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    The Wyrm King
    The Wyrm King
    The Wyrm King
    Ebook169 pages1 hour

    The Wyrm King

    By Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the #1 New York Times bestselling Spiderwick Chronicles and get ready for the series soon to be streaming on Roku with this eighth and final installment in the fantastical adventures featuring updated text.

    The Wyrm King was previously published under the series title Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles.

    Nick and Laurie thought their worries were behind them when they drove all the giants into the sea. But now, the Grace kids have come to tell them they may have more trouble coming their way! It turns out the giants control the population of Hydra, a dragon-like creature that is creating sinkholes all over Florida. But with the mermaids refusing to return the giants to the shore, the nixies still missing and the threat of a destroyed Florida drawing closer, the kids have to take matters in their own hands.

    Will Nick and Laurie be able to stop the destruction they unwittingly caused with the help of the Field Guide?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
    Release dateSep 8, 2009
    ISBN9781416996620
    Author

    Holly Black

    Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honor. She has sold over twenty-six million books worldwide, and her work has been translated into over thirty languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Visit her at BlackHolly.com.

    Read more from Holly Black

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    • 3/5
      Although it's been three years since I read the previous book, I still found that a lot of what made the Spiderwick Chronicles such a fun read (the mystical, faerie adventures mixed in with young family dynamics and siblings learning to depend on each other) was still there.Beyond The Spiderwick was billed as the last tales of the Chronicles, with the toss back as a small challenge to young readers to begin exploring and writing/ creating their own adventures. In that manner, the series does wrap up properly with the final battle of The Wyrm King re-establishing a harmony of sorts between humans and faerie folk.Fans of the previous books will definitely enjoy this final chapter :)
    • 4/5
      What a conclusion to Spiderwick! Dark, dangerous, fast-paced and daring. The Wyrm King itself was horrifying to me. It makes me wonder what "natural" disasters we see today might actually have been caused by something we haven't learned how to see. A must-read for Spiderwick fans.
    • 4/5
      This is the third and final novel in the "Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles" series. This book was a pretty good one. I still think that the original Spiderwick Chronicles were much better, but if you liked the second novel in Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles than this book won't disappoint.Nick and crew have realized that luring the giants out to sea was a bad idea. With sink holes popping up all around town and slimy black things writhing in those holes, they have realized they need the giants to take care of an even bigger problem. This time the crew from the original Spiderwick Chronicles is along for the ride (Simon, Jared, and Mallory).Having the original Spiderwick characters in the story added a lot to this book. The main characters in this book are just a bit dull and non-engaging; adding in the Spidewick Chronicles siblings spiced things up a bit. The plot moves along really well and the story is an interesting one. I still did not find this book as exciting or engaging as the Spiderwick Chronicles; but it was on par with the second book in this series.The series is wrapped up nicely. The closing poem does hint that there are possibly more Spiderwick Chronicles adventures in our future. Whether that was a hint of another series to come, or a little ditty telling us to go out and have adventures I am not sure.The book can be enjoyed by all ages. Older teens and adults may find it a bit dull compared to the original adventures.
    • 4/5
      Nick and Laurie managed to save Jules in the last book in the trilogy, but the problems facing them are only escalating. The giants are in the ocean, leaving their home vulnerable to whatever creature it is that the giants fight. Before they can fight it, they need to figure out what it actually is. Also, their parents are only complicating the situation. They take the whole family to counseling, where they reveal to the children that they think they moved too fast, and that the family should separate for the time being; Nick and Jules with their dad, and Laurie with her mom. The decision is made over the children's protests. Laurie is angry at Nick for not saying he wanted them to move in with them, and he doesn't know how to apologize. The family is splintered, angry, and hurt, and they still need to save Florida.Nick calls Jared, and they meet the Grace children at Jack Noseeum's house, asking Laurie to sneak out to join them. The sink hole in front of Jak's place is the largest they've seen yet, and Mallory recklessly plunges in to investigate. She finds small, black, wriggling creatures, that look a bit like salamanders, but is down in the pit for no more than a minute before she starts to gasp for air and passes out. The children haul her out, and Simon and Nick deduce that the pit is filled with methane gas. Using Jack and Arthur Spiderwick's research, and the Spiderwick children's past experiences, the children come to a few conclusions. First, salamanders grow into dragons, and these salamanders must be a different species than the ones Jared, Simon, and Mallory encountered earlier. Two, these dragons grow in such a tangled mound that they become entwined together, forming a hydra, a creature with many dragon heads. Third, the giants naturally eat salamanders, which keep the dragon population low, preventing them from creating a hydra. With these facts, they have no choice - they must bring the dragons back.
    • 5/5
      I seriesly love everything about the series how real it is I hope just one day I'm lucky enough for one of these stories to come true !

    Book preview

    The Wyrm King - Holly Black

    Cover: The Wyrm King, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi

    The Spiderwick Chronicles

    Book No. 8

    The Wyrm King

    DiTerlizzi and Black

    The Wyrm King, by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi, S&S Books for Young Readers

    What do you wish to tell us?

    Map of Mangrove Hollow

    To my grandfather, Harry, who liked to make up stories.

    —H. B.

    To all my friends and family back in Florida. These images of my old home are for you.

    —T. D.

