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Unicorns of Balinor #5
Search for the Star
Deep in the lair at Blue Mountain, Naytin the dragon safely guards the Indigo Star. The jewel's magic has always protected the indigo herd. Until now.
The evil Shifter has captured the Indigo Star and gained control over the band of unicorns. As the Shifter's darkness creeps through Balinor, now not even the unicorns are safe.
The indigo unicorns are fading, and so are their spirits. Princess Arianna and the Sunchaser must reclaim the jewel--before the unicorns slip into the shadows of the Shifter.
114 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
About the author
Mary Stanton
34 books309 followersMary Stanton was born in Florida and grew up in Japan and Hawaii, after which she returned to the United States and received a B.A. in Philosophy and Literature from the University of Minnesota.
Stanton’s career as a fiction writer began with the publication of her first novel, The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West, in 1984. A beast fable similar in tone and theme to Watership Down, it was published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The sequel to that novel, Piper at the Gates, appeared in 1989. She sold her first mystery to The Berkley Publishing Group in 1994.
In all, Stanton has written nineteen mystery novels, two adult fantasy novels, eleven novels for middle-grade readers (including the successful series, The Unicorns of Balinor), and three scripts for a television cartoon series, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, as well as edited three short story anthologies. Her nonfiction articles on horse care and veterinary medicine have appeared in national and regional magazines.
Stanton's newest series, The Beaufort & Company Mysteries, was launched in December 2008 with the publication of Defending Angels. Set in Savannah, Georgia, the paranormal mysteries chronicle the adventures of Bree Winston-Beaufort, a young lawyer who inherits her uncle's law firm and its deceased clientele, whom she represents in appeals before the Celestial Court.
The second book in the series, Angel's Advocate, was published in June 2009, followed by Avenging Angels in February 2010.
Mary also publishes the Hemlock Falls and Dr. McKenzie mysteries under the name Claudia Bishop. See the Claudia Bishop web site for more information.
Stanton’s interests outside writing have remained consistent over the years. She is a horsewoman, a goat aficionado, an enthusiastic (if inept) gardener, and a fan of gourmet food, but not an expert. She has developed a writing program for teens and middle grade readers that has had considerable success in schools.
Stanton has been a dedicated reader all her life, with particular emphasis on biography, history, veterinary science, medicine, psychology and current affairs. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.
Stanton’s career as a fiction writer began with the publication of her first novel, The Heavenly Horse from the Outermost West, in 1984. A beast fable similar in tone and theme to Watership Down, it was published in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. The sequel to that novel, Piper at the Gates, appeared in 1989. She sold her first mystery to The Berkley Publishing Group in 1994.
In all, Stanton has written nineteen mystery novels, two adult fantasy novels, eleven novels for middle-grade readers (including the successful series, The Unicorns of Balinor), and three scripts for a television cartoon series, Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders, as well as edited three short story anthologies. Her nonfiction articles on horse care and veterinary medicine have appeared in national and regional magazines.
Stanton's newest series, The Beaufort & Company Mysteries, was launched in December 2008 with the publication of Defending Angels. Set in Savannah, Georgia, the paranormal mysteries chronicle the adventures of Bree Winston-Beaufort, a young lawyer who inherits her uncle's law firm and its deceased clientele, whom she represents in appeals before the Celestial Court.
The second book in the series, Angel's Advocate, was published in June 2009, followed by Avenging Angels in February 2010.
Mary also publishes the Hemlock Falls and Dr. McKenzie mysteries under the name Claudia Bishop. See the Claudia Bishop web site for more information.
Stanton’s interests outside writing have remained consistent over the years. She is a horsewoman, a goat aficionado, an enthusiastic (if inept) gardener, and a fan of gourmet food, but not an expert. She has developed a writing program for teens and middle grade readers that has had considerable success in schools.
Stanton has been a dedicated reader all her life, with particular emphasis on biography, history, veterinary science, medicine, psychology and current affairs. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
December 11, 2012
Despite what I said in my By Fire, By Moonlight review, the plot of this came back to me very quickly as I started reading it--though the fact that I so completely forgot it offers quite the hint into what kind of impression it made on me when I first read the book.
