Oh my god, this is an amazing book. Hilarious, scary, filled with the most inventive, evocative kinds of magic and place. Great characters. Flora - short, red-headed, hot-headed - and Udo - handsome, charming, a clothes-horse - are basically a match made in heaven. This is a city in which i want to live and party and go on dates with people. ( )

Reviewed by Carrie Spellman for TeensReadToo.com

Flora Fydraaca's Catorcena is coming up and she hasn't finished her dress or her speech. The main problem with the speech is that it's supposed to celebrate everything great and glorious about her family, the Fyrdraaca's, and her home, Crackpot Hall, and it all has to be true. Unfortunately, Flora doesn't find either of these things to be particularly great or glorious. Maybe they were once, but not since Flora can remember.

Once her father was a great champion fighter and rider. Now he just hides up in his rooms, and occasionally has fits of insanity. He went crazy years ago during the war, when he tried, and failed, to rescue the first Flora from abductors. Flora's mother is the Warlord's Commanding General, so she seems pretty glorious, but she's hardly ever home. Flora's sisterIdden is a general in an elite part of the army, but Flora's not interested in that. Even though it's what she's expected to do after school.

Crackpot Hall sounds like it was unbelievable before Flora was born, but then her mother banished the magickal Butler. Ever since then the windows leak, the garden has become a jungle, stairways forget to finish, hallways end in nothing, etc. There are 11,000 rooms in Crackpot Hall, but Flora and her family can only get to a few of them. Those few rooms stay only as clean as Flora can manage between school, her father's outbursts, and taking care of the dogs.

One day, already running late for school, Flora has to run back inside to get a well-overdue library book. Knowing the risk, she takes a chance and takes the elevator. She ends up in a part of the house she never even knew existed. A place that contains a million books and what's left of the now very bitter, banished Butler. He's literally wasting away to nothing.

He thinks Flora can help him. Maybe she can. Maybe the more important question is should she help him? Regardless, a chain of events is set in motion that will alter Flora, the Fyrdraaca family, and possibly Crackpot Hall, completely.

A magical adventure with a host of peculiar characters, most of which are well-developed and extremely entertaining. Flora's life is exciting, eventful, and sometimes dangerous. Help comes in strange ways from the most unexpected places, and learning to be herself may be the hardest and most important thing Flora has ever done. ( )

While I loved the language in this book (full of archaic and very fun words) I found the story to drag after the first 150 pages or so. ( )

http://www.lonelymountain.net/books/f... ( )

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. I loved the idea of the house denizens and the way the magic works in this world. ( )

Written for TCM Reviews

Flora Fydraaca is about to turn 14 and celebrate her Catorcena, the coming-of-age ceremony that qualifies her to enter military training. She has to write a speech, but she’s finding it difficult because it is supposed to celebrate everything that is great about her family and her home, and neither of those things has been particularly wonderful for quite some time. Flora lives in Crackpot Hall, which has started to decay ever since her mother, the Warlord’s Commanding General, fired the magickal Butler. Now the 11,000 rooms randomly shift position, the windows leak, stairways forget to finish, and hallways end in nothing.One day Flora is running late and has to run back inside to get her overdue library book. Taking a chance, she uses an elevator and ends up in a part of the house she’s never seen before. Here she discovers Valefor, the banished butler who is now wasting away to nothing. He is convinced that Flora can help him, but the real question is should she help him? What happens over the next week changes Flora, her family, and Crackpot Hall forever.

Flora Segunda is a fun magickal adventure, with a very entertaining cast of characters. Ysabeau Wilce has created a fresh, original fantasy that is sure to please readers.

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2009/03... ( )

I was really into this when I first started reading. It was interesting and endearing, cute little made-up words and a mezcla of Spanish words thrown in. But as it went on, it became more tedious. Not as interesting or endearing and it started to feel like a chore to read. It felt at least 100 pages too long and I found myself not caring whether Flora got sucked into the abyss or not. Won't be reading the second one. ( )

I loved this book! It reminds of a well created cartoon, with extra large characters, extra large problems, a very bright and strange place.

