No one returns when they fall into the fog. Can she break its lethal haze and return to save her friend from death row?
For some reason, Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III doesn’t seem to be dead. Having rescued her fraternal twin sister from a terrible fate, she’s keen to discover why the killer Purple Haze didn’t turn them both into corpses. But when she persuades her sibling to venture deeper … to venture deeper into the dangerous mist, she’s stunned to uncover the true cause of the skeleton-littered land.
With familial clues leading back to the casting of the two-centuries-old treacherous spell, Eloise is determined to use her bloodline to destroy the evil trap. But with an old friend awaiting execution by fogging, she’ll need more than her weak magic to defeat a power-hungry puppet master pulling strings from the shadows.
Can the young royal neutralize the devastating hex before her friends join the never-ending pile of bones?
The Star of Whatever is the wildly adventurous second book in The Western Lands and All That Really Matters humorous fantasy series. If you like clever characters, subversive jokes, and spectacular exploits, then you’ll love Andrew Einspruch’s vibrant step beyond the veil.
Buy The Star of Whatever to unleash an age-old power today!
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Punchy payoffs progress plot
The adventures of Eloise and her sister-rival Joanna continue in this second book of the series. It’s a buddy adventure as the questing party is rounded out by more fabulous non-human characters. The stakes increase with some truly twisted evil dudes, and Einspruch’s trademark punny and satirical humour is worth the read alone.
If you’re looking for good clean adventurous fun, this series is great. And due to the inter-species nature of the friendships, a delectable plant-based bias lingers on the tongue.
This book answers the question unanswered by The Purple Haze – a most satisfying payoff.
Princesses Eloise and Johanna find themselves in a place where everyone and everything is dead, except them. They face a quest to rid their world of an ancient magical mistake. It will make them into true monarchs, as well as the heroes they were born to be.
I am really enjoying this series. It’s a fairly lighthearted YA read jam-packed with adventures. Even though there is some darker stuff going on, it’s still presented in a way that’s fairly clean.
I loved getting to see Eloise and Johanna together in this book and see how they interacted.
My favorite part about Einspruch’s books is the clever ways he gets his characters out of trouble. Rather than fights and battles, they use their wits and come up with laugh-out-loud funny schemes to save themselves.
His books are a delightful escape. Also, this book wins for the best epilogue. You’ll just have to see it for yourself. 😉
Andrew Einsprunch’s The Star of Whatever (The Western Lands and All That Really Matters #2) picks up where book 1 in the series left off. I delighted in book one, The Purple Haze, and so it surprised me that I enjoyed book two even more.
The story picks up in the Half Kingdom where Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III’s quest to rescue her twin sister, accompanied by her champion chipmunk, Jerome, her loyal guard, Lorch, and two royal horses. The deadly Purple Haze edges the Half Kingdom, and fogging has become the mode of execution of criminals. Once someone enters, they never come out, except for Princess Eloise and her twin. They not only don’t come right back out but feel called to delve deeper into the fog. Within the Haze a secondary quest develops. It leads them to a surprising find and a challenge for their lives.
Outside the Haze, Eloise’s friends Jerome and Lorch rot away in the royal dungeon while the horses try to figure out what they can do to get them out. The plot makes twists, turns, and a few herky-jerky maneuvers that surprise, like when the Purple Haze starts to spread. (I put it this way only to avoid spoilers.)
I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy coming of ages stories with strong female protagonists set in fantastical worlds where animals can talk and magic, even weak magic, is real. Think Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Einsprunch’s pacing in The Star of Whatever is perfect. He does a great job with the ebb and flow of conflict and resolution with doses of subtle humor, suspense, and an emotionally engaging plot. I give this one a solid five stars. I’m thankful for the review copies I’ve received of this series, and I look forward to reading book three in the series, The Light Bearer.
The Star of Whatever – a review by Rosemary Kenny
Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III, heiress to The Western Lands and All That Really Matters, is pondering a dilemma with her sister Jo-Jo…how they came to be trapped inside the Purple Haze – and why they aren’t dead – yet!
While seeking a safe return to their kingdom, the Princesses have an unexpected encounter with a face from their family’s distant past and reclaim the eponymous ‘Star’ along the way.
Many weird, wonderful and even aweful events transpire, before things get anywhere near back to normal, including changes to the status quo of their uncle, King Doncaster, ‘Turpy’ the ambitious Jester, Jerome, Lorch, Hector de Pferd, the Nameless One and others.
Andrew Einspruch has the skill and magical ability to write what could almost be a bedtime story, as he weaves events and characters into a pattern of enchantment for ‘children’ – from 9 to 99, in The Star of Whatever, a stunning epic that continues the story of the twin Gumball Princesses, Eloise and Johanna and is sure to take you away from your Covid-19 fears and Lockdown Blues completely.
Don’t miss this delightful tale – it’s a special one that you won’t want to put down!