Pathfinder by Angie Sage

Pathfinder by Angie Sage. Katherine Tegen Books, 2014. 460 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12
Maturity Level: 4 (age 10 and up)

Pathfinder brings middle-grade fantasy lovers back to the world of Septimus Heap. But instead of the lively Heap family, readers are introduced to Alice TodHunter Moon. Tod, as she prefers to be called, lives in a village of Pathfinders. Seven years ago, Tod saw a dragon boat fly over her village. Now, on Midsummer’s Day, she sees it again.

And then everything goes wrong. Tod loses her father, and one of her best friends disappears. Tod’s unpleasant aunt decides to stay indefinitely, and strange creatures are seen lurking abroad. As events unfold, Tod decides to go to the Castle, fulfilling her late mother’s wish that she study magyk. At the Castle, she meets well-known former characters, and together they realize that the mysterious events at Tod’s village have far-reaching consequences.

Tod and her Pathfinder clan are gifted with unique abilities including an aptitude for using magical paths that interconnect the entire world of Septimus Heap. Darke forces are using the paths, and an evil threat is spreading through the magykal world. It is up to Tod and her friends, both old and new, to stop this menace.

While Pathfinder will entertain middle-grade readers, it falls short of the Septimus Heap series due to breathless, almost disjointed action and lack of character development. One change, not seen in Septimus Heap, is that characters occasionally discuss general —and often ambiguous— moral principles:

It doesn’t matter whether it’s simple or not. Sometimes you have to do what you feel is right.

Despite its shortcomings, Pathfinder has flashes of humor. This is especially seen in glimpses of familiar characters from Septimus Heap and in occasional descriptions. While describing the horse of Princess Dryffa, Sage slips into her tongue-in-cheek humor:

Horses of such status did not get left in a smelly underground chamber for days on end with a servant who had the cheek to complain about cleaning up after them. It was an honor to wield the Royal Horse shovel.

Since Pathfinder is first in a series, readers can look forward to more of Sage’s wonderful humor. Pathfinder’s end necessitates the promise of further adventures, adventures which hopefully will rise beyond Pathfinder.

Cautions: None

Overall Value: 3.75 (out of 5)

• Moral/worldview value: 3.5
• Artistic value: 4

Categories: Middle Grades, Fantasy, Read-Aloud

Cover image from Amazon.com