Review: Fun!  Fast! Great YA Fantasy!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 30, 2013
How do I describe Ned Firebreak by Brian Clopper? Quirky? Exciting? Fantastical? Sometimes Silly? Sometimes Funny? Creative? Sometimes Scary? Sometimes Informative? Always Enchanting? Always Fun? Witty as Heck? Nope, not enough on their own, Ned's tale is ALL of the aforementioned descriptives!We meet young Ned as he awakens from a long coma, with huge chunks of his memory fuzzy or gone. You see, Ned is part of a father/son family business, per the brochures, they are dragonslayers who save fair princesses from the clutches of evil dragons, then protecting them within the enchanted "princess reservation." But, where is Ned's father? Why can't her really remember him well? How can he find him and save the family business before it goes under? And why is everyone so vague at times, avoiding talking too much about the past year while Ned was in his coma?What can I say about Brian Clopper? (See descriptives above.) What a gift this author has! I laughed, I loved the characters, I loved the story, I was definitely under its spell! Brian Clopper managed to straddle a fine line with his characters, the princesses were not totally helpless, Ned wasn't an uber hero, evil was evil and good was good, evil could even be swayed to be good, the characters often worked together, shared ideas and accepted each other's differences with ease. (A hidden lesson on "playing nice?") The author wasn't afraid to use "big" words, then give several other words that fit the bill. (Language Arts?) Through it all, Ned Firebreak is larger than life, with such a diverse cast of characters, from a brave, but sweet fairy princess to princess sisters who cannot go far from each other, to a rather nasty princess who charms the boys to do her bidding. ( Gee, they sound like girls I knew in school) You're going to love Sir Franklin, Fairbanks with his "pun" magic and Mink, the magical talking sword with the sharp tongue.This is another perfect book for encouraging ALL younger readers to find the joy and magic in the written word, (as well as Grandmas who love to escape reality for a while)! I REALLY need to thank author Brian Clopper for allowing me to read and review this book and strongly recommend it for all ages!