From Publishers Weekly
At 12, Miranda has been told often enough that she has an active imagination. Yet when she is yanked out of her bedroom one evening in the company of a snake-goddess named Naja and a human-size feline named Bastable, she knows this is no ordinary fantasy. Miranda and her companions, including a boy, a rat and the angelic Bennu, have to defeat the dreaded Charmer, an evil creature who will use any means he can to enslave the universe. Dealing with each character's separate world, the Charmer employs insidious forms of mind control and addiction. True to form, good overcomes evil, but Singer ( Horsemaster ; Turtle in July ) interweaves a convincing--if unexpected--anti-drug message into her exciting narrative. Fans of fantasy will welcome this addition to the genre. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 5-7-- Typical quest fantasy combines with a science-fiction vision of worlds controlled by an omnipotent, evil genius on a possible and quite believable future Earth. Miranda, 12, has often been faulted for her overactive imagination, and no one knows if Bastable, an invisible catlike creature with whom she often converses, is just an imaginary friend, or actually a deposed king, as he claims. The gift of a snake charmer's basket from Miranda's Uncle Gerald draws Miranda and Bastable into a series of dangerous adventures in various worlds. With a cobra-goddess, a clever rodent, a primitive humanoid, and an immortal bird, they form the Correct Combination--the only entity with any hope of fighting and conquering the Charmer, an evil being who has used a different identity in each of their worlds to enslave the minds and bodies of its inhabitants. Singer seems less comfortable in these genres than in her many novels with contemporary, realistic settings; phrases like the Correct Combination and the Charmer do not have the music or power of high fantasy, and while the characters are interesting, the plot jumps awkwardly rather than flowing seamlessly to its somewhat surprising and quite satisfying conclusion. Dedicated fantasy and science-fiction fans will find much to ponder and enjoy in this novel, but readers new or indifferent to the genres may be put off. --Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