In Search for the Star, Princess Arianna of Balinor has recovered her Scepter and passed the trial by fire and the ordeal by moonlight, so things are seemingly back to normal in Balinor. Seemingly. Because the oh-so-very-evil Shifter isn't one to quit that easily, and he runs off to retrieve the only talisman more powerful than the Scepter, something called the Indigo Star that's been guarded by the dragon Naytin in the Blue Mountain for the last thousand years.
So... Random new MacGuffin appearing out of nowhere with no previous mentions? Check. Random new characters and locations also appearing out of nowhere with no previous mention? Check. An overwhelming sense that the author is making this up as she goes along? Big ol' check, and par for the course with the Unicorns of Balinor series.
I am now more than halfway through the series, and I haven't the faintest idea what Ari's supposed to be doing to defeat the Shifter. Neither, for that matter, has Ari. There's no ultimate goal to the series beyond "defeat the bad guy by doing... something, maybe?". Instead of your typical "you must gather ______ to defeat the ___________", each book plops another "gather ___________ because something needs to happen in this book" in, slaps a cover on it, and calls it a plot. And it's not a plot; it's the literary equivalent of busy work. It's annoying.
But it's not the only silly thing going on here. Ignoring the extreme! overuse! of! exclamation! marks!, the strict black and white morality and wildly stereotypical villain/hero characters are laughable. Ari and Chase are good because they're a princess and a unicorn, respectively. Entia is evil because he hates everything that's good and happy. And that's not a joke; his motives are that juvenile. At one point, the book actually says that he's trying to enslave the Celestial unicorns because "The Shifter hates the colors of the Rainbow herd." Seriously?
And let's not forget the narrative's sanctimonious bullshit: the Shifter is evil because he's a cardboard cutout of a rejected Disney cartoon villain, and the protagonists are good because they're a pretty princess and a magical unicorn... and when one of the Shifter's oppressed and enslaved maids says she wishes she had the courage to kill him, our magical, sweet, noble, totally and utterly perfect little princess Ari makes it clear that KILLING IS TOTALLY BAD, YOU GUYS.
So this is a series about a war... that's trying to tell me killing is bad...? How exactly do you intend to stop this murder- and enslavement-happy-for-no-good-reason villain, then? Maybe hit him with some magic pixie dust and then he'll learn to love ponies and rainbows? Or are we just going to imprison him for the rest of his (possibly immortal) life, making sure he spends the rest of his years being hated, ridiculed, enslaved, etcetera? All of which will make him hate you and want to destroy you even more?
No one sees a flaw in either of these plans? There's no room for a carefully thought-out assassination here? If you say so, I guess.
But there's no question where this ridiculous line is coming from. This entire story is the author's mouthpiece, both in the sense of touting her politics and enacting her fantasy. The author simply hasn't detached herself from the story.
First there was the ludicrous "carnivores are evil and unnatural" spiel from Valley of Fear that was so terribly stupid I act quit one attempt at rereading this series. Now there's this "war without death!" nonsense. If the author isn't a pacifistic vegetarian/vegan, I'm a unicorn myself.
But it's not just that. It's everything. Ari spends a significant portion of time pointing out how Balinor is superior to Earth in every way: there's no "stench of gas", everyone up to and including lions pretends to be a vegetarian (while still eating insects and arachnids, because they're apparently lame and okay to eat), the unicorns are physically perfect and never tired, and blah and blah and blah. Just from the way the book is written, it's not even subtext that this is the author's ideal world.
Far worse than anything else on this front, however, is Ari. Ari is little more than a self-insert Purity Sue. What Bella Swan is to middle school girls, Ari is to elementary school girls. When her life at the horse ranch turns to crap, she magically discovers that she's actually a princess from a foreign land of unicorns and talking animals who has to face the evil but absurdly harmless sorcerer Entia. And when she's serving as princess? Dear god, she's just the picture of perfection. Everyone bows at her feet the moment they hear her name. They adore her for no discernible reason. She's always right about everything, even when the wise and experienced disagree. When she does something wrong, it's because someone betrayed her or something went wrong with the universe itself.
Ari is infuriating. She is the most sanctimonious, self-righteous, falsely humble protagonist I've ever had the misfortune to run across.
