This is a really great twist on the story. My family and I (3 girls, 4 boys and myself) find it a nice overlapping of values and virtues for families. <br /><br />The characters are well rounded and interesting. Atreyu and Bastian are really good "copies" of each other in their own worlds. It is nice to see the tie-ins from world to world and the storyline stays very straight- there's no confusion as to what is going on.<br /><br />The child-like empress was a very good choice for this story. Her sister, Xayide, is all that the child-like empress is not: hateful, greedy, vain, evil, etc. <br /><br />This is a great adventure!