Did you ever hear a song with such a great sound
you couldn't help but love it until you read
the lyrics and realized They weren't what you
thought at all. That's how the Nixie song hit
me It's charming on the surface. There's magical
creatures a hidden world Kids on an epic adventure
or unexpected adventure rather than an epic one.
It's I feel like the way it ends It's leading
towards epic adventure in the sequels But if
you dig into the tone the language and the way
these characters treat each other the harmony
starts to really fall apart for me and That's
a problem. This is MJ. I'm an author. I'm an
artist. I'm an analyzer. You can find all my
work at MJMunius .com. Prepare yourself for unbanable
book analysis as I talk about whether or not
this story holds a place of honor or scorn in
the Fortress fiction. What am I talking about?
I'm talking about the Nixie Song, which is part
of the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicle series.
It's the first book of three. I believe it's
a trilogy. And it's written by Holly Black and
Tony DiTillisi, and they are the original Co
-artists or co -authors and D .T. Lee Z was the
artist the illustrator for the book as well They
wrote the original spider with Chronicles, which
I thought was really good I believe it's from
2005 and this book is from 2007 and Anyway, let
me give you a brief synopsis of it if you're
not familiar with it Hopefully you'll become
familiar with it through this 11 year old Nick
Vargas moves into a new neighborhood after his
father's remarriage Alongside his stepsister
Lori, he gains temporary sight via a magical
four -leaf clover, discovers a Nixie named Toloa
whose pond has been destroyed, and must help
stop rampaging giants to save the rest of the
Fei sisters and their new home. That's pretty
much it. That's pretty much it. It's a... It's
targeted for grades 1 to 6, which that's relevant,
trust me, and ages 6 to 10. And it's a middle
grade fantasy adventure. It's set in Mangrove
Hollow, Florida, which I think is not a real
place. I think they made it up for this, but
whatever. It's in Florida. That's what matters.
And yeah, so anyway, before I really talk about
my biggest issues with it, I want to start with
what the good stuff was. So what worked in the
story? Well, what worked in the story, what worked
in the book was that... the portrayal of the
issues that the kids have is fairly realistic.
Laurie is... a girl who's 11 years old and who's
into things that Nick is not into, and he's irritated
by that. We get to see at one point that his
father tells him, you know, no going up in your
room and playing video games, like you gotta,
you know, spend time with your sister, your stepsister,
whatever, and you guys need to go do things,
and you know, I want you outside, and... that's
all very realistic and like there's an unevenness
going on like the stepmom i don't remember her
name um she kind of she doesn't get like okay
nick is mad because something happens and he
gets in trouble for it and lori doesn't but they
were both doing the thing uh but his dad comes
down on him and from blended family dynamics
i know it's easier for you to come down on your
own kid than it is for you to come down on the
other kid and give them a punishment or you know
yell at them or anything like that so that's
a very realistic thing and also like just one
sibling getting in trouble and the other not
is a very realistic thing, whether it's the natural
family or a blended family. Another thing is
Nick has an older brother who's high school age,
he's got a phone, he's got a car, he's a surfer
I think. He has a girlfriend that he spends all
this time talking on the phone with while playing
video games and stuff, which is very realistic
because I at one point was a teenager talking
on the cell phone around the same time playing
video games while talking to my girlfriend, which
is funny, who's now my wife. Anyway. But so that's,
you know, that's interesting. Very real, you
know, family dynamics type of deal is going on
here. And beyond that, there are scenes where
we go from having normal family life to having
crazy family life or crazy non -family life,
crazy, you know, fey world stuff going on. that's
all good because it really takes you like there's
a there's an escalation where you go from the
mundane world to the world of the fantastical
to the world of the fey and that happens with
like the synopsis said them finding this foley
clover nick finds it first then he passes it
off to lori um you know it gives them the second
sight or whatever where they can see the fairies
and or the fey creatures and um Anyway, he kind
of teases her for her interest in Faye and unicorns
and things like that, which she is interested
in. He's not. Although ironically, he's playing
a video game where he's like a knight and has
to help a king or whatever in those mushrooms
or whatever. So like, you know, he's also into
fantasy a little bit too, even if he doesn't
want to admit it, which is kind of funny, but
from a different angle, from a more masculine
angle. And I guess that's what makes the difference.