The two female main characters of Unicorns of Balinor are Princess Arianna and Lori Carmichael. Respectively, they are introduced to the reader as a poor farm girl and a spoiled rich girl. One of them is a self-centered brat, and the other is (perhaps accidentally) a psychologically interesting and reasonably likable deconstruction of the rich bitch stereotype.
Princess Arianna is not the least bit believable. Unlike real princesses (with the exception of some modern royals, like Queen Elizabeth and apparently Kate Middleton), her people love her. They're willing to band together under her leadership, even though she's an inexperienced thirteen-year-old of painfully average intelligence. Also unlike real princesses and teenagers, she seems to have the ability to bend the universe to her will. When she needs something done, she does it with little to no hassle, even if it's been described as the most ridiculously difficult and impossible task one can imagine. She sneaks around the country, defeats insanely powerful creatures and sorcerers, sneaks into and robs impenetrable fortresses, and basically anything else that entire armies failed to do. Really, why does Balinor even have an army when their God Mode Sue princess can do everything for them without breaking a sweat?
Maybe it's because she angsts so damn much. Whole pages are spent on Ari's lamenting; she's scared of being a princess, but she's meant to be a princess. She's scared of danger, but she must be strong for her people. She's afraid that she's actually terrible at being a princess, but at least she's not pathetic like Lori. My fucking god, this girl never stops whining.
Meanwhile, we're told repeatedly that Lori's the whiny one. She'd be a terrible princess. She doesn't understand other people. She's selfish and foolish. Except that to anyone with their eyes open, that's a description of Ari. Lori, on the other hand, has insight and a grounded sense of reality that everyone else in the story lacks; she's clearly a vital part of the story, but other characters take every opportunity to mock her as worthless; she's wonderfully snarky and clever, but apparently the people of Balinor hate that.
It's ridiculous, because the roles were set up properly in the first book. Lori was a terrible, horrendous person; she wanted her father to kill a horse for not cooperating with her. Ari, meanwhile, just wanted to escape her poverty and heartbreak. But now that Ari has achieved said escape, it's as if they've switched personalities. While Ari runs around flaunting her Incorruptible Pure Pureness and babbling about how she's the most humble and self-sacrificing person on the planet, Lori's the one who's an actual character. There's no trace of her former cruelty; there's only a very human sense of being lost and confused, being terrified of her cruel father and his temper, being the Only Sane Man in a ridiculous fantasy world... in general, just being an actual person.
Suddenly I find myself wishing this series could have been about Lori.
And that's just it, I guess. By following Ari and Chase, readers are forced to witness on the most boring and nonsensical facet of the plot while potentially interesting characters like Lori and even Entia himself are squandered.
Because while Stanton has made every effort to make Entia the manifestation of what Sauron would have been like if Lord of the Rings had been written for preschoolers, Search for the Star finally gives us a proper glimpse of him as an individual instead of a lame plot device. Frankly, it's the best scene of the series so far.
And by gods do I want more of it. Entia desperately needs to be explored and fleshed out. His story doesn't make a ton of sense so far. The details about his past are completely muddled. Search for the Star says that without the Scepter, Entia's no more powerful than his enemies. So how did he have enough power to steal the Scepter? And how did he have enough time to build this vast empire in only about six months? And for that matter, what the hell is he? We still don't know.
I am really hoping that the last three books can turn this around. Because I did enjoy this series as an elementary schooler, and I'm going to be incredibly disappointed (and somewhat ashamed of my childhood tastes!) if it ends as lame as it's been so far.
In Search for the Star, Princess Arianna of Balinor has recovered her Scepter and passed the trial by fire and the ordeal by moonlight, so things are seemingly back to normal in Balinor. Seemingly. Because the oh-so-very-evil Shifter isn't one to quit that easily, and he runs off to retrieve the only talisman more powerful than the Scepter, something called the Indigo Star that's been guarded by the dragon Naytin in the Blue Mountain for the last thousand years.
So... Random new MacGuffin appearing out of nowhere with no previous mentions? Check. Random new characters and locations also appearing out of nowhere with no previous mention? Check. An overwhelming sense that the author is making this up as she goes along? Big ol' check, and par for the course with the Unicorns of Balinor series.
