The Valley of Death, Book Five in the Arken Freeth Middle-Grade series, continues the story of a heroic young man in a land before time.
The book is the latest chapter in the swashbuckling saga of Arken Freeth, a hero who will eventually become the central figure of his era, 11,000 years before the Roman era, as powerful and wise as Alexander the Great would be to his time. The many readers of the award-winning series know his adventures as a teenager in the land of the Neanderthals, or Nanders as they are called, along with his royal friend Asher, heir to the throne of Tolaria, and the young woman Talya. They know his Nander blood brother Ord, the evil pirate Yolanta, king of the Tookans, and the vile Gart whose life he saves despite their difficulties.
These familiar figures return in the latest thrilling installment. A war between the leading factions of the time, the Amarrats, the Lanthians, and the Tolarians is on the brink. The central prize that all desire: ownership of the necklace of Tol, which possesses enormous powers such as foretelling the future to those who own it. The quest to own the necklace is such that war is being threatened by the Amarrats against the Lanthians in order to possess it. Arken, who placed the necklace in the hands of the Nanders, is now the one person who can successfully stop the bloodshed by retrieving the necklace.
The dramatic story of freeing Ord, who has been captured and enslaved by Gart’s family, backed by the King of Tolaria, becomes one of Arken’s biggest challenges. He who owns Ord will enable the recovery of the necklace and all of its powers since Ord is related to the Nander family who now possess the necklace. Those who would free Ord, the families, and their extended families, face death for their treasonous actions. It takes all of Arken’s cunning and leadership to forge a plan allowing he and his family, facing death, to free Ord and escape with him, return him back to his people, repossess the necklace and place it in safe hands away from those who would abuse its powers.
We get to know the families of Arken, Asher, and Talya as they explore their individual futures as well as their intertwined fates. A soothsayer tells of Arken’s fate as the savior of their world, even though he is only 14 at the time of this volume. Arken plans to marry Talya when they turn 16, a relationship that began in a previous volume in the series. Asher, a prince, is destined to become a ruler in his world. His sister, Sharmayne, is set to marry another prince to cement their family’s alliance with the power structure but is resisting with all her might.
The discovery by Arken, Asher, and Talya of the major invasion secretly planned by the Amarrats to conquer Lanth is is a huge new development. Can Arken and his friends, fleeing the wrath of the king of Tolaria, warn the people of his country about the attack, plan a sneak attack that will thwart the massive Amarrat forces, and arm friendly Nanders with weapons in order to fight the Amarrat forces? Stay tuned.
The continuing story of Arken and his friends, details that make this book a delight for fans of the series, almost like participating in a members-only club. Hopefully, the colorful exploits of these daunting youthful heroes portrayed in The Valley of Death might just encourage readers experiencing the world of Arken Freeth for the first time to go back and read the whole series.
Alex Paul’s Valley of Death won the Grand Prize in the CIBA 2019 Gertrude Warner Awards for Middle-grade fiction.
