Review: A Quest where magic and adventures abound.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 10, 2013
Stanley Delacourt is a young man in love with his library and books, happily living in Meadowwood, in the kindgdom of Hartlandia. He had two close friends, Sophie and Will and enjoys his life. That is until the day of the Spring Sprung festival, when strange, unfriendly soldiers appear in town and his friend Will is murdered.And so begins his quest to find Christopher Siren the new ruler, responsible for the new laws in Hartlandia and the murder of his friend. Along the way Stanley spends time with knights, learning how to fight; joins the fey for a festival and receives some useful gifts from the King; spends time a Gottschalk school where the students are no longer taught to think, and ends up as a factory worker piling paper into boxes for metal discs.All in all I enjoyed this read. The writing is well crafted and flows seamlessly. The fantasy world is intriguing and there are many creative, unique ideas to describe the magic. Like the seven league boots and the tele-phonum: a communication device, both of which come in very useful when Stanley needs help.The beginning is a little slow to start and there were times when I disputed Sophie and Stanley's age, they seemed to be a little older than a ten year old, in their thinking and their speech. I probably would have guessed them to be more like thirteen, fourteen. Although, this is aimed at middle graders so I understand why the author chose to have them younger.My favourite part of the novel was when Stanley ended up as a factory worker. I thought that was cleverly done, and really reveals the extent of the sinister plot at play, making the reader sympathetic to Stanley's plight and on his side, as he fights to save the day.I believe young readers would enjoy this tale. It has a good mixture of adventure and magic to keep them entertained, and Stanley is indeed a likeable hero. It will be interesting to see what new adventures he gets up to in the next book.CJ Kindle Book Review