The House of Power

First started reading this book in middle school but never finished it. Saw it on here, bought it and was not disappointed! Edgar is a very likable character and seeing the adventures he gets himself in while reading this book is just great. Definitely recommend it!

Edgar knows that he should be working rather than climbing and swinging in the trees, but he just can't seem to help himself -- even if it does earn him a beating from Mr. Ratikan's stick. It would hardly be the first time and it isn't likely to be the last. He also knows he shouldn't be climbing the cliffs, but he has to. Edgar's world is shaped sort of like a three-leveled top. The top level, the Highlands, are populated by the well-to-do people. They control the water for all of the other levels. If you fell off of the Highlands, and didn't die, you would land on the middle level, Tabletop, which is the level Edgar lives on. They are the workers who harvest food and raise animals. They receive water based on how well they feed the people above. If you fell off of Tabletop and weren't killed by the fall to the Flatlands, you would either be eaten by the monsters that live there, or die of starvation. If you could survive long enough to fall off of the Flatlands, you would fall off of the earth. Edgar's father fell off of the middle level when Edgar was just a small boy. Edgar has one memory of him, though. The older he gets, the weaker the memory becomes, but he knows that it has to do with a book that he is supposed to find. It's hidden in the cliffs between the top and middle levels. So Edgar climbs, and searches, whenever he can. In one day Edgar finds the book, climbs all the way to the Highlands (forbidden), and makes a friend (hopefully) there. The biggest discovery Edgar makes that day could be he most dangerous of all. The Highlands are sinking. If the cliffs keep shuddering, eventually the Highlands and Tabletop could be level with each other! That thought alone sends Edgar off on the adventure of a lifetime. Edgar is off. He is on a search for answers, for the right questions, for his destiny. It's going to get far worse before it gets better. This book is a fantastic mix of mad scientist, alternate worlds, and realistic people. Patrick Carman hasn't missed a trick in this one; believable characters, a fully imagined and realized world, and an absorbing plot. I had a hard time putting this book down. I can't wait to see what happens next! Though while you're waiting you should check out the very cool, interactive website athertonseries dot com. Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

This book really surprised me. I started reading it and was completely drawn into it at once. The story is about Edgar, who lives on Atherton as a fig grower. Edgar discovers that life is more than his boring life on Atherton and finds out about his gift as a climber. Edgar is told a startling secret that will change the course of history on Atherton. On the way, Edgar meets friends for the first time in his life. This is a great book that you should definitely read if you're a scifi fan. By the way, if you've ever read the Land of Elyon series and loved it, you'll love this even more.

Poor, Atherton. Poor, baby. If it's not one thing with you then it's another. If the CD-ROM included with your book doesn't have a glitch in it then you're berated in Publisher's Weekly for carrying half a cover. And on top of all that, your publisher's marketing department created an ad for you on the School Library Journal website that drew ire, fire, and fury for its insidious nature. Poor, Atherton. It's okay, honey, I still love you. The fact of the matter is, no matter what the flaws with your packaging and advertising may be, your book is incredibly fun. An exciting adventure with enough sci-fi drippings and fabulous plotting to overcome whatever string of bad luck you may collect later. So while I may have suffered personally from the crazy ad campaign of "Atherton", I'll tell you here and now that I liked liked liked this book. It's going to be hugely popular with any kid who reads it and you can bet that I'll be recommending it every chance that I get. As far as Edgar is concerned, the world of Atherton has always been as it is now. On his level, people tend to the fig trees and raise sheep and rabbits. One a level above his (in the "Highlands" as they're called) are people there live a life of ease and luxury and control the flow of water that trickles down the sheer cliffs that separate his world from theirs. And on the lowest level, far below another cliff, is a barren wasteland where no one has ever gone and where no one even lives. This is the world as the boy, Edgar, has always known it and he doesn't think to question his existence until the day he climbs a cliff, finds a book, and discovers that there are secrets to this world that he never could have suspected. What's more, it looks like the different levels of Atherton are slowly sinking into one another. For good or for ill, Atherton is changing, and life is about to never be the same again. I didn't actually intend to like this book. Patrick Carman's previous work on his Elyon series had potential but ended up a rather didactic fantasy series that never really distinguished itself from the pack. So for all that people told me that "Atherton" was a fun book, I could never really believe it. Let that be a lesson to you, my children. Whatever problems I might have had with the "Elyon" books, those foibles were completely and utterly absent from Carman's latest. The premise that there is a world that exists in layers with the rich at the top and the poor at the bottom crops up in children's literature from time to time (I'm thinking of Zilpha Keatley Snyder's, Below the Root series as one such example) and works particularly well here. And though he may not have realized it, Carman's book fits well into a variety of different literary tropes without really replicating a previous idea. When I think of boys scaling rocky cliffs in children's literature, the first image that comes to mind is that old fairy tale about the princess at the top of a crystal

I love this book! I've read it and reread it over 20 times! I can't wait until the next book comes out. I think the idea of a new world in someone's imagination would be awesome. And Patrick Carman matches up with what might end up happening to our world. So, someone better start imagining! Or, we should take better care of our world, unless we want it to end up like the "Dark Planet"

I couldn't put this book down. It was excellent: very well written with a riveting storyline. The pacing of the plot keeps the reader in their chair. The issue facing the people of Atherton are not unlike the issues facing our world. It's an excellent book to use as a starting point with children when talking of our responsiblility to the planet.