Arthur and the Forbidden City by Luc Besson

Arthur's quest takes him into the heart of the forbidden city ...

Arthur's backyard looks like a peaceful, ordinary garden if you are human-sized, that is. But if you're half an inch tall, like the Minimoys, this backyard is a vast world where fierce battles are fought, ferocious monsters are faced, and one evil wizard, Maltazard the Cursed, rules with cruel power from his terrifying stronghold: Necropolis, the forbidden city.

Now ten-year-old Arthur magically transformed into a Minimoy and his Minimoy companions, brave Princess Selenia and mischievous Prince Betameche, must somehow find a way into this forbidden city. Their mission: to rescue Arthur's grandfather, recover a stolen treasure, and save the land of the Minimoys once and for all, before it's too late.

But once you're inside the forbidden city .... can you ever get out again?

Arthur and the Forbidden City is the sequel to Arthur and the Minimoys. I actually enjoyed the sequel more than I did the first book. The writing seemed better and there was a little more character development. The book contained scenes that I couldn't remember from the movie which made it much more engaging to me.

This is another one of those books that is made so much better when read aloud by Jim Dale. Arthur and the Minimoys & Arthur and the Forbidden City have been packaged together under the title Arthur and the Invisibles. Jim Dale does an amazing job narrating these books. I just love listening to him.


Content: Clean read.

Rating: 4 Stars to the audio version. The book version is probably 3.5 stars.

Aurthur and the Minimoys by Luc Besson

Deep underground, the Minimoys are waiting . . . for a champion.

Arthur's grandfather disappeared four years ago. All he left behind are his notebooks full of stories about the Minimoys, a miniature people who are all less than one inch tall!

But the Minimoys can't possibly be real . . . can they?

Ten-year-old Arthur is about to find out, as a hidden message catapults him on an adventure wilder than he had ever imagined. He'll face mosquito-riding soldiers, a malevolent wizard, giant centipedes, and one very independent princess . . . and along the way he might discover that the littlest heroes can make the biggest difference.

It's not very often you will hear me recommending to just see the movie instead of reading the book. However Arthur & the Minimoys is one of those rare cases where I say you aren't missing much by just watching the movie. Luc Besson is a screenwriter. It is obvious that this book was written to be adapted to a movie. I've seen the movie Arthur and the Invisibles more times than I can count (my children love the movie). This book was nearly an exact book to screen adaptation.

If you do want to read this book instead of watching the movie then you have got to get he audio version and listen to it! I listened to the audio version since it is narrated by Jim Dale. If you've listened to the audio version of Harry Potter or Peter and the Starcatchers then you already know what an amazing narrator Jim Dale is. Jim Dale turned this so-so book into something wonderfully entertaining to listen to.

Arthur and the Minimoys is the first of a 2 book series. The sequel is called Arthur and the Forbidden City, I'll start listening to it next. The movie Arthur and the Invisibles is adapted from both books. I've had the CDs in my car and they are perfect for listening to while I'm driving around town.

Content: A clean read.

Rating: The printed version of this book is probably just 3 stars. But the audio version is at least 4 stars due to Jim Dale's narration. So I'm going with 3.5 stars.