The Adventure Tournament - Nicholas Andrews

   2013; 310 pages.  Book 1 (out of 2) in “The Adventurers” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Fantasy; YA.  Overall Rating: 7½*/10.

 

    It’s just been announced: the Kingdom of Bolognia will be holding an Adventure Tournament!  Everyone in the kingdom is so excited!  All the famous adventurers are sure to be there!

 

    Of course, no one’s exactly sure what the adventure, or adventures, will be, but that’s in the able hands of Lord Sophar, head of the EAS, which is short for Epical Adventuring Society.  No doubt, the assigned quests will be utterly exciting!

 

    The king himself, Calder VII, will be presiding over the opening ceremonies!  He has a vested interest in the making the tournament a smashing success, since all those entry fees are expected to build up an embarrassingly depleted Royal Treasury.

 

    I sure hope Sir Gorgomar is entering the contest.  He’s the foremost adventurer in the land and any team with him on it would be the heavy favorite to win it all.  But we need lots of students from Foeny University (if you don’t like FU, well, FU!) to enter as well.

 

    They don’t stand a chance of winning, but their amateur attempts to win will make the professional adventurers look real good.

 

What’s To Like...

    Entrants sign up for The Adventure Tournament individually and get placed on teams that are put together through the whims of the tournament officials.  We follow the efforts of Remilius “Remy” Fairwyn as he learns how to work with others and develop some adventuring qualities.  It is a slow process.

 

    Remy has the makings of a fine anti-hero.  He’s a 22-year-old university student with mediocre-to-poor grades, and not motivated at all to improve himself scholastically.  His father is a professor at Foeny U, and is against Remy’s entering the tournament since logically it will cut into his son's study time.  Remy enters anyway, partly because adventuring sounds better than studying, and partly just to spite his dad.

 

    I’d label this book a “Lighthearted Fantasy”.  There is a magic system in it, but it doesn’t overwhelm the adventure storyline.  Remy wisely buys himself a couple pieces of magical equipment, including a club, which he dubs “Smacker”, and some “Boots of Flight”.  In the early going. they turn out to be more of a hindrance than a help.  A wide variety of magical critters show up, including vampires, dwarves, elves, wyverns, giants, and my favorites, the dreadfully cute "kitty-lizards".

 

    There’s plenty of action, which is what you want from a book titled The Adventure Tournament, but Nicholas Andrews also weaves some humorous bits into the tale, such as the background to the team’s name, “The Bowels”, and the “Elvis Affairs”.  Subplots include a coming-of-age romance and Remy’s tense relationship with his father, but they mesh nicely with the main questing storyline.  I loved the nod to The Princess Bride enough to include it as an excerpt below.

 

    Things progress in an easily anticipated manner for a while.  You know Remy and his teammates are going to somehow beat the long odds in the preliminary rounds because, well, why else would we be following them?  But when the championship round approaches, Nicholas Andrews adds a number of clever plot twists that I wasn't expecting.  And in the end, the winner is…

 

    Well, we’ll let you read the book to find out.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Geas (n.): an obligation or prohibition imposed magically on someone. (an Irishism)

Others: Favrile glass (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.2/5 based on 19 ratings and 19 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.45/5 based on 40 ratings and 8 reviews

 

Things That Sound Dirty But Aren’t…

    “Stop fingering your wax-hole and pay attention!”  (loc. 1172)

 

Excerpts...

    Edgen had always felt sort of sorry for King Calder.  He was the latest in a long line of great King Calders, each one having achieved a great deed during their reigns.  His Majesty’s father, Calder VI, had managed to cement the rights of dwarves within the kingdom.  No longer will dwarves be considered half-a-man, or men be considered too-much-a-dwarf, but all races shall share the bounties of this kingdom in equality, went his famous saying.  (loc. 53)

 

    Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure.  It had been so long since Remy kissed a girl, this one didn’t even come close.

