Claus Boxed

In honor of the holiday season, I have started reading “Claus: Legend of the Fat Man.” Having grown up watching all the Christmas Holiday specials, the basics of this story were already familiar to me. This version, however, was a bit different, though no less entertaining than all those wonderful old holiday cartoons.In this book, Nicholas Santa, his wife Jessica, and their son Jon have gone on an adventure seeking to reach the North Pole. They began the journey by ship, then hired some Inuit guides to help them travel the remainder of the way. However as the weather in this extremely northern portion of the globe turns horribly bad, their guides abandon them during the night, taking the food & other supplies with them. Abandoned as they are, with only one tent for shelter, they are surely doomed.In an attempt to find help for his family, Nicholas is separated from them and captured by a group of elves who haves lived undetected at the North Pole for centuries. Their leader intends to use Nicholas to deliver a plague that will wipe out all of humanity.In the meantime, Jessica and Jon are rescued by a rival group of elves who do not wish to destroy anyone. They had left their homes when Jack seized control and have been on the run ever since.This book tells the story of both groups of elves and how the North Pole came to be the home of the jolly man we have come to know as Santa Claus. I found this to be a very interesting and unusual tale. It was both quite different and very similar to the various versions of his story that I remember from childhood. Everything was well thought out & explained in a way that made it seem quite reasonable, and I consider this one to be well worth reading this holiday season. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.This was the Boxed set version, so it also contained two other books. The second one was “Jack: The Tale of Frost.” This book takes place about 200 years after the end of the first book, and tells the tale of both Jack Frost and his best friend. It shows how technologically advanced they have become, and how those advances have benefited humanity as a whole. But it also shows that the elven who was once known as Janack still has a great hatred of the “warmbloods” and how he had ages before laid plans to destroy them. Now that those plans are nearing completion, what will become of the human race?I thought this was a very interesting story. While parts of it were quite obvious as to what was going on, that made them no less entertaining than the parts of the book that weren’t so clear at first. Yes some of his tale was included in the first book, but only peripherally. The majority of Jack’s story was more than just a tale told from a different perspective.The third book in the box set, “Flurry: Journey of a Snowman” was just as good as the first two books in the collection. In this book, Oliver and his mother are returning to her childhood home to live with his grandmother as Oliver’s mother had lost her job and they had nowhere else to go. Oliver’s grandmother is extremely strict and there are a great many rules that they must follow if they are going to remain living there. There is also a great mystery surrounding the estate. There is no wifi or cell signal at the house, though there is an old windmill on the property that appears to be electrified. At night there seems to be something wild and dangerous roaming about outside. There is also a living snowman that sometimes appears and seems to be quite protective of Oliver.All 3 of the books in this set are quite enjoyable and I would recommend reading them this holiday season if you have the time. Of the three, my favorites were “Claus: Legend of the Fat Man” and “Flurry: Journey of a Snowman.” I’m glad I took the time to read all 3 of them and would encourage others to read them as well, but those two were the ones I liked best out of this collection.I hope everyone has a great holiday. Merry Christmas!

Just got this, delivered quickly and in great shape. Started it last night and I am thrilled!!! Nope, not a kid's book -- some interesting, intriguing and nifty fantasy regarding the start of CLAUS and an entire unseen culture on (under) the North Pole. Well written, every character is cool (pun intended) and richly written. Pulls you into the story immediately... one of those books that makes you want to disappear from life to read on, well into the night! HOWEVER, I was surprised that somehow I missed that this is a HUGE ONE BOOK version. I suppose I'm not exactly complaining, but it's over 1000 pages and feels like I'm reading the dictionary (now you know how old I am). It's one very heavy, big hardback book! UPDATE: 3 days into reading and I am just chewing this book up (in a great way)!! The author's delivery is spectacular - the characters rich, good vs evil but the plot and characters and "beings" are so well written! Nifty little recognizable surprise bits and pieces of Christmas all over the place.... and NOT in a way that is forced. Christmas MAGIC abounds, but presented as "advanced science," and not in a way that makes you roll your eyes. This book is DELIGHTFUL from an adult perspective who enjoys ONLY REALLY REALLY WELL DONE fantasy (and I am disappointed more than impressed by the fantasy books out there). No idea where I go from here, but I am close to being done this 1000 page monster, and I'm hoping there's more.