I am now more than halfway through the series, and I haven't the faintest idea what Ari's supposed to be doing to defeat the Shifter. Neither, for that matter, has Ari. There's no ultimate goal to the series beyond "defeat the bad guy by doing... something, maybe?". Instead of your typical "you must gather ______ to defeat the ___________", each book plops another "gather ___________ because something needs to happen in this book" in, slaps a cover on it, and calls it a plot. And it's not a plot; it's the literary equivalent of busy work. It's annoying.
But it's not the only silly thing going on here. Ignoring the extreme! overuse! of! exclamation! marks!, the strict black and white morality and wildly stereotypical villain/hero characters are laughable. Ari and Chase are good because they're a princess and a unicorn, respectively. Entia is evil because he hates everything that's good and happy. And that's not a joke; his motives are that juvenile. At one point, the book actually says that he's trying to enslave the Celestial unicorns because "The Shifter hates the colors of the Rainbow herd." Seriously?
And let's not forget the narrative's sanctimonious bullshit: the Shifter is evil because he's a cardboard cutout of a rejected Disney cartoon villain, and the protagonists are good because they're a pretty princess and a magical unicorn... and when one of the Shifter's oppressed and enslaved maids says she wishes she had the courage to kill him, our magical, sweet, noble, totally and utterly perfect little princess Ari makes it clear that KILLING IS TOTALLY BAD, YOU GUYS.
So this is a series about a war... that's trying to tell me killing is bad...? How exactly do you intend to stop this murder- and enslavement-happy-for-no-good-reason villain, then? Maybe hit him with some magic pixie dust and then he'll learn to love ponies and rainbows? Or are we just going to imprison him for the rest of his (possibly immortal) life, making sure he spends the rest of his years being hated, ridiculed, enslaved, etcetera? All of which will make him hate you and want to destroy you even more?
No one sees a flaw in either of these plans? There's no room for a carefully thought-out assassination here? If you say so, I guess.
But there's no question where this ridiculous line is coming from. This entire story is the author's mouthpiece, both in the sense of touting her politics and enacting her fantasy. The author simply hasn't detached herself from the story.
First there was the ludicrous "carnivores are evil and unnatural" spiel from Valley of Fear that was so terribly stupid I act quit one attempt at rereading this series. Now there's this "war without death!" nonsense. If the author isn't a pacifistic vegetarian/vegan, I'm a unicorn myself.
But it's not just that. It's everything. Ari spends a significant portion of time pointing out how Balinor is superior to Earth in every way: there's no "stench of gas", everyone up to and including lions pretends to be a vegetarian (while still eating insects and arachnids, because they're apparently lame and okay to eat), the unicorns are physically perfect and never tired, and blah and blah and blah. Just from the way the book is written, it's not even subtext that this is the author's ideal world.
Far worse than anything else on this front, however, is Ari. Ari is little more than a self-insert Purity Sue. What Bella Swan is to middle school girls, Ari is to elementary school girls. When her life at the horse ranch turns to crap, she magically discovers that she's actually a princess from a foreign land of unicorns and talking animals who has to face the evil but absurdly harmless sorcerer Entia. And when she's serving as princess? Dear god, she's just the picture of perfection. Everyone bows at her feet the moment they hear her name. They adore her for no discernible reason. She's always right about everything, even when the wise and experienced disagree. When she does something wrong, it's because someone betrayed her or something went wrong with the universe itself.
Ari is infuriating. She is the most sanctimonious, self-righteous, falsely humble protagonist I've ever had the misfortune to run across.
The two female main characters of Unicorns of Balinor are Princess Arianna and Lori Carmichael. Respectively, they are introduced to the reader as a poor farm girl and a spoiled rich girl. One of them is a self-centered brat, and the other is (perhaps accidentally) a psychologically interesting and reasonably likable deconstruction of the rich bitch stereotype.
Princess Arianna is not the least bit believable. Unlike real princesses (with the exception of some modern royals, like Queen Elizabeth and apparently Kate Middleton), her people love her. They're willing to band together under her leadership, even though she's an inexperienced thirteen-year-old of painfully average intelligence. Also unlike real princesses and teenagers, she seems to have the ability to bend the universe to her will. When she needs something done, she does it with little to no hassle, even if it's been described as the most ridiculously difficult and impossible task one can imagine. She sneaks around the country, defeats insanely powerful creatures and sorcerers, sneaks into and robs impenetrable fortresses, and basically anything else that entire armies failed to do. Really, why does Balinor even have an army when their God Mode Sue princess can do everything for them without breaking a sweat?