    He released her and gave an apologetic grin.  Kyra looked behind Remy and saw the rest of Team Bowel coming over to them.  “We can work on it later,” she told him.  (loc. 3611)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Adventure Tournament presently costs $3.99 at Amazon.  The sequel, Babyface Fire, is the same price.  Nicholas Andrews has three other e-books to offer, they range in price from $0.99 to $4.99.

 

“Remy, duck!”  “Where?”  (loc. 3244)

    There are a couple quibbles, but nothing major.

 

    There was some cussing – I counted 12 instances in the first 25% of the book – but I wouldn’t call it excessive.  There was also one “adult situation”, of the hormonal ilk, but it was tastefully and humorously done.

    These things might cause an eight-year-old to ask embarrassing questions, but Amazon lists the target audience as 13-18 years, meaning junior and senior high schoolers, and they’ll be amused, not confused, about them.

 

    Similarly, the writing style felt a bit simplistic to me, but I’m not the target audience and YA readers won’t care because the pacing is brisk, the action is non-stop, and the storyline is engaging.

 

    The biggest issue is the editing.  There are lots of punctuation errors, especially ones involving commas in direct dialogue (or lack thereof) and hyphens in compound words (or lack thereof).  There were also a fair amount of “spellchecker errors”, such as discretely/discreetly, towed/toed, reign/rein, lead/led, and chain mail/chainmail.

 

    But I quibble.  My expectations from The Adventure Tournament were modest since it is written for a YA readership, and it held my interest much better than I thought it would, particularly in the second half when those plot twists started popping up.

 

    7½ Stars.  Judging from his offerings at Amazon, it looks like Nicholas Andrews has retired from writing.  The last two of his books there were published in June, 2017.  Here’s hoping he unretires at some point in the future.  We need more lighthearted fantasy novels.

Magnus Chase - The Sword of Summer - Rick Riordan

   2015; 512 pages.  New Author? : No.  Full Title: Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Book 1: The Sword of Summer.  Book #1 (out of 3) in The Gods of Asgard series.  Genre : Fantasy; YA; Norse Mythology.  Laurels : Winner of the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Middle Grade and Children’s Fiction.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

    It's been a rough life for Magnus Chase so far.  He never knew his father, and his mother died two years ago when two giant wolves with blue eyes attacked them from out of nowhere.  Magnus barely escaped alive, and he's been living on the streets of Boston ever since, keeping a low profile and learning to live the life of a homeless person.

    His mom’s two brothers live the Boston area, Uncle Frederick and Uncle Randolph, but Magnus doesn’t like either one of them.  His cousin Annabeth, Uncle Frederick’s daughter, is about the same age as Magnus, but there’s something positively scary about her, and Magnus hasn’t seen her in ten years or so.  His two closest friends are a pair of fellow bums called Blitz and Hearth, but they’re more in the “misery loves company” category.

    Just now Blitz is rousing Magnus from his not-very-comfortable sleep on a cold Boston street beneath the shelter of a bridge.  Blitz has a short, chilling message: “They’re after you.”  Who?  Why?  Hoe'd they find him?  What’s the deal?

    Well, today’s your 16^th birthday, Magnus.  You’ve just “come of age”.  And there are some who would like to make this your last day alive.

What’s To Like...

    Magnus Chase - The Sword of Summer is the first book in a trilogy by Rick Riordan featuring Norse mythology.  I’m not sure if this is a completed series or not.  Magnus is a 16-year-old demigod, so the target audience is presumably high school boys, but I found it entertaining and I think most other fantasy-loving adults will as well.

    The pacing is brisk, which is a necessity for any YA novel.  There are a slew of characters to meet and greet, most of them from Norse mythology.  This could get confusing for any reader whose knowledge of Norse gods begins and ends with Thor, but Rick Riordan introduces most or all of these (plus mythological places and runes) with a brief explanation, and even then, if you forget who’s who, there’s a handy glossary in the back.

    The book is written in the first-person POV (Magnus’s).  The only settings are Boston and the Nordic afterworld, including its most famous attraction, Valhalla.  I liked the snarky chapter titles, and the music references, which included the Dropkick Murphys, the Wiggles, Taylor Swift, and ZZ Top’s hit “Sharp Dressed Dwarf”.