    Table of Contents

    LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

    MAP OF MANGROVE HOLLOW

    CHAPTER ONE: IN WHICH

    NICK AND JULES GET THEIR HEADS EXAMINED

    CHAPTER TWO: IN WHICH

    NICK SURPRISES HIMSELF

    CHAPTER THREE: IN WHICH

    SOMEONE FAMILIAR RETURNS AS EVERYTHING ELSE BECOMES UNFAMILIAR

    CHAPTER FOUR: IN WHICH

    THEY DRIVE IN CIRCLES

    CHAPTER FIVE: IN WHICH

    THEY GO TO THE BEACH

    CHAPTER SIX: IN WHICH

    EVERYBODY RUNS

    CHAPTER SEVEN: IN WHICH

    NICK FULFILLS HIS PROMISES

    CHAPTER EIGHT: IN WHICH

    EVERYTHING BEGINS TO COME APART

    CHAPTER NINE: IN WHICH

    NICK FINALLY DECIDES WHAT HE WANTS

    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

    List of Full-Page Illustrations

    WHAT DO YOU WISH TO TELL US?

    MAP OF MANGROVE HOLLOW

    THE SIZE OF AN OVERTURNED TRUCK

    THAT’S MY FAULT

    DEBRIS COVERED THE GROUND

    THIS SINKHOLE WAS MUCH LARGER

    SOMETHING YOU WERE THINKIN’ ON

    SHE ALWAYS DOES THIS!

    WHAT ARE THESE THINGS?

    THEY SEEMED SO SMALL

    YOU WILL TAKE US TO A BIGGER WATER

    WE SHOULD GIVE THEM NAMES

    SEE?

    THE CAP WAS STILL IN HIS HAND

    NO HELPING

    WHAT DO YOU WISH TO TELL US?

    THE GIANTS FOLLOWED THE CAR

    JARED LOOKED OUT AT THE OCEAN

    KEEP SINGING!

    GO!

    NICK SCREAMED AS HE WAS SWEPT UP

    HIS OTHER HAND WAS SLIDING OFF THE HOOK

    IT WAS HE WHO HAD FORGOTTEN

    ON YOUR LIFE YOU PROMISED

    LOOK

    THERE’S MORE OF THEM

    MADE OF MELTED PLASTIC

    NICK GRABBED THE MACHETE

    HE FORCED HIMSELF ONWARD

    THIS WAS THE END

    The size of an overturned truck

    Chapter One

    IN WHICH Nick and Jules Get Their Heads Examined

    Nicholas Vargas had imagined a panoply of terrible punishments his dad might impose after he’d stayed out all night with Jules and Laurie. He’d imagined being grounded forever. He’d imagined all future video games and game systems confiscated. He’d imagined being yelled at every day for the next six months.

    The actual punishment was much worse. His dad blamed himself for everything.

    This counselor will help us work things out, Charlene said. She was driving, her hands gripping the wheel too tightly. Nick squirmed next to Jules and Laurie in the backseat. Even though Charlene was wearing sunglasses, Nick could tell her eyes were red and puffy.

    His dad also blamed Charlene. The two of them had fought so much that they were basically not speaking. Now they only argued through dark looks and passive-aggressive comments delivered to the air.

    The car pulled into the driveway of a small yellow house, where garage doors had been changed out for a wall of windows. Nick could see crystals stuck to the glass, making rainbows dance across the asphalt. It didn’t look like a doctor’s office at all.

    This person has a degree? his dad said, making the statement into a question. He appeared to be addressing the windshield.

    The inside wasn’t much more reassuring. The counselor’s office was actually in the converted garage. Soothing instrumental music played in the background. The counselor herself had lots of long silver hair and a few braids secured with silver spirals. She wore jeans. She introduced herself as Teresa Gunnar and told them all to call her by her first name.

    Three big white couches sat opposite a single chair, where Nick guessed Teresa was supposed to sit. On the coffee table rested a box of tissues and a pitcher of water with cucumber slices floating among the ice cubes.

    Jules flopped on a couch.

    Let’s get started, Teresa said. We’re going to try and maintain positive spiritual energy as we communicate with one another.

    They sat down. Nick tried to tune everything out. It was mostly Charlene talking about how his dad hadn’t prepared the kids for her and Laurie moving in. Which was true. About how he never talked with them about their grief over their mother’s death. Also true. But it didn’t matter if those things were true; Nick hated her for saying them.

    Looking at the cucumbers bobbing in the water, Nick thought of giants walking along the bottom of the ocean after a slowing, singing boat. He thought of the pages Jared had clutched in his hand, papers that showed there were some kind of wriggly black things worse than giants coming. Jared, the real hero, who would have done the right thing instead of making everything worse. Nick had thought that getting rid of the giants was impossible. Then he’d done it. He’d been really proud of himself too. And, of course, it turned out he shouldn’t have gotten rid of them at all.

    Which was exactly why he’d started not bothering with anything in the first place—because trying really hard just made you feel terrible when it turned out that all that trying wasn’t enough.

    Nick. What are you thinking about? Teresa asked. Remember, we’re trying to cultivate positive energy and communication.

    Nothing, Nick said, carefully avoiding looking at any of them.

    Teresa tapped her pencil against the back of her hand as the silence stretched. How did you feel about your father remarrying? And what about you, Jules? I’d like to hear from both of you.

    I feel okay, Jules said with a shrug of his shoulders. Charlene’s nice. And Laurie’s cool.

    I didn’t like that I had to give up my room, said Nick. He felt like blaming someone for something.

    Jules kicked Nick’s foot.

    What? Nick said. I didn’t!

    "Well, I didn’t mean to take it," Laurie said.

    You didn’t care, said Nick.

    Jules sighed. Just until the new house got finished. It was no big deal. Nick’s exaggerating.

    So you were angry with your father? the counselor asked.

    No, Nick said. I don’t know.

    Do you think he’s trying to replace your mother?

    Nick looked over at Charlene and Laurie. I think Dad’s trying to be happy.

    But not trying to make you happy?

    Nick shook his head. I didn’t say that.

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