This book by Lloyd Alexander is the last book in a series of books starring Vesper Holly, an Indiana Jones type adventurer in female form. I read this book to fulfill my ‘X’ title requirement and to celebrate Children’s Book Week.
Vesper, along with boyfriend ‘The Weed’ and mentor Brinnie and his wife Mary, go off in search of the ancient city of Troy. The action takes place just as Schliemann is discovering the ancient site, but the group is thwarted when they are taken to a different site believed to be Troy by Dr. Dionescu. An old nemesis turns up to further delay their plans.
The title of the book is taken from the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “Kubla Khan.”
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree :
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
I haven’t read the previous books in this series at all, but I suspect this one very nicely wraps it up for the fans. I was particularly impressed with the history interwoven into the story as well as the vocabulary used.
Lloyd Alexander is best known for his The Chronicles of Prydain, a series that my own sons both loved. Mr. Alexander died earlier this year at the age of 83.
2005, 145 pp.
Rating: 3.5
