Spirit Animals: Fall of the Beasts #3: The Return by Varian Johnson reviewed by Debra Gantz

Summary: If you like longer series with riveting characters, action, danger, adventure, and majestic animals, this Spirit Animals series is for you! Follow Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan as they seek to stop the Wyrm that is taking over humans and spirit animals with only destruction in mind. There are many characters to meet along the way and many communities to learn about. Be sure to check that map at the beginning of the book for a better understanding of your journey. (Though the online game is no longer supported since 2025, the books do stand alone as engaging stories to enjoy.) 

Straight Talk for Librarians: First: the online component is no longer available, but that does not negate that this book and the series Fall of the Beasts is well written. Secondly, the Spirit Animals series as a whole seems to have waned in popularity. The connection of the books to a game online was huge for a bit. Since I am not drawn by online gaming, I focus only on the books themselves. The characters are consistent book to book despite the series being written by different authors. Varian Johnson is stellar at the scenes of violence and danger. He manages to expose the character flaws at just the right time for the heroes of the story to save the day. These would make great read alouds. I love the map included for reference. I have some students who won't read a Fantasy book without a map. Though the animals are not all cute and cuddly looking like the Panda on the cover art, they are all cunning, loyal, and fascinating as support characters to the young warriors as they continue their quest to defend and save the Evertree. I am trying to figure out why this series is not as popular as it once was and after having read Fall of Beasts, I will have to book talk it, again. It is a great adventure with interesting characters and animals bonded to them. There is literally nothing to not like.