The Game of Sunken Places
The Norumbegan Quartet #1
“A highly original and enormously entertaining read.” — New York Times
Scholastic (2004)
ISBN: 9780545200080
Ages: 8-12
Titles in The Norumbegan Quartet
When Brian and Gregory receive an invitation to stay at a distant relative’s strange mansion … well, they should know better than to go. Trips to distant relatives’ strange mansions rarely go well. And this mansion is even stranger than most. Uncle Max doesn’t really know what century he’s in. The butler burns socks. And the attic is home to the Game of Sunken Places.
The Game of Sunken places looks like a board game. And most of the time it acts like a board game. But from the moment Brian and Gregory start playing, they are caught up in an adventure that goes far beyond the board. Soon the boys are dealing with ancient riddles, mysterious kingdoms, and terrifying beasts that lurk in the forest. There’s a surprise around every corner – and, for Brian and Gregory, only one way to win.
Reviews
“A highly original and enormously entertaining read.” — New York Times
“A perfect make-believe scenario.” — U.S. News and World Report
★ “Anderson keeps the tension high …. Dexterously juggling a seemingly impossible profusion of elements, [he] builds to a climactic series of surprises that, exploding like fireworks, will almost certainly dazzle readers.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “Deliciously scary, often funny, and crowned by a pair of deeply satisfying surprises, this tour de force leaves one marveling at Anderson’s ability.” — Booklist, starred review
“As with so many games, the fun of the novel is not in the ending but in the getting there, and readers willing to suspend every ounce of disbelief will be rewarded by this smart, consciously complex offering that never panders to its middle-grade audience.” — Kirkus Reviews
“The writing is lively and often irreverent…” — Horn Book