The Ratastrophe Catastrophe (Illmoor Chronicles) - a review by Jason

THE RATASTROPHE CATASTROPHE (BOOK 1 IN THE ILLMOOR CHRONICLES)

Jason's Rating: Book Hall of Fame (highest)

Summary

It is based on the Pied Piper of Hamlein. Basically, here's how the Piper got his powers. Supposedly there is this dark magic that comes up every once in awhile and possesses something. This time, it turned out to be a person..Diek. Meanwhile there is a city called Dullitch. It's problem? It has a plague of rats. The Duke of Dullitch sends out some messengers to recruit mercenaries to get rid of the rat plague. They end up coming across Diek and recruiting him because he says that when he plays his flute everything follows him.

Then when he gets the rats out, the Duke refuses to pay him so he uses his flute to charm the kids into following him to the mountain. The only other two mercenaries who were recruited were a barbarian named Groan and a dwarf called Gordo. They team up with an ex-council member/wizard named Tambor and went off. When the children get stolen, the Duke sent out the messenger to look for them with three bags of 100 gold coins to persuade them to help find the children. They end up searching for the children.

Why I Liked It

It was just kind of funny. The cities had names like Dull-itch and Leg-rash. There was also this one spell called the "Screaming Tower of Doom". The Wizard ended up casting it. It was supposed to be a 5 foot tall pillar of fire. A little after he casted it and it wore off, he ended up bragging how impressive it was and how it allowed them to escape. He said that it wreaked carnage on them. But really, all that happened is that it destroyed a nearby beehive and then sputtered out.

~Jason