairy to save her life. But that's only the ''beginning'' of the trouble. There's an [[Ancient Conspiracy]] called the Society of the Evening Star out to overthrow Fablehaven--and all the other magical preserves--in search of [[Plot Coupon|five magical artifacts of immense power]], which together make a key to open up a prison full of demons and blanket the world in darkness. They possess infinite patience--they'll spend ''thousands of years'' building up their credibility in one place before making a move--and a nearly innumerable number of [[The Mole|moles]], which pop up in unexpected places. Kendra and Seth, having been dragged into the mess, must quickly discover a new way of life: Nowhere is safe. No one is trustworthy. [[Anyone Can Die]], and anyone can turn on you. The Society possesses near [[Xanatos Roulette|omnipotence]], and can pop up to get you at any second. To make matters worse, most of the "magical creatures" quickly reveal themselves to be true animals (or very alien beings), and are nowhere near gentle dewy-eyed beings they are in most fairy tales.

* [[Abhorrent Admirer]]: In a rare male-on-female example, Kendra is stuck with the satyr Verl as her annoying admirer.

* [[Badass Grandpa]]: Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson have been working with magical creatures for decades; you do ''not'' mess with them. Grandma Ruth is the more obviously bad-ass one, but Grandpa Stan's no slouch either.

* [[Baleful Polymorph]]: Fairies kept indoors at night turn into imps, which are sort of reverse fairies; both are quite vain, but where fairies are aware of how pretty they are and therefore good-natured in a shallow sort of way, imps are just as aware of how ugly they are, which makes them incredibly nasty.

** This also occasionally happens to the humans in the series--{{spoiler|the best example is Grandma's chicken transformation.}}

* [[Bishonen]]: In book 5, ''Bracken.'' Tall, willowy, and with tons of [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|beautiful silvery-white hair.]]

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: In Book 5, {{spoiler|Grandma and Grandpa Larsen}}... from all the way back in ''Book 1!''

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Lots of people, Seth, Kendra and {{spoiler|Warren}} come to mind.

* [[Easily Forgiven]]: Averted like ''woah.'' The only reason {{spoiler|Vanessa}} is accepted "back" is desperation; they still don't wholly trust {{spoiler|her}}. Not to mention all the heck Seth gets.

* [[Eloquent in My Native Tongue]]: Lots of trolls and goblins sound "stupid," but that's only because most humans can't speak their language, Duggish.

* [[Fantastic Racism]]: Centaurs are kind of bastards.

* [[Golem]]: Hugo. He initially starts out as just an "earthen automaton," but thanks to the fairies, he actually becomes a (slowly) thinking being.

* [[Go Mad Fromfrom the Revelation]]: The Oculus does this. It's a lot like [[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull|the Crystal Skull]], when you think about it.

* [[Have You Tried Not Being a Monster?|Have You Tried Not Being A Fairy Dragon]]: Raxtus. Poor guy.

* [[Heroic Albino]]: Warren Burgess. {{spoiler|He wasn't born an albino; his hair ''literally'' went white with shock when he tried to take on the revenant protecting the artifact.}}

* [[Intergenerational Friendship]]: Tanu, Coulter, and Vanessa all stick by Kendra and Seth happily {{spoiler|though Vanessa does eventually [[The Mole|turn on them.]]}} Vanessa and Kendra especially seem to bond in a [[Cool Big Sis]] way {{spoiler|and she's genuinely happy to see Kendra when she's released}}.

* [[Ironic Hell]]: {{spoiler|The Sphinx's punishment for trying to unleash demons on the world? He becomes one of the [[Barrier Maiden|Barrier Maidens]] who keep it closed, meaning he would have to kill himself to see his dream come to pass.}}

* [[Jerk Jock]]: [[Word of God]] is that this was the idea around which the centaurs were designed. And if the centaurs are the nasty jocks who push people around, the satyrs are their easygoing frat boy counterparts.

* [[Mayfly-December Romance]]: Patton Burgess married a naiad; even after becoming "human," she still lived on for a long time without really aging. {{spoiler|Kendra and Bracken also fall hard for each other, but as they openly acknowledge, there's a lot against them. During the [[Grand Finale]]'s denouement, they both acknowledge that they need some time to get to know each other--and Kendra needs time to mature--before they can really solidify anything.}}

* [[The Mole]]: Great gravy! {{spoiler|The Sphinx}} is the most prominent example, but the first major one is {{spoiler|Vanessa}}, and {{spoiler|Gavin, AKA Navarog}}, shows his [[True Colors]] at either the worst or best possible time.

* [[Mr. Vice Guy]]: Coulter, who despite being [[The Smart Guy|extremely intelligent]] and exceptionally gentlemanly, still retains a touch of "misguided chivalry"-style sexism (he won't put a woman in danger). He seems to lighten up as time goes by, though, and eventually seems to grudgingly admit that Kendra (and Ruth!) can hold their own.

* [[One-Winged Angel]]:

** The cat/lynx/panther in Book 2 does this ''8 times''.

* [[Red Pill, Blue Pill]]

** Book 5, meanwhile, {{spoiler|introduces a whole parcel of characters near the very beginning who get killed just as quickly. Ouch.}}

* [[Sibling Yin-Yang]]: Kendra's the smart, thoughtful sibling who doesn't like taking risks; Seth's the obnoxious one with more energy than brains. {{spoiler|In the fourth book, it becomes ''literal'' yin yang, as Kendra embodies light by being fairykind and Seth embodies darkness by being a shadow charmer.}}

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Just in case things are getting ''too'' angsty, you can count on the satyrs Newel and Doren to pop in to provide a bit of [[Plucky Comic Relief]].

* [[Threshold Guardians]]: The dungeons are typically full of them.

* [[Write Who You Know]]: [[Word of God]] admits that his real-life little brother is impetuous in the same way Seth is, and while they're not ''exactly'' the same person, they're very close.