The Eastie Threat delivers a royal underdog you can root for

 Andrew Einspruch’s fifth book in The Western Lands and All that Really Matters pre-release became available to reviewers I couldn’t wait to read it. I’ve loved the first four books and the intrinsic way he embeds subtle humor throughout the storyline. The Eastie Threat delivers another action-packed fantasy plot with his beloved anthropomorphic characters fans have come to know well. 

 

In The Eastie Threat, the story picks up with teenage Queen Eloise Hydra Gumball III on the throne facing challenges at every turn. Some are annoying challenges like adequate but not good food created by her new chef, but she is faced with big problems and puzzles that consume her thoughts as she tries to learn how to be the Queen.

She is still trying to figure out who killed her mother, and almost no one else seems interested. The advisors she depends on don’t seem to be serving her well or is that her imagination? Plus she has the distraction of a blurry eye and buzzing ear, a left-over side effect from her use of magic to help figure out what she needs to do. If that isn’t enough, the coup de grâce is a threat from Eastern Lands Queen Aglandau when she takes the Western Lands town of Flatchburg. She even relocates the Adequate Wall of the Realms to create a new boundary.

Einspruch delivers another well-paced page-turner in the Eastie Threat. Young Queen Eloise is a royal underdog you can root for. Her army is not prepared to meet the threat. Her support staff is inadequate, and she finds out her realm isn’t financially ready to handle everything that needs to be done. While overwhelmed she doesn’t give up, and with each challenge and even her failures, the reader can see the young woman’s underlying strength and at times wisdom.

I recommend The Eastie Threat to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy filled with conundrums, a strong female protagonist, and a little levity (often when you least expect it). I enjoyed that Einspruch brought the original band of characters introduced in The Purple Haze back together for this adventure. The one thing that disappointed me with this book is that it wasn’t quite as funny as the others, but the fact he could fit humor into this book at all with the Queen facing so many problems is an incredible feat. I give this book 5 stars, and I am looking forward to reading book six.

Reviews for Western Lands and All that Really Matters Books

The PurpleHaze (#1)

The Star ofWhatever (#2)

The LightBearer (#3)

The CrownPlunked Queen (#4)

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As Book Hookup, I am a long-time book reviewer and I received this book as a free review copy and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

About Author Andrew Einspruch

Andrew Einspruch is the award-winning author of the humorous fantasy series The Western Lands and All That Really Matters. He's also had more than 120 children's books published, both fiction and non-fiction, that have sold around the world. Starting with the four-book "Dunkin' Dazza" series in the 1990s, Andrew's work has covered everything from basketball to DNA, biographies to histories to mysteries, outback heroes to Christmas Island red crabs, and from how the rides work at amusement parks to how the Australian Government works (perhaps the greatest mystery of all).

Andrew is the co-founder of the not-for-profit charity the Deep Peace Trust, which fosters deep peace for all species. Based in rural New South Wales, Andrew, his wife Billie, and their adult daughter Tamsin run the Trust's A Place of Peace, one of Australia's largest farm animal sanctuaries. The cows, sheep, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and geese, as well as local wildlife including kangaroos, wombats, and cockatoos, are a constant source of inspiration.

If you ask, he'll deny he ever programmed in COBOL for a bank.

 

 

 

The Crown Plonked Queen a funny entertaining read with plenty of drama

The Crown Plonked Queen: A Humorous Fantasy Novel (The Western Lands and All That Really Matters Book 4) by Andrew Einspruch picks up where The Light Bearer (Book #3) left off. Young princess Eloise has recently returned from her journey to rescue her twin sister, Princess Joanna. She still wears the cast on her arm, her once-dark hair is white after her Purple Haze experience, and she sports a very short hairstyle after hacking her hair off when it became coated in blood. But none of those things are her real challenge--her mother's death is her number one concern. Not only did she die. She was murdered, and as heir to the throne, Eloise must fill her shoes.

As a teen queen, she must prove herself, but it doesn’t start out well. As she tries to learn the ropes, she is faced with daunting tasks on every side and it doesn’t take long for her to suspect some may be working against her, including her First Advisor Leccino Ligurian. Is he for her or not?

 

When threats on her own life become real, she surrounds herself with some of her most-trusted friends including Jerome Abernathy her lifelong chipmunk friend, her loyal guard Lorch Lacksneck, and a couple of the royal horses who traveled with her across the kingdoms when she rescued her sister. Together, they seek to get to the bottom of the truth of who killed the Queen, and as they work on it, they have to sort out who can be trusted. With all this going on, Eloise wonders about magic and its role. Did her ancestor use it? And what about the Star of Whatever? Can she tap into that someway?

 

The Crown Plonked Queen is a delightful read on more that one level. If I had to sum it up in one word, I'd say "satisfying." The story is an entertaining fantasy, filled with subtle humor, well-defined quirky characters, plenty of drama, hints of a budding romance slowly percolating, and a mystery or two to solve with a who-dun-it trail of breadcrumbs. I give The Crown Plunked Queen five stars and recommend it to people who enjoy a good story, a laugh, and believe in magic. The only thing I didn’t like about it was that it ended and I am now waiting for the next book in the series to come out. If you haven’t read the series, check it out.

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As Book Hookup, I am a long-time book reviewer and I received this book as a free review copy and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites. 

