‘Fablehaven’ adventure continues

Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY

As he toiled away in the basement of his home, Brandon Mull quickly ditched the mundane for a world teeming with zombies, trolls, imps and centaurs.

The result has been the popular “Fablehaven” series, or what the author describes as “Jurassic Park meets Harry Potter.” The fifth and final installment, “Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison,” arrives in stores today.

Beginning with book one in 2006, each has been a New York Times best-seller — the series has sold more than 650,000 copies, according to Nielsen Bookscan — and Mull says a movie is now in the works.

Still, the series doesn’t have the national profile that it could and certainly hasn’t risen to the enormous success of other fantasy series, such as “Harry Potter” or “Twilight,” Mull says.

“My agent likes to call it the best-selling series you’ve never heard of,” he says.

But “Fablehaven” fans are ready for the next adventure in Mull’s enchanted sanctuary, where magic and magical beasts exist hidden from the outside world.

“People are pretty excited when his books come out,” says John Clukey, events and outreach coordinator at Sam Weller’s Bookstore, an independent shop in downtown Salt Lake City.

The 35-year-old Mull worked for years in marketing and advertising, relegating his fiction writing to a secret, off-hours pursuit. That changed, though, after the Salt Lake City-based Shadow Mountain published his first “Fablehaven” book. Simon & Schuster picked up the paperback rights, which has given the books an added boost in sales.