When I pick up a Tony book, as I call the books by Tony Bertauski, I know I must make certain I have the time to sit and read it in one sitting because I will not want to put it down to prepare food or to sleep or anything else. It is a good thing I read quickly. I have had this set on my TBR pile for a while, and I saved it to read at Christmas for what I hope is an obvious reason, given the title of the books in the set. The author's specialty is taking well-known favorite stories and turning them on their ears in such a way as to make a person think, "Hmm, this could actually be a cool way for this to be true!" and putting them into my personal favorite sci-fi/fantasy blended genre of reading. He takes elements of the original story from its oldest form, adds in the newer pop culture elements, then sticks those into the blender of his awesomely creative imagination and remakes them in a way that makes a thinking person like me really happy inside. I know that whatever my expectations might be at the beginning, I will not be disappointed as far as the level of enjoyment, the surprises and the originality of his re-imagining of a character and the legend which surrounds it. I may not be happy for the reasons I thought when I began the book, but I am happy nevertheless for having read the book when I have done so. I am also tired from not having gone to bed when I should have, because I cannot put the thing down until I have finished it! (Yes, I even take the Kindle to the bathroom when I need a potty break and keep reading in there. Maybe a little TMI for some folks, but hey, I can't help myself. He's that good a storycrafter!) :D That's why he will probably always get a five star from me.

A new take on Santa, elves, Christmas and abomnibles! The story is fascinating, the images invoked are humbling ad inspiring.

Three books, 812 plus pages. The first book took me a bit to get into, but once I did I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the eleven, the feud between Claus and Jack. The technology, the reindeer, the abominables were fun. The second book about Jack was a mind bender. Several of the characters were super well developed and enjoyable. Jack and the AI were impressive in their own rights. Infuriating and impressive. The last book pushed this from 3 to 4 stars.Oliver is a very likable main character. He was fun to follow and have him tell the story. He was flawed but not an unlikable amount. Molly was well developed and I had a place in my heart for them. Great scyfy read.

Each story in this series takes a beloved character we think we know and answers the questions we’ve always had. There is fantasy, love, sci-fi, thrills and mystery in each and everyone. Each book is crammed full of fun and interesting characters that leap off the page. I wasn’t sure how well this series would go but boy is it great.It starts with Claus, Legend of the Fat Man and explains all those questions you ever had about how, and sometimes why, Santa Claus is who he is and how he does what he does. It’s a fun story that has an explanation for all the wonderful things we know about our beloved ‘Fat Man’. Next up is Jack, The Tale of Frost which is a fun story all about, you guessed it, Jack Frost. It follows on from Claus but not exactly directly so you could read them in a different order. I loved this one a lot particularly as we see Jack’s humorous disregard for humans illustrated by some fun one liners.Finally, this set ends with Flury, Journey Of A Snowman, and this one had a slightly different feel for me from the others but it by no means suffered for it. It’s once more full of interesting characters and a mystery that the main character Oliver is desperate to solve. There’s tension and action along the way making for a fun filled read.Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this set and can’t wait to read the other book in the series. That surely is the best recommendation any book or series can have.

I'm reading the first book at the money and love it. So much I could actually see this in film. One thing I'm not keen on is the modern American slang, it seems out of place and I feel a frown forming on my face when it crops up

A retelling of Santa, Jack Frost and the Magic Snowman, not for children but for adults. All together in a box set for easy reading.About to start the next box set by as this was so good.

I gave completed book 1 and well into book 2. Very entertaining and quite clever how the author includes Christmas and santa references into the story. Easy to read and very enjoyable i will be getting the next boxset when I finish this.

A good mix of human condition and fantasy. Just the right level of tense page turning and as a bonus there’s no filler