This book is not a typical fantasy book. The setting seems to take place in California, only now its called Calif, and its culturally part Indian, part Spanish, and part Aztec. Magic exists, but Flora's Mom doesn't like it very much, and banished the family's magical butler. As a result, Flora ends up doing all the chores. Her Mom (Buck) spends a lot of time away, and Flora's Dad is crazy and hopeless. The writing is from first person, and its written in a way an educated 14 year old would speak. There are no one dimensional characters in this book, except for the very minor one line characters. For example, Buck is portrayed as this very cold woman who only cares for work when Flora talks about her, but when we actually meet Buck, we find out she works a lot, has high expectations about her daughter, but really loves Flora. We see the world through Flora's 14 year old eyes and as she learns a few lessons (Things aren't what they seem, but sometimes they are). This book is a lot fun, and I highly suggest reading it.

Not your typical teenage fantasy. ( )

Simply speaking: Flora Segunda is a romp.

Flora Fyrdraaca is preparing for her catorcena, a fourteenth birthday party which also readies her for entry into the Califa Military training world. Rather than join the Army, which is what her high-ranking mother wants, Flora wishes to emulate the legendary Califa heroine (Nini Mo) and become a Ranger. It is in this state of mind that Flora meets Valefor, the banished denizen who once served as butler of her family's now crumbling castle (Crackpot Manor, the titular house).

While Wilce never explicitly lays out a detailed explanation of Flora's world, the impression given is that of an alternate magical universe, in which Flora's country of Califa is occupied by their conquerors, the Huitzils (which smacks of the Spanish Conquest of the Americas turned on its head) after a lengthy, bloody conflict. What information we are given comes from Flora, who, as a fourteen-year-old girl with a busy, crammed-full life, is a reliable narrator only when she's sleeping. This does not stop her from having decided opinions and views on her world and her place in it, and the reader must pick and choose which bits to trust.

Wilce also does not spend time detailing the magic, its complete history, (thank heavens), she puts her time and writing to better use with Flora, her family and friends. The characters are fully formed, conflicted and delightful to follow, especially when they make mistakes, which Flora does nearly every page. Her General mother, her grieving half-crazy father, her best friend Udo, Nini Mo, the Dainty Pirate: no one is infallible or completely trustworthy. Lastly, there don't seem to be any bad guys in Flora's world. Everyone has reasons for what they do, and everyone can be seen in a sympathetic light, which is a refreshing move on Wilce's part.

My one gripe with this book was with the ending. It felt too open (which only implies the forth coming sequel Flora's Dare, I guess) and Flora's final showdown, while revealing yet another many-faceted character, left me feeling helpless. I feel, and maybe I'll be vindicated in later books, that while Flora did not mean to make a mistake at the beginning, no one means to make mistakes, and they can still be grievously affected by them. I did not want her to die, but I did think that her misjudgment should have cost her something more than a harrowing adventure from she relaxes with birthday cake and a new dress. Maybe it will. I hope to find out.

Overall, I can honestly say I hope Ms. Wilce writes more about this world (she has written some other, shorter works) and Flora Fydraaca herself. It would be nice to learn more about Califa, the Huitzils, the magic, and of course, Crackpot Manor. I also like the Spanish sprinkled slangishly throughout.

There is so much fun in this book I can't cover it here. Go read it.

I discovered Ysabeau S. Wilce through the twentieth edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and I instantly knew that I'd have to seek out and devour everything she'd ever written. Her novel seemed like the easiest place to start, so I hit my library's online catalogue and put in a request. In the meantime, I searched around online and found a free story that whet my appetite all the more.

I was initially a little disappointed that Flora Segunda wasn't as stylized as the two short stories, but I quickly got over it. I absolutely love the way this woman writes! She's got style and flair, and her worldbuilding is tops. I'm an absolute sucker for a great setting, and Califa fits the bill. It's an intricate, beautifully developed place that feels both familiar and fantastical. And how great is it that males and females alike wear kilts and makeup?! The place kept me just as involved as the characters did.

That's not to say that the characters aren't just as worthwhile. I found them interesting, engaging and easy to get involved with. Flora herself is a wonderful heroine, full of big ideals and lots of verve. The secondary characters are also fascinating. There are tons of the sort of telling details that really make characters come to life. I found it easy to get a sense of who these people were and how Flora related to them.

