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Despite
all the demands for new, original stories, there's something
inherently comforting about the retelling or further telling
of familiar tales. This is quite possibly the idea behind
the success of veteran writers Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's
thrilling and humorous Peter Pan prequels.
Peter
and the Shadow Thieves—the second in the series of
prequels—opens with the Lost Boys living well on Mollusk
Island (better known to audiences as Never Land). Months have
passed since Peter learned about the existence of starstuff—a
cosmic powder capable of strange, magical feats—and the
Starcatchers, a secret society whose mission is to find starstuff
and prevent it from being used for evil.
In their
previous adventure, Peter helped the Starcatchers retrieve
a large chest of starstuff from both a group of evil sailors
and a band of pirates. The experience left Peter unable to
age, but he has since taken solace in his ability to fly and
uses this skill to torment the shipwrecked pirate leader Black
Stache, now better known as Captain Hook.
Disappointingly,
the nefarious Hook plays only a minor role in Shadow Thieves,
emerging mostly for comic relief. Instead, the main villain
is Lord Ombra, a strange, wraith-like creature seeking the
chest of starstuff that Peter had once protected. Ombra is
able to steal a person's shadow simply by touching it, thus
controlling the person's voice and mind.
Realizing
the dangers brought on by the terrifying shadow thief, Peter
must warn the Starcatchers—particularly his friend Molly
Aster and her father, a senior Starcatcher. Accompanied by
Tinker Bell (who prefers to be called a "birdgirl" rather
than a fairy), Peter stows away on Ombra's ship and heads
for Molly's hometown of London. There, Peter and Tink become
entangled in a series of adventures that are alternately amusing
(such as Tink's capture by a shady bird salesman) or seemingly
unnecessary (particularly, a subplot featuring a group of
child thieves).
Narrator
Jim Dale is a great treat as the reader of this series. Best
known in literature as the Grammy-winning narrator of the
American Harry Potter audio books, Dale brings each
character to life with vibrant, powerful impersonations; his
Hook is delightfully growling, while his Ombra is breathy
and menacing. All the while, he maintains his own strong voice
as the narrator, expertly setting the scene by infusing his
voice with emotion, changing his pace to build tension, and
or stopping short sentences abruptly to show action. Think
of Jim Dale as the best play-by-play commentator never to
cover a sport.
However,
even expert narration doesn't stop the story from dragging
occasionally. At points, Barry and Pearson describe far too
much or extend a scene too long. Simply by looking at the
book's cover art, the audience knows that Peter eventually
appears at Molly's window, rescuing her from Lord Ombra. Yet,
the authors delay the event unnecessarily by cutting to different
scenes—of Peter watching Ombra's men storm the Aster
house, for example—or prolonging Ombra's attack on Molly.
Once
Peter does rescue Molly, however, the pacing of the story
steadies, the subplots fade into the background, and the two
authors focus on what they do best. Barry's comedy writing
experience is especially noticeable in character interactions—especially
in the tension between Molly and the eternally jealous Tinker
Bell, who refers to Molly as a "fat cow." Meanwhile, Pearson's
background in suspense thrillers becomes apparent as Peter
and Molly journey to a few English landmarks and tangle with
Lord Ombra again. This second run-in with Ombra is particularly
engaging and as dark and dramatic as the best Harry Potter
scenes, which ought to delight and terrify young readers with
hearty imaginations.
Despite
the occasionally tedious moments, Peter and the Shadow
Thieves offers yet another entertaining look at Peter
Pan's early adventures. Not all of the story's issues are
resolved by the end, but it is conclusive enough to leave
listeners of all ages well satisfied, while still leaving
enough room for the next sequel—this fall's Peter
and the Secret of Rundoon.
(July,
2007)
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