Maybe it's because she angsts so damn much. Whole pages are spent on Ari's lamenting; she's scared of being a princess, but she's meant to be a princess. She's scared of danger, but she must be strong for her people. She's afraid that she's actually terrible at being a princess, but at least she's not pathetic like Lori. My fucking god, this girl never stops whining.
Meanwhile, we're told repeatedly that Lori's the whiny one. She'd be a terrible princess. She doesn't understand other people. She's selfish and foolish. Except that to anyone with their eyes open, that's a description of Ari. Lori, on the other hand, has insight and a grounded sense of reality that everyone else in the story lacks; she's clearly a vital part of the story, but other characters take every opportunity to mock her as worthless; she's wonderfully snarky and clever, but apparently the people of Balinor hate that.
It's ridiculous, because the roles were set up properly in the first book. Lori was a terrible, horrendous person; she wanted her father to kill a horse for not cooperating with her. Ari, meanwhile, just wanted to escape her poverty and heartbreak. But now that Ari has achieved said escape, it's as if they've switched personalities. While Ari runs around flaunting her Incorruptible Pure Pureness and babbling about how she's the most humble and self-sacrificing person on the planet, Lori's the one who's an actual character. There's no trace of her former cruelty; there's only a very human sense of being lost and confused, being terrified of her cruel father and his temper, being the Only Sane Man in a ridiculous fantasy world... in general, just being an actual person.
Suddenly I find myself wishing this series could have been about Lori.
And that's just it, I guess. By following Ari and Chase, readers are forced to witness on the most boring and nonsensical facet of the plot while potentially interesting characters like Lori and even Entia himself are squandered.
Because while Stanton has made every effort to make Entia the manifestation of what Sauron would have been like if Lord of the Rings had been written for preschoolers, Search for the Star finally gives us a proper glimpse of him as an individual instead of a lame plot device. Frankly, it's the best scene of the series so far.
And by gods do I want more of it. Entia desperately needs to be explored and fleshed out. His story doesn't make a ton of sense so far. The details about his past are completely muddled. Search for the Star says that without the Scepter, Entia's no more powerful than his enemies. So how did he have enough power to steal the Scepter? And how did he have enough time to build this vast empire in only about six months? And for that matter, what the hell is he? We still don't know.
I am really hoping that the last three books can turn this around. Because I did enjoy this series as an elementary schooler, and I'm going to be incredibly disappointed (and somewhat ashamed of my childhood tastes!) if it ends as lame as it's been so far.
April 12, 2021
The Shifter steals the Indigo Star, a powerful magical artifact, and tricks the dragon guarding into attacking humans. A group of Dragon Slayers set out to kill the dragon and stop his attacks. Ari has to find a way to steal back the Star and stop the fight.
I liked how Ari was determined to save the dragon and return the Star to him, rather than just focusing on the retrieving the Star from the Shifter, and possibly using it's magic to fight him. This is the book where she starts publicly announcing her return, as she needs that authority to get the dragon slayers to listen to her.
I liked how Ari was determined to save the dragon and return the Star to him, rather than just focusing on the retrieving the Star from the Shifter, and possibly using it's magic to fight him. This is the book where she starts publicly announcing her return, as she needs that authority to get the dragon slayers to listen to her.
February 25, 2018
Five down...3 (?) to go. Seriously if my 7 year old daughter didn't adore these books, I would never turn another page. There are gaping plot holes. It's like the story was written with no plan. We're halfway through the series now, you'd think there be a general direction by now. Instead it's a muddled mess. That all being said, my 7 year old thinks these books are awesome and takes no notice of the glaring shortcomings.
June 18, 2018
We see more of Balinor in book 5, and are faced with the interesting dilemma of Atalanta's magic fading. Reading these as an adult, you have to just put on your 7-year-old cap and leave judgement at the door. These are sweet, horsey stories, for girls who've just started reading, and Ari's character is a strong enough role model in my opinion. Lori still makes me chuckle.