The plot was perhaps a little slow at times, but there was enough going on that I was never bored. There were a fair number of tangents, but I found that they added to the atmosphere in such a way that I never minded them. And since this looks set to become a series, perhaps some of them will become important later on.

Really, though, this book captivated me by virtue of its setting and atmosphere. I couldn't get enough of it. I'll definitely be reading anything else Wilce comes out with, and have started recommending her work left, right and centre. ( )

Thirteen-year-old Flora Segunda lives in the Republic of Califa in one of the great houses. Except Crackpot Hall is no longer so great and Flora is charged with its upkeep while her parents are otherwise incapacitated. One day Flora comes across the banished Butler of the house. At first it seems like a godsend: restore the butler and have him make the house glorious again. But magical beings and houses, Flora discovers, have a mind of their own.

I picked Flora Segunda up with vague interest and finished it with avid attention. The book is clever, funny, and rolls along at breakneck speed. I love the details Wilce puts into Califa, all the ominous names and tongue-in-cheek descriptions. Flora as the protagonist is snappish and long-suffering but her narrative voice is wickedly amusing, and you can’t help but feel sorry for her because of her home life.

Which brings me to another point. As much as I enjoyed Flora Segunda as a magical adventure, I liked it better for being a story about the Fyrdraaca family. Although Flora feels like an orphan, I appreciate that she isn’t. That would be too easy a route. Wilce presents her family in all their complicated glory. Her mother is never home and her father is too busy stuck in his own despair to notice he has a daughter. Yet they’re not bad people; there is no easy black and white answer. Flora’s home life injects a shot of real sadness into what is otherwise a light-hearted romp. But it makes the book all the richer for it. ( )

Houses have personality. In this book, the great houses not only have personality, they have supernatural denizens who act as butlers and maintain the household. In Flora's house, Crackpot Hall, her mother has banished the butler. Flora's mother is commanding general of the army, her father is mad, and Flora is stuck with all the housework in addition to going to school and preparing for her coming of age ceremony. When she accidently meets the butler, he tricks her into trying to help him, and nearly destroys her. ( )

This is an amazing first novel, and I hope the first of many set in this world. One often hears of young adult fantasy novels touted as the "Next Harry Potter", this is the first novel I've read in a long time that truly could be. The world of the Republic of Califa is so positively dense with a fully realized society with political structure and intrigue, wars and religion, different cultures, races and magical creatures with complicated alliances to humans. All this and wonderfully quirky characters who come to life and interact with each other in believable fashion.
It would easily take me pages and pages to describe everything that's going on in this book, but take my word for it; it doesn't overwhelm you at first, but slowly draws you in and when you've finished you just go ......Wow. There's also a tone to the book that's quite catchy, I found myself naming all the nooks and
crannies of my own home. (I often walk down the Inevitable Short Hallway of Doom and think, I need to vacuum this ISHoD.) Did I mention it's also sneaky funny? The kind of funny that you don't see coming and then all of a sudden there you are, chuckling madly at the book while your family eyes you warily.

There are so many other books that could be written about this world, and characters that haven't even been addressed yet. I found myself wondering about Flora's two sisters (one disappeared, one in the military) who were barely mentioned in the book. I'll be standing in line to buy (or waiting on Amazon to ship)
any more books by Ms. Wilce set in this world.

There is mild violence in the book, but the vocabulary and length (431 pages) would make it difficult for any reader under 12. If you love fantasy, you owe yourself the pleasure of this book. You can join me in waiting for the next one! ( )

I have to say that I opened the first few pages of this book very eagerly. And about ten chapters later, I put it back down and couldn't seem to talk myself into picking it up again. So I didn't finish Flora Segunda, and perhaps what I'll say doesn't ring true if one manages to get through it.

Bu Flora is incredibly dull, and very predictable. I like the way magic is used. I liked the way the society is set up. To an extent, I even like Flora herself, the character, though she's awkwardly written.

But it doesn't move very well; it hops around aimlessly, sometimes moving too slowly, other times a problem which seemed like it should've taken chapters is given a few pages to move through. This left me feeling disconnected, and made picking up the book again after an absence difficult, as well as unsatisfying.

