The Paladin Prophecy: Book review
Will West is a teenager with an extraordinary talent: he can run faster than anyone without even trying. But he's also paid close attention to his father's "Rules to live by," one of which is never attract attention to yourself. So will intentionally slows down in his cross country meets, never running anywhere near as fast as he can, and never winning a race outright. Yet despite his best effort, and without intending to, he's attracted the attention of a secret boarding school in Wisconsin (the Center for Integrated Learning) as well as a group of menacing men in black suits. Will takes the school up on its offer of a scholarship the very same day they meet because he realizes he needs to get away from the group that's tracking him, and also because he realizes his parents are suddenly acting very, very strangely.
This is author Mark Frost's first crack at the YA market, and he's written an interesting twist on the boy-leaves-home-for-a-magical-school theme. There are some similarities to Harry Potter here, but there are as many to Jason Bourne, Indiana Jones, or even Percy Jackson. The plot is fast-paced and filled with a blend of mystery, scientific biological tampering, and evil scientist plots to take over the world conspiracy mongering. Frost was co-creator and writer of the TV show Twin Peaks, and has dabbled in other projects over the years. I 'read' the book as an audio eBook, and it was a good listen. At the end of the book Frost talks about his process and how the idea for the Paladin Prophecy all but consumed him. Books two and three followed quickly after this first installment.
The target audience for the book is upper elementary or middle school, but it's rather lengthy and might discourage those who aren't die-hard readers. A few high schoolers might enjoy the novel, but the text is so squeaky clean I started wincing at the number of times a character said a substitute for a swear word rather than the word itself. A few instances of that in a novel, in specific situations, might seem authentic to a high school reader. But the only high schoolers who would use this many sanitized swear words are cast in Disney Channel movies. Despite that, the novel is entertaining and I'll keep it in the mix of recommended titles, primarily to freshmen and middle schoolers.
This is author Mark Frost's first crack at the YA market, and he's written an interesting twist on the boy-leaves-home-for-a-magical-school theme. There are some similarities to Harry Potter here, but there are as many to Jason Bourne, Indiana Jones, or even Percy Jackson. The plot is fast-paced and filled with a blend of mystery, scientific biological tampering, and evil scientist plots to take over the world conspiracy mongering. Frost was co-creator and writer of the TV show Twin Peaks, and has dabbled in other projects over the years. I 'read' the book as an audio eBook, and it was a good listen. At the end of the book Frost talks about his process and how the idea for the Paladin Prophecy all but consumed him. Books two and three followed quickly after this first installment.
The target audience for the book is upper elementary or middle school, but it's rather lengthy and might discourage those who aren't die-hard readers. A few high schoolers might enjoy the novel, but the text is so squeaky clean I started wincing at the number of times a character said a substitute for a swear word rather than the word itself. A few instances of that in a novel, in specific situations, might seem authentic to a high school reader. But the only high schoolers who would use this many sanitized swear words are cast in Disney Channel movies. Despite that, the novel is entertaining and I'll keep it in the mix of recommended titles, primarily to freshmen and middle schoolers.
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