Fablehaven 5: Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull

This book is the fifth and final book in the Fablehaven series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Within the first twenty pages, Kendra and Seth find themselves at the Obsidian Waste haven battling enemies from earlier books. The team is trying to get the key to the last artifact before the Sphinx and his evil demons. The Sphinx plans to release all of the worst demons in history from prison if he is able to obtain all five artifacts. Things don't go as the Sphinx planned, and the situation only gets worse as the demons gain more control. Kendra and Seth travel to different parts of the world trying to prevent the demon takeover, but they also must prepare for the likely overthrow of Zzyzx, the demon prison. Seth and Kendra display their true powers as the book climaxes with an epic battle between evil demons and good magical creatures. Many surprises are revealed as the plot unfolds.

This entire book is one long climax of the entire series. The plot is fast-paced and action-filled as the opening of Zzyzx is imminent and hope for defeating the demons is slim. One of the things I enjoy about this series, and something that makes me a little crazy, is the fact that I'm never sure who to trust or believe. Good characters are revealed as bad, while some evil characters become good. The characters' roles as good or evil are pretty much set once you get to the second half of the book; there aren't many surprise changes in characterization after that. I had a feeling of foreshadowing about some characters in the first book, but it didn't come true until this fifth book. I found myself being tricked by some characters, just like Seth. I enjoyed how this book jumped right into the action, and reading the plot was like riding a roller coaster. Just when it looked like the knights had the upper hand against the Sphinx the roles became reversed and the conflict got worse.