5 out of 5

As he proved over the course of the 13 book ‘Unfortunate’ series, Daniel Handler – as Lemony Snicket – knows how to properly evolve a kids’ series.  Now, true, some of this is inevitable as plot threads grow and characters age, and although I feel Handler’s works are much more substantial than Harry Potter, obviously Rowling had the same sense of growth in her books.  In her case, though, I would argue that it was more part of that inevitability versus the purposefulness of Handler’s writing, evolving the playful language, building on the duplicities and leaving things unsaid that were previously explained.  It’s not just that the books get longer and have more characters, it’s that they’re growing with you as you read them, and even as an adult, as the world and language are so particular, it’s a very absorbing and rewarding feeling.  With the addition of the AtWQ books, the tone has been interesting since the start.  The assumption, of course, is that you’ve read the Unfortunate Events, as so you’re probably a little older now.  There was no reason to go through the elementary education of the first few Events books, and so Handler could start us in the deep end of depression and secrets.  The books still carry the lovely dry sense of humor, but the bleakness is more frank, and a bit more threatening.  Olaf is a cartoonish villain; the faceless Hangfire in AtWQ is an evil engima who kidnaps children, chains them up, and burns down school.  And maintaining the same setting for the series – Stain’d By the Sea – has the benefit of adding more and more layers of dreary depth to the town with each book.  It’s not an exchangeable set.  Even though it seems like there are only a handful of places in the town to visit, settling into the locale is part of the book’s maturity: a willingness to sit still and absorb.  And it’s just making the world more and more fascinating with each book.

“School?” is another kidnapping plot; more secrets; more poor chaperones; more vocabulary.  Handler still occasionally blips over some details where he’s otherwise so meticulous, but he’s toned down a lot of the irrationality of past adventures such that most of this is approaching a heightened reality as opposed to a fantasy.  Book 3 edged into perfect status, though, due to how carefully the characters interact.  Snicket has a testy relationship with the tricksy Ellington Feint; a starting-to-sober relationship with his chaperones; a respectful camaraderie with his growing circle of confidants.  The enemies are a bit more brash and so Snicket can respond to them in kind.  It might be a fantastic world wrapped in bright and bouncy illustrations by Seth – which still aren’t the gothic work of Helquist but have grown on me with each book – but strip away the more embellished elements of the setting and the dialogue and characters really are still aces.

Anyhow anyhow.  As I’m pretty sure I said last time: you know what you’re getting here if you’re reading these.  But this was a really good one.