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Glocken, the idealistic bell-ringer for the village of Water Gap, spends his days reading and dreaming of the glorious exploits of the five Outlaw-Heroes of Slipper-on-the-Water (familiar to readers of "The Gammage Cup" as the eccentric Muggles, Mingy, Curley Green, Gummy, and Walter the Earl) while he waits for the chance to prove himself a hero. When disaster does come to the Land Between the Mountains, in the form of a strange flooding that causes the Watercress River to reverse direction, Glocken finds himself sent off on a quest to restore the river's natural flow, along with a jumble of quirky characters: Scumble the timid sluice-keeper, self-righteous Gam Lutie, reclusive Crustabread, and warmhearted Silky--by no means hero material in Glocken's judgemental eyes. On his part, he is determined to prove himself a worthy successor to the Outlaw-Heroes, even if he has to share his quest with these misfits.
Heroism turns out to be more painful, confusing--and downright hard to recognize when it shows up--than Glocken reckons. Nor are the Outlaw-Heroes what he expects when he finally reaches Slipper-on-the-Water: the exotic Curley Green is sweet but flutterheaded, Mingy the Fearless is a world-class grouch; Muggles the Wise is disorganized and thinks in proverbs. Yet over the course of the book, Glocken's oddly-assorted companions prove themselves to be as resourceful, strong-hearted, and thoroughly eccentric as their predecessors the Outlaw-Heroes. Even Glocken, disillusioned by his meeting with the living legends, rises to the challenge in retrieving the long-lost Whisper of Glocken (a mysterious bell that once belonged to Glocken's ancestor of the same name, lost when the Minnipins left the Land Outside to settle the Watercress) and restoring the river's course.
While "The Whisper of Glocken" does not match the depth and brilliance of "The Gammage Cup", it is nonethless a good read and a welcome return to the Minnipins' world. Especially enjoyable are Glocken's first impressions of "The Gammage Cup"'s main characters--he doesn't recognize his heroes when he meets them--and the strange world Glocken encounters in the Land Beyond the Mountains. All the main characters have their own particular quirks, whether it's the way Scumble always smells of fish oil or the fact that Crustabread speaks so infrequently that his voice always creaks before he says anything.
Summary: Not "The Gammage Cup," but definitely worth the time taken to read it.
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