The ninth book in the “Lemony Snicket/Series of Unforntunate Events” kids-lit series is out. It’s called The Carnivorous Carnival, and the folks at my corner sf bookstore called me last night when they unboxed it, and even stayed open late so that I could pick it up.
It’s fantastic (yes, I read the whole thing last night — that’s why there wasn’t any blogging from my corner). I’m told that there are to be ten books in the entire series, and it certainly feels like this is the penultimate installment. The nine volumes (plus one “unauthorized autobiography”) of hints about the VFD, the Baudelaire parents, and the poor Baudelaire orphans’ plight have reached near-critical mass, and I can almost picture the ending. Can’t wait for book ten!
If you’re mystified by this enthusiasm, pick up book one somewhere. It’s a little $10 hardcover, delightfully illustrated and written in a witty, arch style that cracks me right the hell up. The series tells the stories of three orphans (“the Baudelaire orphans”) who are dredged through one misery after another, continually jumping from frying pans into ever-hotter fires. There’s a bunch of Roald Dahl in this mix, and some Clement Freud, and Kelly Link, and some Daniel Pinkwater. If you haven’t turned the wee ones in your life onto these books yet, you’re doing them a disservice.