Review: Beetle mania!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 5, 2011
This well-written, enjoyable book could either be read on the surface as a cute children's story or a cheeky satire for adults. Either a tale of two tribes of beetles who just can't agree or a reflection of modern-day politics and power struggles, complete with some wheeling and dealing. Our hero, Kriffle, lives in the Krephiloff Tree and his father, Proggle, is the leader of the Triplifers. He has high hopes for his son in political debate in the aptly named Fleedenhall. The Triplifers live on one side of the tree. On the other live their long adversaries, the Quadrigons. The beliefs of the two are at loggerheads, poised on the question of how many points have the leaves on the tree. I don't want to spoil the plot so I won't reveal any more, but I really loved this book - and the cover too! The ideas behind the cute surface story are brilliant. It's quirky, fun and interesting, full of cool characterisation and detail. The bug characters are great. I was rooting for Kriffle as he went on his search for the truth, meeting many other bugs along the way, including the daunting Fargeeta of the Quadrigons. At the end I was left wondering what happened next to Kriffle as he was a pretty neat little beetle hero. I'm not sure that I want to try the Klummerfly broth though!