It has been a full year since Alexa Daley experienced her adventures in the Dark Hills beyond the walls of Bridewell. The convicts who had threatened to tunnel under the city had been captured and contained, the walls that enclosed the roads to Bridewell from Lathbury, Turlock, and Lunenberg had been torn down. The adventure was over. But in truth, it had just begun. Alexa and her friends Yipes and Murphy are back in the second part of the Land of Elyon trilogy, joined by new comrades: John Christopher, a former convict; Armon, the last of the giants; and Odessa, the wolf. Upon arriving in Bridewell, Alexa is presented with a letter of instructions from her departed friend, Thomas Warvold. In it, he instructs her to undertake a new quest, one that will take her again out of Bridewell, through the Dark Hills, and beyond the Valley of the Thorns. There she will come to Castalia, a city ruled by the iron fist of Victor Grindall and his army of ninety-nine ogres — former giants who have become diseased by the will of Abaddon. Alexa must survive the journey through the City of Dogs and overcome this invincible army to fulfill the prophecy of the imminent return of Elyon. Fortunately she will find help at every turn, relying on her instincts and her good nature. And before it’s all said and done, Alexa will uncover astonishing truths about the Land of Elyon, and be joined by friends whom she believed to have passed into legend. This is no mere romp through the countryside. The ogres are described in gruesome detail, and the battles waged to defeat them are as graphic and bloody as any skirmish related by Tolkein. Death is everywhere, and even the side of good isn’t immune to its icy touch: …I wanted to stop. I wanted everything to stop. I wanted simply to stay in the same place and mourn my friend’s death. But everything kept moving as it always does. I was still alive, and involved in things that wouldn’t wait for my needs to be met. The night was late, and I knew I had to gather my things and go. Beyond the Valley of the Thorns is akin to The Two Towers — and in fact there is a central single tower that plays host to very important and climactic scenes — in that the story it tells bridges the first book to the ultimate climax yet to come. For as one evil is set on the run, an even greater evil — Abaddon — is awakened to full power, and all the Land of Elyon is in more danger than it has ever known.Certain allegories to tenets of faith run strong through the pages, as sacrifices are made and hard choices taken — all in the name of a powerful entity they’ve never seen nor can prove the existence of, and who, it could be argued, has left them all to suffer their own fates. But Alexa continues undaunted, heroically, despite the many opportunities and many good reasons to give up. As girl heroes go, Alexa stands apart from her literary predecessors — for the Land of Elyon is not some faraway enchanted world to her, but her home; the evil she faces threatens not just a newfound group of friends, but her family and her very way of life. Her desperation and her resultant bravery are shared by the reader as the author transports us on a harrowing journey through dangers unimaginable.Grade: A+

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