Book Review: The Ironwood Tree: Spiderwick Chronicle (4)

This book starts with a fencing tourney, and Mallory doing very well, even better than the captain on whom she has a crush.  However, during the match, Jared seas someone going through Mallory’s bags.  This is the shape shifting ogre.  Jared tries to get down the stuff, but the coach chases him away as the area is only for participants.  The ogre then changes into him, and gets him in lots of trouble.  He confronts himself with a knife he has in his pocket.  As others come, the ogre transforms into a small child, and Jared is caught threatening a child with a knife.  He is expelled, and his mother feels this is his rebelling at her recent divorce from his father.  In the disciplining process, Mallory disappears.  The twins figure she has been taken underground by the dwarves, but are themselves taken prisoner, with Mallory in a glass coffin asleep like sleeping beauty.  They escape, and rescue Mallory, but are not sure of the way out.  The dwarves are making weapons for Mugarath, as well as iron trees which they hope to use when the take over the world.  A rock hearing creature helps them discover the way out.  As they emerge from the tunnels, they come upon Mulgarath with a prisoner.  The dwarves deliver their weapons to Mugarath, who double crosses them and orders the goblins to kill them, which they do.

This book is more convoluted that some of the others.  There is action, but the underground stuff is about too far out.  Getting back to the evil of Mugarath and the goblins at the end gets the story back on track.