Review: "Gifted Apprentice"... A Tween book... 1 1/2 Stars
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 13, 2012
"Gifted Apprentice" is the first of a series of fantasy adventure books by author Nicholas A. Rose. This Kindle e-book was a 164 Kb download (approx. 84 printed pages) and was  free (normally $0.99) at the time of writing this review.<spoilers>Sallis is a young boy who is healed from a life threatening fever by a touchhealer by the name of Elvallon. The healer discovers that Sallis has a rare, but to this point, an undiscovered and somewhat ill-defined 'gift'. He takes Sallis on as his apprentice to help him learn about his talents.<end spoilers>Some thoughts on "Gifted Apprentice"...1.) another book where yet again there is no definitive classification of genre or intended age group in the amazon.com product description.It would have been very helpful to know if this was Adult, Young Adult or Tween as fantasy books vary enormously in content and context depending on the age group. A simple age group recommendation would have be SO helpful.2.) written in bland, simplistic prose... I can't imagine this being even remotely interesting to any other group than a male tween (maybe ages 10 to 14) audience.3.) boring... nothing happens in the first 95% of the book. There are some meetings/conversations between groups and individuals that (maybe?) enhance some character development. It is not until the very end that Sallis and his mentor discover something very unusual about his 'gift'... something that they both weren't expecting... this new insight might add some life to the next book. It is sorely needed.4.) as another reviewer mentioned, Sallis our young hero, seemed extremely mature for his age. Stretching the believability factor for the sake of the plot.Conclusion:Not having any guideline as to the intended age group, I'm glad this was free, because Young Adult and especially Tween books are something I rarely read by choice. If the author intended this tale as a gentle, benign Tween book then it succeeded; but as an adult work, it fell well short of attaining its entertainment goals.As it is... 1 1/2 Stars.Ray Nicholsonraynicholsonsreviews@hotmail.com