The Order of Odd-Fish - James Kennedy

The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy. Published by Laurel-Leaf / Random House, 2008.

The Order of Odd-Fish by James Kennedy is about a thirteen-year-old girl named Jo Larouche. Jo lives with her aunt Lily in the Californian desert, where she was left as a baby with the following note: "This is Jo. Please take care of her. But beware. This is a dangerous baby." When a series of events takes Jo and Lily to the magical place of Eldritch City, it slowly becomes clear why Jo is so dangerous.

It took me a while to really get into this book. Jo is a likeable character and easy to identify with, but the story makes weird little jumps and when they are still in California, it is all a bit unclear as to what exactly is going on. Once they are in Eldritch City, however, it all started to make more sense and the writing style seemed to fit this environment much better and became more engaging. The environment of Eldritch City really saved the story and I loved all the descriptions of this weird and wonderful place. All the bits about the customs and history of this place are so much fun to read because they are so incredibly random.

To me, the Order of Odd-Fish, where Jo stays, is one of the best things about the book. The Order's mission is to make an appendix filled with pointless and 'properly dubious' information. All the knights of the Order have their own specialty, like dithering, absurd animals, improbable botany, and ludicrous weaponry. They pursue knowledge for knowledge and no other reason. I think this attitude is great; even though you know it will never be useful, random things are the most fun to learn about and to amaze your friends with.

Eldritch City is a great place to read about, and I wish I could visit it. It is the place to go to if you want to have an adventure, and Jo constantly falls from one adventure into the other. Besides adventure, the place is filled with wonderfully weird characters who are a joy to read about. Despite its slow start, I've become incredibly fond of this book and was sad to turn the last page. I hope James Kennedy will bring out another book soon, preferably set in this magical place again.

Ratings: 4 out of 5 stars