So I found that to be funny. and realistic because
people are kind of hypocritical and people uh
say and do things one way for themselves and
say and do things another way for other people
and that's just kind of funny so anyway um generally
speaking the overall arc of the story works it
has an escalating tension there is a developing
mystery there is uh like the fey are kind of
scary and kind of creepy like Tolo at one point
she gives the kids the sight so that they don't
need to pass the clover back and forth between
each other which is a really cool detail that
they had to and how that worked out and how that
played out was interesting and like novel but
I did have a little bit of an issue with it which
is like one detail they mentioned is that when
you have the four -leaf clover when you have
the sight you can see the footprints of the nyxies
but when you don't have it you can't see the
footprints of the nyxies later on this is you
know full spoilers for the book it ends up You
know, I mentioned it already, there's giants,
there's sleeping giants that are awakening and
they... Find salamanders and eat them and then
blow fire out to destroy things for some strange
reason I don't really understand why they do
that, but it's something giants apparently like
to do and I'm pretty sure the Giants are a giant
that had woken up and was like destroying a little
water gathering is what ruined Toloa's pond and
put her seven sisters in danger and like it Seems
very much clear that like, you know, the stakes
are real the dangers real because I'm pretty
sure they find the corpses of three of her sisters
So that's pretty sad and it was a very well -played
moment because it had tension. I don't know if
the kids got sick or anything from it, but they
were definitely shocked by it. Rightfully so
so it it handles that those stakes properly and
it makes the loss and the death, you know real
and matter but at the same time with the way
the sight works the way the faith things work
like there's these weird mounds that have showed
up that are bothering his dad Nick's dad because
they're like in the way of construction. So mr
Vargas is like I'm gonna have some guys go over
there and you know hit him with bulldozers and
take him down and It's cool because it creates
like tension in the moment. But the longer I
thought about that. I thought well, I Know like
the fake creatures are actually there you can't
see them but you can't see their footprints either
like that doesn't make sense to me and it should
be kind of like one or the other like either
you can't see them but you can see their footprints
you're like oh those must be bird footprints
or whatever or like something else like the way
the the mechanics of the site don't really make
sense to me and they kind of make it seem i don't
know like hokey or silly um because then like
what you're gonna send guys over there with bulldozers
to deal with the giants and they're gonna be
like attacked by the giants when they wake them
up or they'll They'll dig up the giants, they'll
be killing them with the machinery, I don't know.
Can giants be killed by regular means or not?
Again, spoilers, you know, you should have read
the book. If not, it's okay. There's a guy, Nosey
and Jack, which I assume is like Jack the Giant
Slayer, Jack the Giant Killer, a reference to
that. He ends up killing a Nick, sorry, a giant
because the kids are being attacked by a giant
and they find a trap that, a trap or a snare
or whatever. A snare is a trap. Anyway, in Arthur
Spiderwick's notes that were sent to this address
that they were at, it's too complicated to get
into, but just trust me, just go with me here.
And they end up trapping the giant and they're
all excited at first and then they like realize
like, oh my gosh, we're killing this thing. Like
we're killing this giant creature that was trying
to kill us, which it's self -defense so it should
be fine. But still the kids like taking the life
of a human looking creature, mystical, you know,
fey creature. It's understandable that it would
like... Freak them out and then no seeing Jack
comes along. He's like, oh good job. You guys
did pretty good job kill this guy Let me help
you out if you're not gonna finish him yourselves.
He's black. He's obviously black Anyway, and
then he goes or maybe he's just very southern.
Um, and then he goes and like stabs the thing
in the eye Yeah, I think he stabs it through
the eye and kills it which like the violence
the like the horror of them like oh my gosh We're
killing something is good, it's appropriate.
Him killing it by stabbing it through the eye
also, it's fine. It's not like gratuitous and
he's not like, you know, licking the blood off
the blade or anything like that. So it's not
like, you know, too intense in that way. But
it's just interesting how we go from like normal
world to the revelation of this other world to
like seeing how scary it can be and how severe
it can be and how like serious it can be. And
that's a good thing because I do think that danger
and the stakes in the story should escalate even
for children's stories, but it's just some of
the ways that things were done did not please
me. So I kind of talked about what worked generally.
I mentioned like this weird relationship with
the site, like what can't it see, what can it
see, why can it see in some ways, and the logical
inconsistencies there. I talked about that a
little bit, so I'm satisfied with that, but my
biggest problem is probably that, again, spoilers,
the Grace Kids, who aren't actually Grace Kids,
they have some other name, from the previous
book series show up in this, and they're like,
oh yeah, our mom made them change our last name
in the book, but it's Mallory and not Jason.