    The Intrigue starts right away, and the Action commences shortly thereafter.  There are no slow spots, as Magnus keeps getting assigned various quests: find the magic sword, get an “apple of Idun”, recover Thor’s hammer (not that he officially admits losing it), buy some earrings for his aunt, and of course, save the world from Ragnarok/Doomsday.  Heady stuff for a teenager.

    Critters abound: gods, demigods, elves, dwarfs, Valkyries, trolls and half-trolls, dead and undead warriors, giants, goats, squirrels, wolves, and an eight-legged horse.  I liked the clever way of inserting cuss words in the YA novel – phrases such as "what the Helheim”, “Heimdall’s Horn", "Odin’s Eye", and "Balder’s Bling”, just to name a few.  And it was neat that my favorite Norse mythological “place”, Ginnungagap, gets some ink, although, unsurprisingly, our heroes never venture there.

Kewlest New Word. . .

Bail (n., jewelry) : The top loop on a pendant that the chain slides through.  (Google-image it)

Others: Kibbeh (n.).

Excerpts...

    YAAAARRRRK!  The sound was much louder this time.  A dozen branches above us, a large shadow passed across the leaves.

    I hefted my sword.  “We’ll fight the squirrel.  We can do that, right?”

    Sam looked at me like I was mad.  “Ratatosk is invulnerable.  There is no fighting him.  Our options are running, hiding, or dying.”

    “We can’t run,” I said.  “And I’ve already died twice this week.”  (loc. 3186)

    Frey shrugged.  “I made my choice long ago.  I surrendered the blade for the sake of love.”

    “But on Ragnarok, you’ll die because you don’t have it.”

    He held up the deer antler.  “I will fight with this.”

    “An animal horn?”

    “Knowing your fate is one thing.  Accepting it is another.  I will do my duty.  With this antler I will slay many giants, even Beli, one of their great generals.  But you’re right.  It won’t be enough to bring down Surt.  In the end, I will die.”  (loc. 5613)

Kindle Details...

    Magnus Chase - The Sword of Summer currently sells for $7.99, which is also the price of the other two books in the series: The Hammer of Thor and The Ship of the Dead.  Most of Rick Riordan’s other YA-Mythology books are in the $5.99-$7.99 price range, but if it’s a new release, it can be as high as $12.99.

She looked like the maid of honor at someone’s Mortal Kombat wedding.  (loc. 898)

    There’s not much to quibble about in Magnus Chase – The Sword of Summer.  Quests are fulfilled, and everything builds nicely to a logical ending.  It’s not particularly twisty, but I think any YA reader will be satisfied.  The epilogue is a teaser that sets up the next book in the series, which is not to say it’s a cliffhanger.  MC-TSoS is a standalone novel, as well as part of a series, and will entertain everyone from young’uns to geezers who like “questing” tales.

    8½ Stars.  There’s a unique facet about Norse mythology that I’ve always found fascinating:  coming to grips with the knowledge that your unalterable fate is one of utter doom.  Odin, Thor, and the rest of the Aesir *know* they will lose the Doomsday battle, yet they soldier on.  Rick Riordan gives this concept major focus in Magnus Chase – The Sword of Summer, and I for one think that was a noteworthy literary decision.

The Lost Hero - Rick Riordan

   2010; 553 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Book #1 (out of 5) in The Heroes of Olympus series.  Genre : Fantasy; YA; Mythology.  Laurels : Barnes &Noble’s “Best Book of 2010” Award.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

    All in all, it could’ve been worse.  You wake up in a camp bus next to a girl, who’s kinda cute, holding your hand.  And the kid in front of you looks kinda geeky, but claims he's your best friend at camp.

    It’s too bad you have no idea who you are, how you got here in the bus, or anything about your life so far.  The girl – her name’s Piper – and your best buddy – his name’s Leo -  do their best to answer your questions, but they know little about you before you came to the camp.  They say your name is Jason, though.

    So what’s it going to take to get your memory back?  Hmm.  Well maybe getting zapped by a lightning bolt will do the trick.  Jason doesn’t know it, but there’s one in his very near future.

