Las vacaciones de verano de Henry empiezan con un sorprendente descubrimiento: en el jardín del señor Fogarty aparece Pyrgus Malvae, el Príncipe Heredero del Reino de los Elfos, que ha huido de su tierra para escapar de un serio peligro. Con la ayuda del viejo y excéntrico señor Fogarty, los dos muchachos se enfrentarán a un difícil reto: crear un portal que permita a Pyrgus volver a su reino, amenazado por los terribles elfos de la noche y los demonios del príncipe Beleth. Mediante una sorprendente combinación de fantasía, mitología y ciencia, Herbie Brennan ha escrito una increíble historia de aventuras y suspense. Elegido en 2004 «el mejor libro para adolescentes» en Estados Unidos y traducido a 18 lenguas, El portal de los elfos es la primera parte de una trilogía. Lectura recomendada entre 9 y 12 años.

Reminiscent of Artemis Fowl books, YA technofantasy. Fun, not too thoughtful. Lots of imagination. ( )

Troubled by family problems, Henry finds his life taking a whole new dimension when he and his friend, old Mr. Fogarty, become involved with Prince Pyrgus Malvae who has been sent from the faerie world in order to escape the treacherous Faeries of the Night.

This book. (!!!!)

I read it when I was younger and I just absolutely loved it. I read it when I was about 13, and I liked that it was a little bit grittier, a little bit more serious than most fantasy books. The protagonist seemed to be making some quite serious decisions throughout the story, which I appreciated as well. There are quite a few 'mature' themes, but to be honest, it's fiction. I'm... more or less happy, as a teacher, when I see kids reading.

ANYWAY.

I loved Brennan's British/Irish wit, dry, dark and clever.

I can't remember much of the plot (apparently there are some twists that I totally forgot about!) but I loved the writing style, I loved the voice of the narrator. It was one of the books that I stayed up all night reading, which was rare for me to do when I was that young.

... I don't normally read YA and children's literature (unless it's for a class), but I'm tempted to reread this book. Hmm.

(Coincidentally, the author loves a holiday spot in Ireland where I've been a few years ago. I love it too! That's so weird.) ( )

I read half, and just couldn't develop enough interest to go on. I wanted to know more about Henry's family - what an intriguing teen realistic novel that could have been. But we spent so much time in the run-of-the-mill 'faerie' world, focusing on adventure and the duties of the Purple Emperor, his heir, and the sister who could probably have run the 'Wars' better than the whole male clan, that I just got bemused and bored. ( )