Haroun and the Sea of Stories

The End is the thirteenth and final book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by American author, Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler). As we once again join the unlucky Baudelaire orphans, they find themselves, much to their dismay, in a boat with Count Olaf.

Having narrowly escaped a burning hospital and already suffered the loss of their parents, the threat of marriage, slave labour, hypnosis, a terrible boarding school, being thrown down a lift shaft, being thrown in jail, acting in a freak show, being thrown off a mountain, almost dying from a lethal fungus, fleeing from a burning hotel and the murder of their Uncle Monty and Aunt Josephine at the hands of the evil Count Olaf and his nefarious assistants, the siblings are ever-vigilant of his reappearance. Luckily these well-mannered and uncomplaining children are also very resourceful: Violet invents, Klaus researches and Sunny cooks.

Snicket's tone throughout is apologetic, sincere and matter-of-fact as he relates the unfortunate events in the children's lives; his imaginative and even surreptitiously educational style will hold much appeal for younger readers, as will the persistent silliness of adults. Snicket's word and phrase definitions are often hilarious. As always, the alliterative titles are delightful and Brett Helquist provides some wonderfully evocative illustrations.

This instalment sees the Baudelaires shipwrecked on a coastal shelf, shown kindness, offered a safe place, not forced into anything, and yet… The orphans live amongst a group of castaways but end up having to take sides in a schism. They learn about moral compasses, and that dreaded Medusoid Mycelium reappears. They assist with a birth and are witness to two deaths. Readers hoping for the answers to all unexplained issues will be sorely disappointed. Readers who have not yet exhausted their appetite for Snicket/Handler's writing may like to avail themselves of an associated work, The Beatrice Letters. Ends not with a bang…