July 9, 2017
The series continues, and the characters continue to develop. Even Lori is no longer so one-sided and annoying.
September 15, 2021
This rating is solely based on childhood nostalgia. Would I love it now? Probably not, but I was in love with horses as a little kid, and this series was a big part of it.
July 4, 2017
Series Overview
The books are easy reading and much easier understanding to beginning readers so they may be a much better choice for younger crowds for whom they are more directed to. Also the author Mary Stanton does have a beautiful way with words when she describes the Celestial Valley while her imagination has done a great job with the forming of her unicorns within the story.
So far in my opinion this is probably one of the better books within the series but still a plain read for me. Arianna starts to come to the realization of what a princess needs to know and accept her role then just ends up doing her own thing all over again - forward one step, back two steps.
The constant fight of the Shifter trying to find any and all magical means to conquer Balinor while plotting his revenge on everyone is getting to the point of me wanting to rip out my hair. Can we just please end with the series - boot him out, save the Royals and bring back the natural order without delaying the storyline any further?
Once more the Celestial Unicorns with the exception of the three seem to be lacking from the book since of the thievery of the Indigo Star gemstone since the Shifter has hit them where it hurts. Fortunately for the rest of us this does introduce us one of the more interesting yet short-lived character who is Naytin, the only dragon that seems to be around although sleeping the majority of the time.
And finally we do get to hear a bit of the story from the sight of the Shifer, which was a nice change of pace. It would be interesting to get a bit more of a backstory to him since otherwise Mary just seems to enroll him as a typical bad guy who needs to be eaten just since he is evil. As they say there is always more to a story.
Fortunately with the end of this book I have three more to go!
The books are easy reading and much easier understanding to beginning readers so they may be a much better choice for younger crowds for whom they are more directed to. Also the author Mary Stanton does have a beautiful way with words when she describes the Celestial Valley while her imagination has done a great job with the forming of her unicorns within the story.
So far in my opinion this is probably one of the better books within the series but still a plain read for me. Arianna starts to come to the realization of what a princess needs to know and accept her role then just ends up doing her own thing all over again - forward one step, back two steps.
The constant fight of the Shifter trying to find any and all magical means to conquer Balinor while plotting his revenge on everyone is getting to the point of me wanting to rip out my hair. Can we just please end with the series - boot him out, save the Royals and bring back the natural order without delaying the storyline any further?
Once more the Celestial Unicorns with the exception of the three seem to be lacking from the book since of the thievery of the Indigo Star gemstone since the Shifter has hit them where it hurts. Fortunately for the rest of us this does introduce us one of the more interesting yet short-lived character who is Naytin, the only dragon that seems to be around although sleeping the majority of the time.
And finally we do get to hear a bit of the story from the sight of the Shifer, which was a nice change of pace. It would be interesting to get a bit more of a backstory to him since otherwise Mary just seems to enroll him as a typical bad guy who needs to be eaten just since he is evil. As they say there is always more to a story.
Fortunately with the end of this book I have three more to go!
October 19, 2014
I'm reviewing this series as a whole.
I originally read this series way back in 6th grade. I remember loving it, mostly because I loved both horses and fantasy. Going back as an adult, I see it's still good, but I also see some large issues that my younger self missed - or forgot.
1) Lori. Lori is so effing annoying. Stanton kept teasing me with the possibility that she'd finally go away, only for her to find some way to stick around and complain. Or almost get everyone killed.
2) The ending. Talk about anticlimactic. Stanton introduces a new evil for the last book, one considerably more powerful than the Shifter. Stanton then delivers the dullest ending ever. Practically nothing happens, including wrapping up all those loose ends. We never find out what happened to Ari's family or even Doctor Bones.
3) The writing was painfully repetitive. Each book has to rehash the same description every time we revisit a character. I contemplated making a drinking game where I'd take a shot every time I read about Chase's shiny bronze coat or how pretty the Dreamspeaker is. But then I'd be unable to write this review.
Overall, I'd recommend this to very young girls who love horses. If that was you back in the day, the nostalgia factor of rereading might be worth it.
I originally read this series way back in 6th grade. I remember loving it, mostly because I loved both horses and fantasy. Going back as an adult, I see it's still good, but I also see some large issues that my younger self missed - or forgot.
