Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

This award winning book is an awesome read.  For those of you who deem yourself too adult to read young adult literature or too literary to spend time with a fun read, well, all I have to say is Foo on you.  This book is an adventure from the very first page.  This may be found in the Fantasy section in the bookstore but it belongs in the Dream section instead.  (They have one of those right?)  Obert Skye (If that's a real name) has created a story about a young boy who has the fate of two worlds hanging on his shoulders.  So not only does he have this burden to bear but he must also bear a name that is as outlandish as his genealogy.  Levin is raised by a "step-aunt" and her husband.  You can only guess based on the genre of this novel and the intended audience what type of people raise Levin.  Think Dursley's to the Nth degree.  Lucky for Levin fate has bigger and better things in mind for him than his step-aunt and uncle.  In fact Fate is as much a character in this story as Levin.  The magic of this story is the off the wall descriptions that break any sense of cliche.  Quips like, " He hauled himself out of the water and onto dry ground and shook himself like an uncoordinated dog with no rhythm", can be found through out this book.  Leven has a guardian in the form of a Sycophant (sick-o-funt) and he is the source of some pretty hilarious hi-jinx.  Leven, who was friendless before he met his Sycophant, finds some very unlikely friends as a result of the ever present Fate and the story climaxes in Foo and continues in the next book.  The characters are very fun but not nearly so fun as the narrator.  The narrator has a unique voice and is as entertaining as the storyline itself.  At times I feel more entertained by the narrator than any of the characters in the story.  This intrusive narration is actually welcome because while the characters are fleshed out well they are too involved in the adventure that they are hard to identify with.  Having read the sequel already I know that the characters become more likable and important to the reader but in this novel the narrator carries the story.  So as you meet monsters from Foo and unlock the mysteries of dreams you will find that while the impossible is to be expected it is not to be accepted.