The plot is relatively straightforward, and there’s the occasional point where Petersen sacrifices what might be an interesting interlude to ensure it remains that way. An example is his reaction to eating fish for the first time, or a comment coming back to haunt him later in the book. It’s Celanwe who narrates the story, and Petersen packs his narrative with all sorts of fine details accumulating to build a bigger picture of the man. With the introductory Autumn/Fall 1152 it was only Petersen’s art that charmed, but his progress as a writer has been rapid. Over the remainder he constructs new constellations, and assorted other decorative wonders. Petersen illustrates a rickety warren of houses jumbled together and connected by boarded walkways that fascinate. The second chapter has our protagonists arriving at a shoreline community where bartering and exchange is a way of subsistence. Surely any imaginative child will be besotted by his depictions. Petersen’s art is as fascinating and detailed as ever. Locating the axe is fraught with danger, but being able to return with it to Lockhaven is far more testing. Em has one extremely useful talent, an ability to communicate with birds. She is the last of her line, is determined to locate the legendary black axe, which has been missing for thirty years, and Celanwe’s help has been instructed by the Queen. In 1115 Celanwe lived in a remote location and trained recruits, one of their tasks being to locate him, but his proposed trip back to the main community is forestalled by the arrival of Em, an elderly mouse. In the established continuity that’s an honorary title given to a legendary protector and the man who trains the Mouse Guard recruits, and in this tale we learn how that came about. Having set his previous two volumes in 1152, David Petersen jumps back to 1115 for the tale of the Black Axe.
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