The Gift of Dark Hollow

Kieran Larwood's The Gift of Dark Hollow is a rabbit fantasy for 9 year olds about a lost treasure buried under a cursed warren.

What happens

It's the second book in The Five Realms, so start with The Legend of Podkin One-Ear if you can. This one carries straight on from it (and the quick recap near the start gives that book's big moments away).

The story comes wrapped inside another one. An old travelling bard sets off for a great gathering of bards with Rue, a little rabbit who wants to be a storyteller more than anything. Rue asks SO many questions that the bard tells him more of Podkin's tale just to get some peace.

So we're back with Podkin, hiding out for the winter in the old warren of Dark Hollow with fifty half-starved runaways. The grown-ups have a war council, and every time Podkin wanders over it's "Not now, Podkin." He feels completely useless.

Then his magic dagger twitches. It leads him down into the dark, below any part of the warren anyone has explored. He has to ask his sister Paz for help (which he really hates doing), and baby brother Pook comes too.

What they find is properly exciting. A locked door that Pook somehow opens. A grand old room nobody has seen in years. And under the floor, a silver brooch and a riddle. Who wouldn't want to be the one to dig up a lost treasure?

The trouble is, Crom won't even let Podkin say the old chieftain's name. And Gorm riders have just been spotted at the edge of the forest.

It's a lovely mix of cosy and creepy. There's a spring feast with pots of jam, and a grumpy bard swearing by the Goddess's "dandelion underpants". Then there are dusty tunnels where you half expect a ghost. Podkin and Paz bicker exactly like real siblings.

It's worth knowing that the Gorm are frightening. They're iron monsters with red eyes, and the book opens on a nightmare about their crows with bladed beaks. Some of the runaways are badly beaten and very sick, and a lot of them don't make it through the winter. Podkin also has nightmares about his father facing the Gorm (that's from the first book, not a new event).

That could be a lot for a child who's easily upset by harm or loss. If your reader likes real danger in their adventures, they'll be right behind Podkin.

What to read next

If it's the swords and oaths and long ears they love, try The Green Ember. A brother and sister play in a quiet meadow, while a rabbit captain swears to stand by his king to the end.