The Book of Alfar: A Tale of the Hudson Highlands

By Peter W. Hassinger

Exploring the woods near his new home in the country, a special world reveals itself to Sander--a world of dwarfs, pirates, soldiers, wandering ghosts, fairies, and a ruthless Lord of the Dunderburg,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060284692
• ISBN13: 9780060284695
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.9" x 6.0"
• Age Range: 9 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 4 and higher

Customer Reviews

Interesting fantasy tale

"Book of Alfar" wasn't quite as good as I had expected, but it's still quite a good fantasy/historical read, with likable heroes and a fairly interesting hodgepodge of Revolutionary War history and a dash of mythology. It needs a bit of tightening in areas, but overall quite nice.Sanders has just moved into a very old house with his father, sister and self-absorbed mother, and nobody except his mother is happy about it. Sanders deals with this by wandering off into the woiods by himself, where he meets an Algonquin girl, Mini, and a goat-boy named Billy. And he catches sight of a Hessian soldier racing by, the ghost of a young man who leaped to his death centuries before. But the ghost isn't the only supernatural thing lurking around. The pleasant, peaceful dwarf Alfar is being instructed in wickedness and mischief by his ruthless grandfather, Dwerg, Lord of the Dunderberg, who is trying to whip him into a suitable Black Dwarf. But mere mischief (putting bees in Sanders's attic) escalates when Dwerg decides that Alfar should marry Mini, the descendant of the people who killed Alfar's parents. Neither Mini or Alfar like the idea, and after Sanders saves Alfar's life, they set out to oust Dwerg, even though Alfar's magic isn't up to the task. Along the way they will run into eternally-sailing pirates, a dwarf-created storm, and finally the Lord of the Dunderberg himself.Hassinger does a good job with "Book of Alfar"; in some ways it's a fairly typical fantasy, but has some nice quirks like the usage of real mythology in the storyline. (I was a little distracted by the fact that "Dwerg" means dwarf, and "Alfar" means elves) The usage of things like American history, a dramatic backdrop, and the pirates who will sail forever are good touches.Sanders is the best-fleshed-out character in the book, a likeable kid who rises to the challenges; Mini is like a less intriguing Lloyd Alexander heroine, and I'm not sure why Billy was in the book. I like him, but I didn't think he added much to the plot. Sanders's family is quite well done, and Dwerg just avoids being cartoonish. Oh yes, and his wight-cloak is quite entertaining.There are a few flaws; the good guys all become pals almost instantly, rather than a getting-to-know-you period. Occasionally Alfar seems a bit too much like a human being. Hassinger's writing style is brisk, not very detailed, but quite a few parts of it become very intense and poetic, such as the "granddaughter" scene on the pirates' ship.It's a pretty good fantasy story, with a few flaws but some unique usage of history and legend make it above average. Nice read.