 

About the Author

Andrew Einspruch is the award-winning author of the humorous fantasy series The Western Lands and All That Really Matters. He's also had more than 120 children's books published, both fiction and non-fiction, that have sold around the world. Starting with the four-book "Dunkin' Dazza" series in the 1990s, Andrew's work has covered everything from basketball to DNA, biographies to histories to mysteries, outback heroes to Christmas Island red crabs, and from how the rides work at amusement parks to how the Australian Government works (perhaps the greatest mystery of all).

Andrew is the co-founder of the not-for-profit charity the Deep Peace Trust, which fosters deep peace for all species. Based in rural New South Wales, Andrew, his wife Billie, and their adult daughter Tamsin run the Trust's A Place of Peace, one of Australia's largest farm animal sanctuaries. The cows, sheep, horses, goats, dogs, cats, and geese, as well as local wildlife including kangaroos, wombats, and cockatoos, are a constant source of inspiration.

 

If you ask, he'll deny he ever programmed in COBOL for a bank.

Book review of The Wombanditos by Andrew Einspruch

 

The Wombanditos is a prequel to The Western Lands and All that Really Matters series by Andrew Einspruch. Written in his uniquely humorous style, this story centers around young Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III and her lifelong friend Jerome de Chimpmunk as they decide to sneak away from the responsibilities that consume the princess's time. It should be no problem. Hitch a ride to an autumnal festival, enjoy a little fun, catch a ride home, and arrive before dinner. The queen will never miss her. Right? Wrong. Things don’t go according to plan.

 

 

 

For fans of The Purple Haze series, this book contains characters you’ve learned to love for their quirkiness and adventures. There’s the Princess, and Jerome, the guard Lorch Lacksneck, and as you may have guessed by the title of the book, the wombat gang known as the Wombanditos. This is the story of how the princess and the wombats came to know each other in the first place—when they kidnapped her for ransom. Not only does she not get home for dinner, but instead, she finds herself in a burrow underground along with her OCD habits screaming at her.

 

Can Jerome find and rescue her? Well, if you’ve read the first three books, The Purple Haze, The The Star of Whatever, and The Lightbearer, you already know the answer to that question. This is the story of how the clever chipmunk comes to the aid of his best friend and all the repercussions that follow. It’s an easy read filled with adventure that will make you smile.

 

I recommend this standalone prequel to the humorous fantasy series to people who enjoy clean fantasy, talking animals, plenty of humor, and loads of adventure and snappy dialogue. I recommend it to all the fans of the series, and above all, I recommend it for people who need a respite from the seriousness of real life, a little time to enjoy, laugh, and lose yourself. This book will do the trick. The only complaint I have is that it was too short, but that might be because I’m waiting for book four of the series to come out.

 

I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. I give it five stars.

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Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

The Thorning Ceremony by Andrew Einspruch - 5 stars

I was first introduced to the Western Lands and All That Really Matters in Andrew Einspruch’s The Purple Haze. Since then, I’ve read three books in the series and am eagerly waiting for book four to drop. This fantasy series is deliciously humorous, intriguing, and unique. As I wait, I learned of a prequel to the series titled The Thorning Ceremony and decided it might be a great way to pass the time as I await Einspruch’s next book.

 

The thing is, I’m not often a fan of prequels. I think it’s the result of  the Star Wars prequels I found so disappointing. But I figured I’d give it a try to whet my imagination with the goings-on of the Western Lands and All That Really Matters. In this case, I was not disappointed. I found the book entertaining, funny, and engaging. The backstory is relevant to the overall story and answers questions as to why the twin princesses, Eloise Hydra Gumball III and her sister Johanna Umgotteswillen Gumball, are at odds as the series begins in book 1, The Purple Haze.

 

Purple Haze New Cover Reveal

 

Einspruch is gifted at painting a fantastical world with quirky characters, unusual customs, unique challenges for the characters, and plenty of humor. The plot grabbed my attention right at the start and pulled me along to see what would happen next. In this book, the royal fourteen-year-old fraternal twins are faced with a barbaric coming-of-age rite that determines who is worthy to succeed the queen. As the princesses train for this horrific rite they learn about the required types of thorns, their side effects, and how to pierce themselves. It requires a strategy and the event is timed. 

 

While this sounds dreadful, and it should, Einspruch mixes in humor that brings a smile, while you cringe. It gives enough detail but isn't gory. The training and the rite are riddled with rules like no talking at all. For 14-year-old girls. This adds all kinds of wit. On top of this, the princesses are placed in seclusion from the rest of the castle, separated from all that they own as well as their privilege and positions. They sit under the tutelage of the Thorning Master, a strict, ancient-looking woman with all kinds of piercings. Instead of their royal attire, they are dressed in servant’s clothing and required to engage in all kinds of menial tasks. And all this with no talking. All these quirky elements make for an interesting story.

 

While the girls are twins, they differ in many ways. The Thorning Ceremony opens the door for the younger of the twins to perhaps become queen. The question remains, can the squeamish first-born, Eloise, press past her squeamishness. Can she pass the test or is this Johanna’s chance to take the throne in the future?

 

This stand-alone prequel is worth the read. While it makes me hungrier for the next book in the series to come out, it certainly proved to be a delicious appetizer. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy clean fantasy and are looking for an escape that offers a break from the tensions of everyday life as well as a good laugh.

 

As Book Hookup, I am a longtime book reviewer and content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from the author and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. I’m happy to give it 5 stars.

 

Other books in the series:

 

The Star of Whatever (#2)

The Lightbearer (#3)

 

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Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.