Fans of The Green Ember and Mistmantle will be delighted with Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers by Kevin T. Ford! This new middle-grade fantasy series starter is beautifully written and tells the kind of story that we love being inside of while reading and want to return to once we are done. Not only does this exciting story have interesting world-building, lovable characters, and beautiful language, but it also builds well and is accompanied by lovely illustrations by Michael Genova.
Right now our book world is flooded with new fantasy series (many of which are succumbing to the secular agenda of the moment). Tolkien was not the first writer of imaginative tales, but he certainly did ring a starting bell that seems to have ushered in a genre that is growing exponentially. When I first heard of Lepunia, I wondered if we really needed another animal fantasy story. Now that I have read it, I do not know if we need another animal fantasy story, per se, but I do think that we need this particular story. Lepunia is different from many of the others in this genre, and I find that to be not just a relief, but truly very lovely.
Lepunia is much like the beloved series The Green Ember, Mistmantle, and Redwall in that it centers on life-and-death conflict between animals who are naturally enemies but gives them human motivations and values. While rabbits, squirrels, and prairie dogs are naturally the prey of raptors and coyotes, in these worlds, the gentle creatures are stand-ins for us and the predators take on the mantle of the evil that hates us and wants to devour our children.
Lepunia does this very well. When we meet Jackson, Lily, and Fluff, we immediately like them and feel a sense of camaraderie with them. Because they are rabbits (instead of people) we instinctively feel an affection for them and want to root for them. We know that the coyote footprints are a bad omen. Concerned for our rabbit friends and interested in their story, we follow them into their world and enjoy meeting squirrels, prairie dogs, and some other creatures (I don’t want to spoil a certain meeting, so I won’t be more specific).
I was delighted that when Cottonia is attacked, Jackson does not stay to be rounded up with the other hostages. Instead, he courageously flees to find a way to fight back. His flight takes him on an extraordinary adventure that is thoughtful, exciting, and well done. But, it is also clearly setting up the story for the series overall. I appreciated that this first book was a contained story with no cliffhanger ending, but it is also just one leg of a longer journey that we will go on with Jackson over the course of a series.
Parents may be wondering who this story is appropriate for. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it is perfect for readers of The Green Ember, Mistmantle, and Redwall. It is less scary than something like The Wingfeather Saga but does have some tense moments. There is a little bit of violence that will be unsettling to sensitive readers, but the average reader will find it appropriately sad without it being too much.
This story is written with beautiful language, a well-organized plot, adorable and delightful characters, traditional values, and the promise of more goodness to come. This book is a winner, and I cannot wait to see what comes next! In fact, I like it so much that I have scheduled it to be a fall book club in my library, and Diane and I may make a book club guide for it.
Use discount code PLUMFIELD at the author’s website – no affiliate link for us – just a code for you because we want to make it easy for you to support this lovely book. If you prefer to shop at Amazon, you can find Lepunia: Kingdom of the Gallopers, here.