My other large problem was that it was predictable. Frustrated with the way the book was moving and how I believed to have guessed the book's major "twist" within pages of the main plot being introduced, I had to do something drastic, and something I try to NEVER do. I skipped to the end.

Not to spoil, but I was right, and picking the book up got even harder, as now I was assured a dull read to get to something I guessed was going to happen in the first hundred pages.

I call this a library rental for those addicted to fantasy and magic books, and who perhaps have better paitience than I. Also good for those addicted to Teen fiction, too. ( )

Wacky and original - I really enjoyed this.
Flora Segunda's mother is the Commanding General of Califa and her father is suffering from a bad case of PTSD. Flora really doesn't want to go to the military academy - she'd rather be one of the outlawed Rangers. When, in a hurry, she takes the elevator in her 11,000 room house, it deposits her in a library she's never seen where she meets the denizen, the "butler" of the household. He's been locked up by her mother the General, and needs her help to regain some of his lost power. But giving him the help he requires has some disastrous consequences for Flora.

A very different book. Odd spellings and style make it a biy hard to get into...but boy does it pay off. Wilce has a keen imagination and a fantastic sense of humor. Our teen book club read it and everyone loved it. ( )

I came across one of Wilce's short stories in Fantasy, the Best of the Year, 2007, 'The Lineaments of Gratified Desire', and found it to be utterly delightful. Flora Segunda is less dark than that story, being a children's book, but it's one of the best children's books I've read in a long, long, time. There are all kinds of witty details, and it doesn't have the Manichean worldview that so irritated me with the Harry Potter books. I found the first person viewpoint a bit jarring at times, but it's more than made up for by Flora Segunda's charming character.

Ysabeau Wilce is most definitely my new favourite author. ( )

Very original and a really solid world. ( )

Fourteen-year-old Flora Fyrdraaca, whose mother is the Warlord's Commanding General and whose father is mad, kindly helps her house's magical--and long-banished--butler, unaware that he draws strength from the Fyrdraaca will.

A very odd book--not to everyone's taste

Flora Fyrdraaca likes to make her own rules, and with her mother off commanding the great army of Califa most of the time, she’s free to do what she wants. When a forbidden shortcut leads Flora to a part of her house she’s never seen, she befriends the family’s banished butler and he convinces her to use magic to restore him to his rightful position. But messing with magic can be tricky, and Flora’s new friend can be deceptive. Will she discover the truth before it’s too late? ( )

Even though their house contains 11,000 rooms, Flora is only familiar with a few of them. This is because her mother, opposed to the use of magick, has banished their butler. Where Crackpot Hall was once glorious, it now lies in dust and decay. Flora's adventure begins when she leaves her overdue library book in her bedroom. She's been reading the first volume of an autobiography about her heroine, Nini Mo. If she doesn't deliver the book today, she will not be able to check out the second title. Running late, she decides to use the house elevator even though her mother has forbidden it. Instead of taking Flora to the hallway near her bedroom, however, the elevator has left her on the floor where the library is located. Flora makes her way through the darkness toward a light shining underneath a doorway. Inside she discovers a huge room, neatly cleaned,and filled with more books than she has ever seen. She also discovers the banished butler, Valefor. Meeting Valefor reinforces Flora's dreams of becoming a ranger (spy) like Nini Mo rather than serving in the military like the rest of her family. Convinced that she must help keep Valefor from literally fading away, Flora breathes her breath into him. What she does not realize at the time is that her fate will become the same as his. Racing against time, Flora must find the people and/or things that will save her from vanishing and will once again separate her from Valefor. ( )

Flora's destiny is to follow her family into the Califa military. Her mother is the commanding general which intensifies the pressure. But Flora would like nothing more than to be just like her heroine Nini Mo, a ranger spy. And when she discovers a library in her home occupied by the banished butler Valefor, she sees a chance to make her own destiny. ( )

Well, I wrote it, so, of course, I think it's divine! ( )

Good fantasy for the younger bunch.

Fourteen-year-old Flora Fyrdraaca, whose mother is the Warlord's Commanding General and whose father is mad, kindly helps her house's magical--and long-banished--butler, unaware that he draws strength from the Fyrdraaca will. ( )