Blade,
Adam First Hero (The Chronicles of Avantia
#1) Scholastic/Grolier/Childrens
Press/Watts 2012 155p $15.99 978-0-545-36160-6 G elm/ms Fantasy
Since the age of seven, when Tanner’s
father was murdered in front of him by the warlord Derthsin, Tanner has been
training and waiting to avenge his father’s death. Eight years later, an evil army menaces
Avantia,
and Tanner teams up with Gwen and Geffen, twins who hold the key to discovering
the missing pieces of the Mask of Death, which controls all telepathic warrior
Beasts in the land.
First Hero is a straightforward action-adventure fantasy. Humans bond with telepathic Beasts to become formidable fighting units. Evil warlords oppress the populace and Tanner is in training to become Avantia’s hero. There is a quest for a magical object and hazards and gore along the way. The novel reads like a swashbuckling movie or comic-book script. The plot is predictable and holds no surprises.
The characters are undeveloped. The pace is rapid without much back story. The setting is out of a B-grade movie. But the story will appeal to readers raised on electronic fantasy games, and with its dramatic cover art, short chapters, many combat scenes and non-stop action, First Hero is bound to find a middle-school readership.
First Hero is a straightforward action-adventure fantasy. Humans bond with telepathic Beasts to become formidable fighting units. Evil warlords oppress the populace and Tanner is in training to become Avantia’s hero. There is a quest for a magical object and hazards and gore along the way. The novel reads like a swashbuckling movie or comic-book script. The plot is predictable and holds no surprises.
The characters are undeveloped. The pace is rapid without much back story. The setting is out of a B-grade movie. But the story will appeal to readers raised on electronic fantasy games, and with its dramatic cover art, short chapters, many combat scenes and non-stop action, First Hero is bound to find a middle-school readership.
G Hilary Welliver Fantasy, Human-animal relationships, Brothers and sisters, Twins
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