Review: Decent YA Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 9, 2014
I bought this book thinking it was for the adult market.  After reading it, though, I think it really is intended for the YA market, and this review is based on that assumption.Neb (which means nobody) is low man on the social hierarchy at a school from where griffins and handlers are prepared for selection into a griffin-based service.  He has no known background (although there are hints that more will be revealed in subsequent books).  He is tall, brave, capable, and has a good heart.  This is pretty formulaic in YA, the high-quality protagonist who suffers under the thumb of other, less qualified characters.He is not selected for what he truly wants, but he refuses to take no for an answer and takes things into his own hands.  Along the way, he performs some feats of derring-do, tries to do others but fails, disobeys the orders of his superiors, has a little love interest--once again, the type of thing in popular YA fiction.  These are popular themes precisely because YA readers like them, and I think the author pretty much checked all the boxes with them.The story flowed well and was fast-paced.  Action abounded.  Characterization, on the other hand, was a little one-dimensional.  Neb had some depth, but that was about it.One little question, though:  how can a griffin, with an eagle's beak, have teeth?  This is fantasy, and some early flying dinosaurs (not the pterosaurs, which were actually reptiles) had both beaks and teeth, but I think this was just a slip-up.This is a book that I think most YA readers will like.  It is a quick, fun read.