Whatever it's the guys and they're in the book
Like one at a time they're like switching off
ones at home one takes a cab to go meet them
and He ends up finding them and he like wants
to recover the drawings that Arthur their uncle
or great uncle whatever had sent to No seeing
Jack's dad or granddad or whatever who was also,
you know who was killing there were collaborators
in doing stuff with fave Apparently hunting and
killing Giants because every 500 years Giants
awaken and you have to kill them before they
cause all this damage Or that's the idea at least
anyway so What I have a big issue with is that
Jared is who it is. Jared whatever his last name
is. He's like sullen and violent and like I think
he's getting into fights and stuff or you're
lying or like he's just like his mom basically
thinks this kid's like borderline psychopath
or sociopath since his dad left because they're
getting divorced or whatever. I can't remember
if they had actually officially divorced if they
were on the outs or what but they ended up getting
well anyway but it ends up being a part of the
story and it's like that personal aspect of their
lives is very much involved with the story and
it like it makes things matter and like at some
point The mom's like I can't trust any of you
kids like I'm so scared of you and like you're
horrible And it was like a very real moment and
it was really impressive that they like had the
guts to put that in the book But they had another
very real moment where it's like this is a realistic
thing that could have happened Nick says the
beginning of the book that he's out of shape
and he's not very athletic and by the end of
the book he closes out by saying like I The world
is changing things are changing I need to change
and the implication to me is that he needs a
loose weight and get fit and get athletic in
order for them to because they're being dragged
into this slaying Giants thing because if they
don't the Giants are gonna kill Everybody they're
gonna destroy their home and kill a bunch of
people in Florida and it's gonna be bad So they're
gonna get involved in this and he's saying like
I'm inadequate right now basically, which I think
is very good It's a very healthy. It's wonderful
that this Chubby kid is seeing like yeah, I'm
not good enough to be like he almost got them
killed earlier They were on a bike and there's
a whole thing where the girl Laurie lost her
necklace and whatever just they discovered the
dead The dead nixies and stuff. But anyway, it's
uh, I Mean, I feel bad like it's a very short
book. It's like an hour and a half read probably
So I don't know what that is like a maybe 20
,000 word read 20 ,000 word book probably anyway
somewhere around that which I'm fine with the
book being that short. That's okay It can be
good and like overall it was good But what really
took me out of it what like kind of messed it
up for me And what makes it part not part of
the fortress fiction like I will not recommend
this to my kids to read and It's just like it's
just like it's lacking these characters not aspirational
because like Jared in particular He he like gets
mad and he grabs Nick and he's gonna slug him
and he calls him Lord And I try to be as family
-friendly as I can on this show, but that's not
a family -friendly moment, and I just don't know
how else to say other than saying it the way
I did. That's not okay for him to say that in
this book. That's a little too rough, it's a
little too intense, a little too much, and he
could have called him a fatso or a lardo or a
wide load or anything like that. That would have
been appropriate, it would have conveyed the
message, and it would have affirmed that this
is a true thing about Nick and that it's something
that Nick has to fix for the sake of not dying.
but it's just very interesting that they went
with that and that that was allowed to get into
this book because it just seems too off -color
and too much for me and like It just kind of
ruined my enthusiasm for the book because like
showing the edginess between like the older brother,
you know, he's a teenager and wants to do whatever
and like even the Nick and Lori like conflict
that they have and like the jealousy and the
hurt feelings and like all those like real raw
moments that they showed that was all wonderful
and I liked all that but like getting into just
like straight out calling this kid, you know,
and like in Narnia when they say that Edmund
is being an ass like it just feels very different.
Whereas this it just feels like it's part of
a meanness that's like they're baked into the
book that like the authors like or Kind of want
to indulge in maybe or maybe it was just like
a decision they made that I don't agree with
but I can understand Well, like I said, there's
plenty of other ways to do it And I think either
they are editorial should have pushed them to
do a different way I think it's too bad. They
didn't because it really brings it down for me
is something like ah Okay, great. I just won't
suggest this to people and when I I kind of want
to go back now and check out the original spider
with Chronicles and see like does this have stuff
in it that I would say definitely you should
shy away from because like I want stories that
I want stories with spine that's my whole thing
my whole shtick is you know fortress fiction
I'm supposed to be curating and collecting and
creating myself stories with spine stories that
means some of the stories that stand up and stand
out against the crowd and like have a strong
moral center to them and they can have danger
and stakes and all these different things but
it's just like it's a different type of team
And that's what I want. So anyway, it's too bad
It didn't that this book was lacking in that
way for me I'm wondering if you think I'm blowing
out a proportion if you think I'm overdoing it
because this one thing makes me say Maybe it's
not so great for the fortress fiction like it's
definitely on the outs, but it's not like in
the dungeon so to speak and I'm curious to hear
what other people think about it, but they think
about my opinions on it and my review of it overall
and If it gets worse or better or different or
whatever. I feel like this is the start of an
arc character arc and like it needs to be there
for for the sake of the arc but like doesn't
need to be done in that way that's the problem
it's the execution so anyway I like I said I
don't want to just complain about things I want
to write them to be the way I want them to be
I want stories with spine I want things to be
done according to a certain quality in a certain
caliber with a certain like you know mindset
and that's what I've done with my book Mockering
Mayhem which you can watch the trailer for here
after the rest of the credits, which are like
this. I hope you enjoyed that. Please remember
to like, share, subscribe. I invite you to comment,
ask questions, and share your thoughts with me.
It's always more fun when you're part of the
conversation. Until next time, keep reading,
be well, and do good things. Visit MGMooners
.com for more of my work and help me build up
the fortress fiction. Until next time, folks,
take care. Magical bugs battle monsters in this
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