Book Review: Book of Nightmares by John Peel

Book #39 of 2024:

Book of Nightmares by John Peel (Diadem #6)

This was the last of the original six Diadem books published by Scholastic from 1997 to 1998, after which the middle-grade fantasy series would lie dormant for almost a decade until getting revived under another publisher. Presumably that’s also why it’s the first volume to end without a cliffhanger lining up the next adventure, just our three exhausted heroes finally sleeping and starting to heal from their latest wounds.

The reason they’re so tired is that this story takes them on an endurance trek across the planet Zarathan, where the villain revealed at the end of the previous novel has fled with a kidnapped Pixel in tow and Score and Helaine in swift pursuit. It’s a cursed world where nightmares pulled from their subconscious fears come to life and anyone who falls asleep will reportedly never wake up again. That’s a particular danger for Pixel, who hasn’t exactly been briefed on the deadly circumstances by his devious captor.

It’s a fine premise and the atmosphere is spooky enough, but in practice, this title largely amounts to a sequence of episodic combat encounters, none of which seem as revealing as they could have been about the character currently under attack. The best part is that Score and Helaine are on their own for most of the book, which definitely draws them closer together, even if neither is ready to admit their feelings on the subject quite yet. But the overall plot is pretty threadbare, and when the team ultimately reunite and confront the antagonist, she’s dispatched fairly easily, without time for any of the last-minute revelations about her backstory and motivations (or Pixel’s breakthrough regarding the true nature of their surroundings) to register as especially important. If the saga had ended here for good, I can’t say that it would have been at a narrative high point or feeling of significant resolution.

★★★☆☆

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