What’s To Like...

    The Lost Hero is the first book in Rick Riordan’s second YA fantasy series, The Heroes of Olympus.   It follows closely – both in real time and in the fantasy setting timeline - his phenomenally successful pentalogy, Percy Jackson and the Olympians.  There are a slew of characters to meet and greet, but really only three that you need to follow closely – Jason, Piper, and Leo - and the chapter titles let you know which one to focus on.

    This is a YA novel, so the action starts early and fast.  The storyline in complex.  Hera has been imprisoned, but who knows by whom?  Mt. Olympus has gone silent on orders for Zeus, but who knows why?  Percy Jackson is missing in action, but who knows where?  And each of our three heroes harbors secrets that they’d rather not divulge.

    There’s a heavy emphasis on Greek and Roman mythology (which is also true of the Percy Jackson series) and that's always a plus for me.  If mythology isn’t your forte, there’s a handy list of the gods and goddesses in the appendix at the back of the book.  I liked the Arizona “Hualapai” setting, and the Cherokees get worked into the story as well.  And you’ll love Festus, the mechanical dragon with a taste for tabasco sauce.

    One of the stops in the journey is Quebec, and Rick Riordan works some French into the dialogue.  But I did cringe a bit at “Je suis Piper”, which really ought to be “Je m’appelle Piper.”  Everything builds to a tension-filled showdown, where some, but not all, of the plot threads get tied up.  The story ends at a logical point, and gives the reader some hints as to where this series is headed.

    This is a YA story, so there’s no cussing, sex, booze, or drugs.  There may be a kiss or two, but other than that the steamy scenes are confined to hugging and holding hands.

Excerpts...

    “Leo, you’ve just been claimed –“

    “By a god,” Jason interrupted.  “That’s the symbol of Vulcan, isn’t it?”

    All eyes turned to him.

    “Jason,” Annabeth said carefully, “How did you know that?”

    “I’m not sure.”

    “Vulcan?” Leo demanded.  “I don’t even LIKE Star Trek.  What are you talking about?”  (pg. 38)

    “Well, there are the Hunters of Artemis,” Annabeth amended.  “They visit sometimes.  They’re not children of Artemis, but they’re her handmaidens – this band of immortal teenage girls who adventure together and hunt monsters and stuff.”

    Piper perked up.  “That sounds cool.  They get to be immortal?”

    “Unless they die in combat, or break their vows.  Did I mention they have to swear off boys?  No dating – ever.  For eternity.”

    “Oh,” Piper said.  “Never mind.”  (pg. 57)

 “I hate to tell you this, (…) but I think your leopard just ate a goddess.”  (pg. 94)

    Being a YA novel, I thought I’d breeze right through The Lost Hero, but it took me a couple weeks to plod my way to its end.  This surprised and puzzled me.  The writing is superb, the wit is plentiful, and Leo provides a bunch of comic relief.  So what’s the problem?

    Well, frankly, it’s the storytelling.  Our heroes flit from place to place, slowly uncovering what their quest is, yet everybody they meet seems to already know.  Piper can charm any mortal; Leo has a magic backpack, and Jason has a dad that makes him someone you don't want to mess with.  They may be young, but they’re not exactly defenseless, even when going up against immortal powers.  I suspect it also would’ve helped if I had read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series first, even though I have a fair idea of what that was all about.

    Still, the strengths outweigh the weaknesses, and I think any teenager will find The Lost Hero to be a fascinating read.  But juveniles may be turned off by its length, and adults may wish the storyline would do a bit less rambling and a bit more advancing.

    8 Stars.  Add 1 star if you are a Young Adult and are intrigued by, but have never gotten into Greek and Roman mythology before.

A Journey Begins - Lawrence Sylou-Creutz Ojermark

    2012; 266 pages.  Book #1 of the trilogy “The Winds of Moira”.  New Author? : Yes.  Genre : Fantasy Quest.  Overall Rating : 4½*/10.

