Eaglesmount — (2001-2004) Ages 9-12. Publisher: Vair, a brave young pine marten, had hoped to show off his skill with a sword at the Watersmeet summer fair, but after his father is killed by a gang of thieves, Vair learns that his destiny will take him to Watersmeet for a more important reason.
  
 The Silver Horn
Vair, a young pine marten, talks his mom and dad into taking the family to the fair in Watersmeet, but on the way, a group of bandits led by Ragnar, a silver fox, attack them and press Vair into their service. Vair soon discovers that these bandits are working for the evil Lord Owl who plans to take over the whole country. The Lord Owl wants Ragnar’s bandits to find the legendary and powerful Silver Horn in Watersmeet. Can Vair find his family and stop the evil Owl’s plans?
Cherith Baldry’s The Silver Horn is the first book in her Eaglesmount trilogy, an anthropomorphic fantasy for children. I’m not a huge fan of anthropomorphic tales because I can’t suspend disbelief well enough to feel comfortable with animals with paws holding swords and beer mugs or animals without the proper vocal apparatus speaking, singing songs, and playing flutes. And, really, why would they want to wear clothes and shoes? And why don’t the foxes eat the chickens?
But anyway, I knew what I was getting into here, and I had it in mind for my daughter (who has no issues with talking animals) to read, so I won’t complain about those things. Instead, I’ll report that I found The Silver Horn to be a quick and not unpleasant read, but not particularly inspiring or enjoyable either, mainly for two reasons.
First, the story is unoriginal — there is nothing here that you haven’t read before and the plot is predictable from beginning to end. Even the character names are predictable, with the good guys sounding like nice perky Scandinavian animals (Vair, Riska, Mirra, Flick, Kyria) and the bad guys sounding like they eat sauerkraut and borscht and don’t know how to smile (Gorm, Ragnar, Ketch, Konrad, Snarg).
But, most disappointing is that the characters, especially the bad guys, are incredibly shallow. Every one of Ragnar’s bandits acts like a middle-school bully, shoving the nice animals when they pass by and snatching their belongings, constantly calling everyone “scum,” picking fights, threatening, taunting, cackling, and saying “Make me!” and “What are you going to do about it?” when someone asks them to stop. It was this one-dimensional behavior that ruined the plot for me, making it simplistic and predictable.
Overall, The Silver Horn may be okay for a young boy who wants to read stories about brave animals and doesn’t care much about characterization, but parents looking for excellent fantasy for their children can do a lot better. Try Brian Jacques’ Redwall series if you’re looking for anthropomorphic stories, or anything we’ve got listed in the top half of our children’s page. —Kat Hooper
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Stand-alone novels:
 Exiled from Camelot — (2000) Publisher: The court of Camelot is unsettled by the arrival of Loholt, King Arthur's illegitimate son. Driven by the need for an heir, the king embraces the stranger, though not everyone in Camelot so readily accepts the mysterious young man. Arthur's seneschal and foster brother, the redoubtable Sir Kay, is especially suspicious of Loholt's motives. And when Loholt is killed, Kay finds himself under suspicion of murder.
Stripped of his knighthood, Kay forges an unwilling alliance with the renegade Briant and his lover, the enchantress Brisane, who seek to bring down the men closest to the king. If Sir Kay cannot redirect their plot or win back the court's trust, nothing will save Camelot from the twin threats of war and evil sorcery.
 The Reliquary Ring — (2002) Publisher: The setting is a fabulously wealthy maritime city where created humans (genics) are despised and exploited by the genuine human citizens. But then the sinister Count Dracone plots to seize ultimate power with the aid of infernal beings and the emissaries and technology of the sinister northern Empire. Set in a parallel Venice, this is a beautifully written fantasy of good versus evil, tolerance and charity versus fanaticism and self-interest. It draws us into not only the rich beauty and opulence of a wealthy city, undersea inhabitants and the eccentric inventiveness of the northern neighbours, but is also an excursion to hell itself.
 The Roses of Roazon — (2004) Publisher: When icon painter Alissende presents Joscelin, the new Duke of Roazon, with a beautifuly depicted image of the divinity as Healer, she is not aware of the impact her painting will have on the history of Avorig. Thus far the Church agrees their deity has only shown himself as Warrior or Judge.
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Cherith Baldry was born in Lancashire and studied at Manchester University and St Anne's College, Oxford. She subsequently worked as a teacher, including a spell as a lecturer at the University of Sierra Leone. Cherith is now a full-time writer of fiction for both children and adults. Besides the fantasies below, she writes the Abbey Mysteries for children and she write the Warriors series about cats under the penname Erin Hunter with Kate Cary and Victoria Holmes.
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