Hi, welcome back to Eerie-on-Sea to Thomas Taylor‘s new mid-grade fantasy novel Gargantis, the second part of the „Legends of Eerie-on-Sea“ series.

What‘s up:

In this new chapter of the Eerie-on-Sea legends, Herbie and Violet have to solve the mystery of an ancient creature of the deep who can create life-threatening storms and earthquakes.

Eerie-on-Sea is hit by a ferocious storm and the fisherfolk believe that an ancient monster of the deep is causing it. Gargantis, the ancient monster of the deep, was woken by someone in his watery caves beneath Eerie-on-Sea, the seaside town where legends come to life.

The fisherfolk is sure that Gargantis is looking for a treasure stolen from the underwater lair. And they are sure that‘s in the care of Herbie Lemon, the lost-and-founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel.

Our well-known heroes Herbie and Violet will do their best to figure out which of the suspicious, secretive characters of Eerie-on-Sea has caused this.

My impression:

Gargantis is more than a worthy sequel to Malamander. In Malamander, Violet and her passion to find out what happened to her parents was the main focus of the story. In Gargantis, this part switched to Herbie and so we go along with him seeing him fight against his deepest fears. He has to go on a boat and make it out for the cold, dark bottom of the sea.

It all begins after a ferocious electrical storm as a stranger with a deep hood checked-in in the Grand Nautilus Hotel and a bit later an ancient fish-shaped glass bottle engraved with undecipherable Eerie Script on it was found on the beach. Some residents claimed that the bottle belongs to them. The fisherfolk insist that St. Dismal, the first ever fisherman of Eerie, invented the script and so the bottle belongs to them. And young fisherman Blaze hopes to find a clue what’s happened to his uncle who disappeared a while ago.

All these suspicious and secretive characters fight about the right of it in the lobby of our well known hotel at the pier. The owner of the Grand Nautilus Hotel, Lady Kraken, decides that Herbie Lemon has to take care of the bottle and find its real owner, because it‘s a found item.

„Gargantis sleeps, Eerie keeps … Gargantis wakes, Eerie quakes“ … This old legend will follow through the whole story. Eerie-on-Sea is hit by storm after storm and an earthquake shakes and breaks the whole village. In this particular and strange atmosphere and with lots of people against their investigations, Herbie and Violet must stick together while dragging more and more into the Legend of Gargantis, having contact with creepy creatures and the whole fisherfolk want to sacrifice them to calm Gargantis down and save the town.

Herbie and Violet have to consult the famous meremonkey to get some hints, overcome intense twists and turns, find a new friend and get through lots of thrilling encounters. And Herbie has to finally face his biggest fear: the cold, dark bottom of the sea.

My résumé to Gargantis:

Wow, what a story. Thomas Taylor surpassed himself. Malamander was great but Gargantis stepped up the game. Another part of Eerie-on-Sea‘s history is unwrapped to the reader and another legend comes to life. Falling into the story, you will get to know hidden character traits of the local residents and you‘ll be surprised how this story ends. I can‘t wait to see what happens next in Eerie-on-Sea.

Gargantis can be read as a standalone novel, but you‘ll have more fun if you read Malamander first.

Extras to Gargantis:

Walker Books has created a wonderful website for the Legends of Eerie-on-Sea series: https://eerie-on-sea.com. You‘ll find an interactive map of the village, an extract of the stories and a few goodies. And I enjoyed the trailer, it was a wonderful foreshadowing for what is to come.

And if you are a resident in the UK: Please visit your local independent book store to order a „special edition exclusive to independent bookshops, including a new short story“.

Note:

As my version is a proof of Gargantis with a different cover design, the above pictures you see show the final cover.

I‘ve taken the front cover, the welcome logo and the map from www.eerie-on-sea.com and https://us.eerie-on-sea.com/ with the friendly permission of Walker Books Ltd. © & ® Walker Books Ltd.

The other pictures are taken by myself, © & ® Deborahs Bücherhimmel.

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I mark the following links (and also those mentioned above) as advertising in accordance with § 2 No. 5 TMG:

Thanks to Sara from Walker Books for this review copy of Gargantis from Thomas Taylor.

Gargantis is published by Walker Books UK. More information around this amazing maritime myth story you can find here: Eerie-on-Sea or Walker Books UK

Dirk