The Shadow World

Children familiar with the Narnia tales, whether through print or film, will find much to recognise here: a Secret Country, Eidolon, reached through a mundane portal, talking animals, a family, some members of whom are royalty in the parallel world and so on. There is even a Narnian prophecy in rhyme, foretelling Eidolon’s rescue through the three Arnold children. Wickedness in this case is represented by the Dodman, a fearsome dog-headed man, and his grisly cohorts: goblins, giantess and ghost-dogs. Johnson has great fun with these characters and their exhibitions of cartoonish greed and stupidity.

Isadora Arnold is Eidolon’s Queen, partially exiled through her marriage to a mortal in our world. She and her son, Ben, have already weathered much danger in the first title in the series, The Secret Country. Now Isadora’s absence has given the loathsome Dodman the opportunity to acquire power through leaching magic from her subjects. It is time for her to return and rally Eidolon’s citizens. She finds Eidolon in a sorry state, its weather sombre and landscapes succumbing to the decay which infects the whole kingdom. Loyal friends give her hope, until she realises that her older daughter, Ellie, has inadvertently followed her into Eidolon and fallen into the Dodman’s hands – the perfect hostage…

The constituents of the story may be very familiar, but Johnson infuses them with much energy, warmth and debunking humour. The three young Arnolds, including precocious baby Alice, are recognisably 21st-century children. Ellie, in particular, is initially more at home in a world of make-up, mobiles and magazines than one with talking beasts, but together with Ben she rises to the challenges of her magical heritage. The book culminates in a splendid watery set-piece of a battle, in which good triumphs – for the present. Both Ellie and Ben are given an appealing hint of gentle romance with Eidolon-dwellers, while wittily barbed dialogue offsets the narrative predictability. Young fantasy fans will look forward to the third title, promised by Cousin Cynthia’s machinations in the epilogue.