1) Lori. Lori is so effing annoying. Stanton kept teasing me with the possibility that she'd finally go away, only for her to find some way to stick around and complain. Or almost get everyone killed.
2) The ending. Talk about anticlimactic. Stanton introduces a new evil for the last book, one considerably more powerful than the Shifter. Stanton then delivers the dullest ending ever. Practically nothing happens, including wrapping up all those loose ends. We never find out what happened to Ari's family or even Doctor Bones.
3) The writing was painfully repetitive. Each book has to rehash the same description every time we revisit a character. I contemplated making a drinking game where I'd take a shot every time I read about Chase's shiny bronze coat or how pretty the Dreamspeaker is. But then I'd be unable to write this review.
Overall, I'd recommend this to very young girls who love horses. If that was you back in the day, the nostalgia factor of rereading might be worth it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2015
The ease and speed with which Ari overcomes her obstacles and minor things such as deep wounds, exhaustion, hurricane-force storms, and fields of burning earth, the trips into "danger" may as well be deemed a skip through lollipops and rainbows. (In a near literal sense, it already is.) Princess Arianna is a Mary Sue to be reckoned with, which is saying something, considering I've read and ripped apart Twilight and The Hunger Games.
Perhaps the series may improve the further I reread; the Shifter, for all of the fear felt toward him, is currently as malignant and pernicious as an ingrown thumbnail. Atalanta and Numinor are generally useless. The people of Balinor could all be switched out with one another and practically no difference could be found. And please, don't tell me Finn is the love interest.
Well. Here goes with book 6. Don't pity me. I do this to myself.
Perhaps the series may improve the further I reread; the Shifter, for all of the fear felt toward him, is currently as malignant and pernicious as an ingrown thumbnail. Atalanta and Numinor are generally useless. The people of Balinor could all be switched out with one another and practically no difference could be found. And please, don't tell me Finn is the love interest.
Well. Here goes with book 6. Don't pity me. I do this to myself.
May 25, 2015
I received this series of books as a child through some program where they sent me one each month, and I remember enjoying them. I'm currently going through my bookshelves rereading books that I'm ready to pass on to new owners.
The story isn't too original, a magic kingdom at war with a lost princess as the heroine, but there's nothing really wrong with it, especially since it is for children.
There are worse books for a young reader, but there are also better. If you or your child is a horse lover, maybe give this series a try, if not, keep looking.
The story isn't too original, a magic kingdom at war with a lost princess as the heroine, but there's nothing really wrong with it, especially since it is for children.
There are worse books for a young reader, but there are also better. If you or your child is a horse lover, maybe give this series a try, if not, keep looking.
August 21, 2014
I have now made it through 5 of the 8 Balinor books! I clearly remember the 4th book being my favorite, and the 5th being my least favorite...and that still stands. This one was the hardest to get through so far, and I feel like things could have moved a little quicker. Stanton seems to enjoy leaving the main action of the story until the last 30 or so pages, often making the build up monotonous. I do remember loving the 6th installment though, so we will see what happens.
June 21, 2009
Absolutely loved the 5th installment! It has been a long time since I've read it, but I can still remember how vivid and exciting the writing was. Ari's adventures are un-put-down-able, and the meeting with the unicorns of the rainbow was amazing. All those colours, different personalities and characteristics so wonderfully described. Stanton has a wonderful, captivating style.
Read
January 4, 2011So they find the star, right? (In this one, I think) It reminds me of the star that Galadriel gives Frodo... and that is all I can think of when I think of this star.
January 9, 2009
ah part five and the old mare, if you can't tell I have all 8 books!
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December 11, 2009ONE OF BEST BOOK SERIES EVR- below molly moon tho! REALLY KL COVER!!!
March 22, 2016
A little better than the previous installment. Would have loved this when I was 8.
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May 18, 2010F STA bk.5
Fantasy
Fantasy
June 30, 2013
Talks about team work and having each others back in protecting.Also about fighting for what you believe in and staying determined. Slow at times but mostly enjoyable.
July 8, 2016
Biased because I read the series first as a 10-year-old. I was feeling nostalgic.
December 22, 2019
one of my favorite series growing up!
July 4, 2016
great series
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