MURRAY, Utah — "You never know where a story will take you. Keep reading. Keep imagining."That was the message author Brandon Mull left with some 3,000 of his fans at the launch party for the fifth and last Fablehaven book, "Keys to the Demon Prison." The party was held Tuesday night at Cottonwood High School.The Fablehaven story has taken Mull, who now lives in Highland, on a journey to the top of the New York Times best-seller list, around the country to talk to school children everywhere and even to foreign countries, where the books have been translated into 18 languages."It's so weird to think that people I can't even talk to can read my books," Mull said.But one unexpected and cherished place Fablehaven has taken him is into the life of 14-year-old Chase Autery, a devoted fan who suffers from cystic fibrosis.Last winter, Chase's health took a turn for the worse.The one thing he wanted before he died, he told his mother, was to find out how the Fablehaven series ended. Since the book wasn't coming out until March, the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted Mull to see what he could do.Mull talked to Chase on the phone; he told him how the story ends but asked him to keep it a secret. Chase did."To think that something I wrote can distract someone from something that bad — that's better than anything I could hope for with by books," Mull said.Even better, Chase's health took a turn for the better and he was able to come to the launch party and not only meet his favorite author, but get inducted into the Knights of the Dawn, the Fablehaven society which is charged with preserving all that is good in the world."This meant everything to him," said his mother, Clover Autrey, who accompanied him to Utah. "Fablehaven was the first series that he wanted to read. He discovered the first one while visiting his grandparents in Utah, and he just fell in love with it."As a writer, you just never know how your books will affect anyone, said Mull. "This has been one of the most profound experiences of the series — real life that's better than fiction."The launch party, sponsored by Deseret Book and its Shadow Mountain imprint, which has published the series, was a celebration of life, but also of imagination, of humor and possibilities — just like the books.Entertainment was provided by DC Comedy, the troupe that Mull once belonged to and still includes some of his siblings; and by University of Utah ballet dancers, who proved to be magical fairies. Shannon Hale, another Utah writer who has a national presence, was hostess (and sometimes saboteur, as to keep Mull locked in a magic knapsack so she could enjoy the spotlight).There were magic light sticks to wave in the dark. There were costumed characters from all the books. There were very enthusiastic fans.Those fans here and elsewhere have taken the Fablehaven books to the top of the New York Times bestselling children's list and sold more than a million copies.The final installment is billed as "an explosive finale, in which allegiances will be confirmed and secrets revealed as the forces of light and darkness collide in a desperate struggle."It's just the kind of book," said one of his young fans, "that keep you up reading early in the morning."Though happy with the way Fablehaven ended, Mull is already onto his next projects, including a sequel to his popular "Candy Shop Wars," which will be called "The Arcadeland Catastrophy." "This is the first time the name has been announced," he said.He will introduce a new three-part series, "The Beyonders," set in a world entirely of his own creation. "It's a world," he said, "where an evil emperor is getting rid of all the heroes." He and an illustrator cousin are also working on a picture book called "Don't Be Scared of Monsters: A Survival Guide for Kids." "It'll help you get through Halloween OK," he promises.So, it will to be a busy and exciting time, he said, wherever the stories, both old and new, take him.
E-mail: carma@desnews.com