The Cabinet of Wonders

It seems to me that today s average everyday fantasy author for kids has to walk a delicate line You want to create an alternative history novel laden with magical elements Fair enough Here is the choice set before you Nine times out of ten books of this sort, whether they re of the steampunk variety or the common knights wizardry type stuff, are written for kids thirteen and up Think about it.The King of Attolia books, Philip Reeve sLarklight series, Jonathan Stroud sBartimaeus Trilogy , and s [...]

Petra Kronos lives an unusual life, but a happy one She lives in a small Czech village with her father, an artisan who can move metal with his mind and works with invisible tools When her father is commissioned by the prince to build a marvelous clock, he goes off to Prague and comes back blinded The prince has stolen his eyes Even worse, the prince now has control of a clock that has the power to control the weather.Petra doesn t know a lot about the world, but she knows this she will go to Pra [...]

A fascinating book in which magic education is restricted in Bohemia roughly similar to the Czech Republic before WWI to nobles only, and those who aren t noble manage as best as they can When Prince Rudolf steals Petra Kronos s father s eyes after her father builds a clock that could control weather, Petra runs away with her living mechanical spider to steal them back In Prague she makes friends with a Romany Gypsy family, particularly Neel and his sister Sadie, who help her to get work in the [...]

I hesitated to give this four stars, as the heroine Petra was a pretty generic YA fantasy bright and plucky lass who showed little development And of course she almost immediately met up with a clever and jolly gypsy to help in her quest What is it with fantasy writers and gypsies One, there were never so many friendly, helpful gyspsies around that so many protagonists should have them as sidekicks, and Two, just because most people have never met any doesn t mean that it is ok for authors to co [...]

I think this book felt a bit immature Not in terms of ideas and writing style, because obviously this book is meant for children and so isn t going to be mature in that sense The ideas were great, though I think the author lifted heavily from other young adult fantasy books, most notably His Dark Materials Astrophil felt kind of like a non soul tin Pantalaimon to a very Lyra esque Petra I think mostly everything seemed to come together too easily Petra never really had any difficulties doing any [...]

I love, love books with strong, spunky heroines And The Cabinet of Wonders has one of the spunkiest heroines out there She s not infallible, in fact, she s entirely too fallible but there is a charm to her that draws you into her world and keeps you there right beside her as she has escapades that would make any respectable mama swoon Petra s father, as you will know from the summary, has been relieved of hisuh eyes by the boy prince of the country in which he lives So Petra decides to get them [...]

Four chapters That is all I give books these days If it hasn t captured my interest by chapter four I put the book down.The Cabinet of Wonders has a great story idea, but ultimately I could not get over the poor writing I know the book was written for children, and thus simplistic, but there are so many adjectives in the story as to render imagination bored and rote An example She went into a room with a square window Okay, I don t know about you, but I assume windows are generally going to be [...]

this was a page turner it really hard to put down i liked this book for several reasons my top reason is it was CREATIVE talking spiders, magic clocks, stolen eyes a whole mish mash of creative fun my faveriout part is a the begining when petra finds out the the prince has stolen her fathers eyes she want revenge

goddd I know it s a children s series but it s magical and lovely and I love it so so much

Overall, this book was a delight, at least to this early 50s but a child at heart reader Author Marie Rutkoski is a skilled world builder if a little uneven 12 year old protagonist Petra Kronos s hometown was non descript and evoked absolutely no imagery in my usually very active imagination, but Salamander Castle in Prague where a good chunk of the action a little than half, I believe takes place is lavishly conveyed Details of layout, lighting, architecture, clothing, faces, etc were exquisit [...]

The young Prince has commissioned a special clock to be made in his honor But in his haste and greed, he wrongly assumes the clock has been finished to his specifications He has the eyes of the clockmaker removed so that he cannot make another like it for anyone else However, the clock is not finished and will not do all that the Prince desires But the Prince decides that he wants to finish the clock himself and can do so with the eyes of the maker guiding him The clockmaker is returned home, bl [...]

Fun But AwkwardMechanical animals that are just like real animals only they can talk and only live on oil made from wildflowers , people whose natural skills are augmented by magic, silver eyes that can be plucked from someone else s head and then exchanged for another s like any accessory, this is the quirky, whimsical world of Rutkoski s Cabinet of Wonders.A little bit steampunk, a little bit historical adventure, and maybe a tad less enjoyable than I wanted it to be at times, it s still a boo [...]

Just brilliant Sometimes, YA is too complicated, or trying to be complicated and sometimes even repeating some ideas over and over again with an over powered heroine plus a jaw dropping twistsss, even with those concepts, they still received five stars and overhyped That s why I m reading children and sometimes adult sci fi novels.This book is aimed mostly for children, with it s light but quite good plot The heroine is on par with the villain And even with no twist in the end, this book is real [...]

Miss the magic of Harry Potter Hunger for the smartness of The Mysterious Benedict Society Looking for the next Lightning Thief to take you on a fantastical adventure Cabinet of Wonders should fill the void, for now Here s what our Kid Critic, Rachel, age 10 has to say about it This book was a very good book There is a lot of tension waiting, but when you get to the last few chapters there is a lot of excitement This book is about a girl named Petra Kronos When her father returns home from the p [...]

yourhappinesslifePraga Siglo XVI Magia Una ni a valiente que intentar devolverle a su padre algo que nunca deber a haberle quitado, con ello conoceremos a grandes personajes, sin duda una mezcla para un lectura muy entretenida.