    Analecta may be young, but she is “the Select”, the “Delectes”, and as such, has been charged with a sacred (bordering on suicidal) mission.  Allodial and his band are also on a sacred quest.  At least until the shipwreck, after which it is Allodial’s 1-man expedition.  When they meet (and let’s face it, they will meet), shall it be as friends, allies, and/or lovers?  Or will it be as foes trying to kill each other?

    Perhaps only the Winds of Moira can say.

What’s To Like...

    The pair of simultaneous quests is an innovative plot device, even if it is obvious that Analecta’s takes precedence.  There is a magik system, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story itself.  Lawrence Sylou-Creutz Ojermark weaves some snippets of poetry woven into the chapters, which I found to be kewl.

    The fantasy world itself is developed nicely, with its deserts, mountains, caves, towns, forests, and coastlines.  The fantastical creatures are somewhat limited – gnomes and xhosas – but the latter come in several shades and sizes, and are quite fascinating (see book cover above).

    Unfortunately, the storytelling is weak.  For starters, there is very little action for the first 2/3 of the book.  Allodial plods through the desert, Analecta plods through the mountains; but since each is traveling alone, there is almost zero dialogue.  This means that descriptions abound, but a lot of them seem unnecessary.  For instance, we spend way too much time with Analecta as she climbs down a mountainside.

    The Prologue is baffling and has zero relevance.  Ditto for a letter from Analecta’s father.  The role of religion in the tale is also poorly defined.  Allusions are made to a god called Adonai, and Analecta’s dad was a Roman Catholic-type priest who had to leave his order when he got married.  But neither has any effect on the storyline.  Perhaps this gets sorted out in the other books of the trilogy, but here it just takes up space.

    The Xhosa are similarly vague.  On one hand, they’re powerful and apparently omniscient (“Ask me anything…”).  On the other hand, a teenage girl with a couple daggers can defeat and kill one of them singlehandedly, and its partner apparently sees no reason to avenge the slaying.

    Finally, there are the WTF’s.  Allodial is shipwrecked and washed up on an uninhabited seashore.  He can either cross the broiling, Saharan desert, or else make his way along the coast until he finds a settlement.  Yep, guess which way he chooses.  Analecta can ask the Xhosa anything she wants, but opts for a most mundane question.

Excerpts...

    “You’re implying that you understand concepts such as truth and honor, but what would a beast know of such things?” Analecta challenged, strength seeping into her voice.

    “What would people know!  You think religion, wars, death, and destruction are what make you great?  You suck the resources from these very lands.  You kill that which we feed upon.  All for noble ideals?  No.  You do this for yourselves, out of greed, malice, ignorance, and hate.  Don’t ask me of honor and truth, when you know not of what you speak,” the xhosa spat back, its intelligent green eyes glaring at her.  (loc. 1177)

    A strange calm came over her.  So this was it.  This was the end of life.  It was nothing more than an illogical ride through various emotional trips, spawned by one’s experiences.  Oddly she felt let down in her final hour.  (loc. 2554)

Kindle Details...

    A Journey Begins sells for $0.99 at Amazon.  The other two books of this trilogy are available for $2.99 apiece; or you can get the whole trilogy bundled for $3.99.  In addition, the author has several books on some sort of wellness program he calls Plenary Fitness.  And last but not least he has a book of poems for $0.99.

When all logical options fail, try the absurd.  (loc. 2644)

    A Journey Begins has a “first-draft” feel and cries out for some serious editing and polishing.  Give our two protagonists some sort of companions so some dialogue can be written.   Delete the extraneous descriptions, and replace them with some action.  Develop the Xhosas more clearly (the gnomes were much better done), and throw a couple more types of critters into the mix.

    Finally, do away with the cliffhanger ending.  It is amateurish at best; annoying at worst.  A reader is entitled to a storyline with a satisfying conclusion, even if it is just part of a larger saga.  And yes, this is one of my pet reading peeves.

    With enough re-write and polish, this can be a great series.  And who knows, perhaps Books 2 and 3 show significant improvement.  But when the first book falters, it’s hard to justify continuing on with the series.

    4½ Stars.  Add 1 star if you’re okay with cliffhanger endings.