Chris Westwood

If you like Harry Potter, Skulduggery, Neil Gaiman, etc.you will love The Ministry of Pandemonium series. This is No 2.
Ben and his friend Becky have a gift that helps them work for Mr October in the Ministry. It is their job to help the departed souls journey into the Afterlife. They also try to get to a dead person as soon as possible so that the Lords of Sundown don't steal the soul and take it to the underworld. As Becky and Ben are still in school, they only work for a few hours each evening, but Ben's gift is developing and it is going to be very powerful and this has made him a target for the evil Lords. The first thing that happens is Becky's house is destroyed by a tornado, the second ( and more sinister) is his mother falling for a guy on holidays who isn't the nice rich entrepreneur that she thinks he is - he's something far more sinister...
With quirky characters (Mr October can change persona to match his mood - nice old man one minute, angry pirate the next) and the quintessential good versus evil wrestling for bewildered souls after death, fantasy readers from Grade 5 upwards will be enthralled.
The part about the Whisperer turning everyone in school ( even the teachers) against Ben and Becky is particularly good.… (plus d'informations)

A sensitive boy who frequents graveyards. Who sees the spirits of the recently departed. Who displays extraordinary artistic gifts. Who finds it hard to make friends when he starts a new school. And a boy whose father has mysteriously disappeared and a mother who is seriously ill. In other words, a youngster who fulfils many of the prime requirements for the outsider protagonist of a novel. This is Ben Harvester, who is drawn into a world of ghosts and demons and, in the process, discovers the latent abilities he has arising out of that sensitivity, a sensitivity that encompasses both his artistic gifts and his concern for those less well off than himself.

Through a rather odd stranger, Mr October — whose name conjures up that witching period of Halloween or Samhain, with its feasts of the dead — Ben is introduced to the secret Ministry of Pandemonium. As you might expect from a word coined by Milton for Paradise Lost, this synonym for disorder and chaos simply means “all the demons”. It transpires that the Ministry’s job is to locate lost souls and open the door to another world for them before demons gets to them — no easy task given the magnitude of the task. Will Ben manage to put off his inquisitive new friend Becky Sanborne before she discovers his unlikely calling? And what is the secret of his mother’s exhaustion and the explanation for his father’s disappearance?

Ministry of Pandemonium is set in a modern London with a supernatural underground familiar from China Miéville’s Kraken and Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere. The boy who haunts cemeteries recalls Bod from Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. The brick wall near Camden Lock giving access to the Ministry is reminiscent of Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station from Rowling’s Harry Potter books. And yet, despite some of the parallels one can easily make, there is a largely a consistent but individual use of these motifs. It’s not a perfect book — Ben, who himself narrates his tale, seems extraordinarily literate for someone of his age (twelve or thirteen, I would guess) and, despite loose ends (this is apparently the first novel in a series), the ending is a little pat, albeit redeemed by some pragmatic touches such as a solution for his father’s absence.

I wasn’t totally satisfied by Ministry of Pandemonium: I didn’t find the terrors very horrific for example, and supporting characters often seemed either a little predictable (Ben’s friends and foes always manage to find him wherever he runs to in the capital) and, for a boy who supposedly cares about people, he seemed singularly prosaic about the several deaths that are occasioned by the novel’s apocalyptic ending (there always is an apocalyptic ending in books such as these, aren’t there, usually set at Halloween). Why too does a West Yorkshire lad like Chris Westwood need to fall into the media cliché of London as the centre of all things?… (plus d'informations)

I think that the plot was intriguing when I read the synopsis and it did not disappoint. For a children's book, I found this compelling and found it difficult to put down. I found the monsters frightening enough to make me want to read on and see what happened.

The characters were my favourite part of this book. The protagonist was interesting and had enough back story to make him a well-rounded character that is impressive for a children's book character. Mr October was a highly mysterious character who I was unsure about throughout which made the book even more exciting.

The writing style is basic because it is a children's book but it is still compelling and I really liked this book.

Overall I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars and although it is a children's book, it may be suitable for teenage readers too and I would definitely recommend it.… (plus d'informations)

The Good Stuff
•Delightfully dark and funny - written perfectly for boys/girls in middle school
•Intriguing characters - how can you not love Ben, Becky, Mr October and Lu
•Reminded me a little at times of the tv show Dead Like Me (Excellent show btw, go get yourself a copy of it
•Love the unusual and original storyline - very creative
•Honestly this might make an interesting series - not sure if there are plans for it, but it might be interesting
•Very wise commentary about life and death
•Mr October is such an intriguing character, would have loved to have more back story information on him
•Author fabulous at setting the mood of the story - I was hooked on the dark forboding feeling I felt the entire time I read - might be a lights on sorta night
•I know I shouldn't have laughed, but the part about the fiance mailing himself to his intended made me giggle (Yes I do have a dark sense of humour thank you very much)
•The scenes between Mr October and Ben are worth the price of the book alone -- not to mention how utterly adorablel the conversations between Becky and Ben

The Not So Good Stuff
•A wee bit predictable for the older reader
•Could have benefitted from a wee bit more editiing -- things just felt a litte off at times (Also could be me -- but hey have to be honest)

Favorite Quotes/Passages

"Everyone goes eventually," Mum said. "When they do, the timing never seems right. It always seems to soon.'

"Sorry, son, but after so long in the field, one's sense of humour does tend toward the morbid. But of course you're smart to question, and there's always a third choice, which is to do nothing at all. But then you'd always know what you're missing - and you'd never take advantage of your natural gift."

"But it's better to know the worst than to live in the dark, none the wiser.'

Who Should/Shouldn't Read
•For the more mature middle school reader - though less mature readers could still get something out of it
•Middle school readers who like their stories a wee bit on the dark and different will lap this up - would have loved this when I was that age

4 Dewey's

I picked up a copy of this from Book Expo America 2012… (plus d'informations)