Like able characters including one mechanical spider , imaginative plot, enchantment, a strand of suspense, some history and a touch of science all add up to a very good read.I wonder if this were considered for a Newbery I think it s stronger than some of the honorees and could easily have competed for the award It was a nominee for the Dorothy Canfield Fisher award in 2010, but Hunger Games was the winner Rutkoski targets a younger audience.

When I was young I hated to cook I remember purposefully burning the lefse so I could get out of making it with my mom and two sisters As a newlywed I d be asked by my mom to bring a dish to some family holiday and it never tasted very good so eventually she asked me to bring the rolls or pickles Alas, I wasn t trying to get out of that duty, but cooking for me is like flying I m only good at it in my dreams When Petra gets a job at the castle with the plan of stealing back her father s stolen e [...]

Listened to on road tripds liked it.

3.5 stars Cute story I didn t like how on the nose the writing style was, but it wasn t overly annoying I loved the characters and the world building I would read the rest of the books in the series, as I think it will get better as the characters get older MG isn t really my thing.

marierutkoski books The Cabinet of Wonders Kronos 1 by Marie Rutkoski is the room where Prince Rudolfo 18 secures his most unusual valuables, such as the silvery eyes of magical metal worker Mikal Kronos, removed after building a magnificent unique showpiece clock One final piece, the heart, and the clock will change weather, so the Prince can be the chosen heir to the emporer, ruler of 16th century Bohemia But Petra 13, also silver eyed, wants her father s eyes back, and runs away with her pet [...]

The Cabinet of Wonders, by author Marie Rutkoski, is a relatively new young readers novel that s part fantasy, part science fiction, and part look at me and my wild wacky imagination.Petra Kronos is the daughter of a famous magical inventor, Mikal Kronos, living in early 17th century Bohemia She is horrified one day to find her father s eyes have been brutally removed after having completed a special project for the dastardly Prince Rodolfo Petra goes on a quest to infiltrate the Prince s castle [...]

Petra s father has an affinity for metal and creates mechanical animals that can think and act like real animals His talents made him so famous that the Prince of Bohemia asked him to build him the most beautiful clock in the world, and secretly told the metal worker to give the clock the power to control the weather To prevent the prince from having the power to control the weather, Petra s father made the weather controller a puzzle, after which the prince cut out the metal worker s eyes and s [...]

The Cabinet of Wonders is the debut book of the Kronos Chronicles, inspired by the legend of the Prague s Old Town Square clock It follows Petra Kronos, a fiery countryside girl from the Bohemian kingdom, as she embarks on a journey to the city of Prague to steal her dad s, metal controlling, eyes back from Prince Rodolfo She is joined by her book loving metal spider, Astrophil, and a gypsy thief named Neel As she searches for her father s eyes, she finds out how beauty can be deceiving and that [...]

I thought this was a really great story and a great tale of courage with a young female protagonist.I always enjoy alternate history fiction ieSeventh Son, Pastwatch The Redemption of Christopher Columbus or Sunshine though this one s alternate present The story is set in Prague where a young, selfish Prince using others to create greatness and set him up to be the next Emperor.Petra s father is one such person He has just finished the Prince s great clock, meant to control the weather, and has [...]

I really enjoyed this book, I grabbed it when I was at the library because Marie Rutkoski wrote one of my recent favorites The Winner s Curse There s always a danger in reading of an author after you love one of their books so very much, sometimes it s great but mostly it s a big let down This book, however, was amazing It was so different and fun, Petra, our young heroine, reminded me of Arya from Game of Thrones, and feisty, brave young girls are always fun to root for I loved this reimaginin [...]

This is a Bohemia meets Gypsy meets Fantasy Sci Fi tale set in Prague during the European Renaissance This is not something I would normally pick to read, but it held my interest I think it will be a very popular series I really liked Petra and Neel and, although I hated the initial concept of a mechanical spider, he was important to the story and I enjoyed his character also My main complaint about Fantasy is that it usually fails to achieve my goal of any book enlightenment than entertainment [...]

I recommend The Cabinet of Wonders to all ages I first read the book when I was 11 and I loved it I just reread it again two years later and liked it just as much Petra Kronos is a fun, brave, and smart 12 year old girl, who is alarmed when her father returns from the prince s palace, blinded The prince has stolen his eyes, but why Her father claims that the clock he built for the prince, is not only stunning, but can also control the weather However the prince blinded him before he finished the [...]

I don t know if I was just in the wrong frame of mind while reading this, but I just couldn t wait to be done with it I really liked the idea of it, but some of the writing was just a little too juvenile And before someone points out that this is a YA book and that is to be expected, please let me explain I absolutely hate when an author starts a sentence with and that s when To me, that is just bad, amateurish writing and shouldn t be done The author does this several times Or just a simple th [...]

This is a wonderful story that is part fairy tale, part fantasy, and part history A very clever blend of my three favorite genres The fact that it is set in a real place and time made it feel like it really could have happened It was based very loosely on the court of Rudolf II in the late 16th and early 17th century Prague I loved the characters and thought they were well developed The story is complex enough for middle to high schoolers, but elementary students won t get lost in overly involve [...]

Petra s father has magic to bring metal to life He made her tin spider Astro and her best friend s dog along with several other critters that wander around their village It is when her father builds a huge clock for the prince that things go bad The prince orders his wizard to remove Petra s father s eyes and sends him back to the village blind Without his eyes, how are they suppose to live and what does the prince need with them anyway It s high time Petra found out.This is a charming story fil [...]