A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull: Review

A World Without Heroes
By: Brandon Mull

Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
Published: March 15, 2011; Aladdin Books
Source: ARC from Publisher

Author Website | Author Twitter

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Synopsis (from Goodreads): Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.

My Review:

First of all, if you haven't read my post about the launch party for this book, check it out. It was awesomely wild. (link)

My brother read Fablehaven and loved them. I read the first one and felt really lukewarm about it.  But, I love fantasy, and after reading the synopsis of this book, felt like it would probably be a better fit for me than the Fablehaven series was. And I was correct.

The message in this book was clear: heroes can come from anywhere.  In Lyrian, heroes are mocked, laughed and, and treated like they are crazy.  Those that would try to oppose the Emperor are bought out and sent to a place where they are treated like royalty and don't have to worry about hard things like honor, glory, or doing what's right.  Jason and Rachel end up in Lyrian and in a situation where the only way to go home is to stand up to the emperor.

The creativity in this book is astounding. At first I found it a little jarring. Near the beginning of the book, Jason accesses the secret portal to Lyrian through a hippo's gullet. I have to admit, that was really strange for me. I kept thinking, "How did he [Brandon Mull] come up with this stuff?" But, for a book that is written for younger readers, that's exactly what you want to do, and that's why the Fablehaven books are so successful.  Once I got a little further into the book, the hippos and people falling off cliffs incidents were fewer, and I felt a little more comfortable, and intrigued.

I definitely feel like there is a great story here.  Even though the creatures that Mull has created for this world are imaginative, they are not unreasonably weird.  Rachel got on my nerves a little bit at times with her constant need to assert herself and make sure that she was equal in EVERYTHING. Thankfully she toned down a bit by the end of the book.

This is a book that I know boys 9-13 will love. Give your reluctant readers a copy of this book. They will eat it up.

My Rating:

Brandon Mull Launch Party

I've been to many launch parties since I started blogging. None of them were like the one for A WORLD WITHOUT HEROES by Brandon Mull (the first book in the BEYONDERS series). I had heard that Brandon Mull's launches were a part-TAY, but I was really blown away by the enormity of the event. It was such a blast.  I met up with Suey from It's All About Books and also saw Natasha from Maw Books.  I think I'll definitely make it a priority to go to the launch parties for Brandon Mull's upcoming books, because this one was WILD!

If you missed the launch party on Tuesday, Brandon Mull is doing more signings in the next couple days, including one today at the Provo Library.

March 18
Provo County Library
550 North University Avenue
Provo, UT 84601
7:00PM

March 19
Costco #487
11100 South Auto Mall Drive
Sandy, UT 84070
11:00AM

Costco #733
198 North 1200 East
Lehi, UT 84043
2:00PM

Costco #484
648 East 800 South
Orem, UT 84097
5:00PM

Or, if you want to see a portion of the awesomeness that was the party on Tuesday, I did record some video and pieced it together.  Suey from It's All About Books also did a nice video as well.  She got some stuff I missed and vice versa.

The Hunt for the Dark Infinity by James Dashner: Review

The Hunt for the Dark Infinity

(The Thirteenth Reality Part 2)

By: James Dashner

 Description: It's been a quiet summer for Tick, Paul, and Sofia, but the latest message from Master George changes everything. The Realities are in danger and from something more terrible than Mistress Jane and the mutated Chi karda of the Thirteenth Reality. People from all Realities are unexplainably going insane. Worse, some Realities are fragmenting, disintegrating into nothingness. Master George has learned that Mr. Chu from the Fourth Reality is working on a mysterious new weapon called Dark Infinity. But no one has any idea how to stop the weapon or even if it can be stopped. To make matters worse, Tick and his friends have been kidnapped, forced to wink from Reality to Reality, solving impossible riddles in order to survive the deadly traps surrounding them. Mistress Jane and Tick find themselves in a race to reach the weapon first but who will destroy it and who will become its master?

Review: I really liked the first book in this series. And, many of the things I loved about book one continued into book two. It's really refreshing to have active parental involvement in a middle reader/YA book. Often, the parents seem totally out of the picture. In this series, the parents are aware of Tick's role in the realities and support him in his mission, even though it is difficult for them. (Frankly, if they knew half the stuff he had to do, they might be less supportive).

Atticus is a great character. I think a lot of kids (especially boys) can relate to his character. He's a good student, struggles with bullies and self-image. I really liked seeing his character evolve more in this book. He is a loyal friend, and does a good job of keeping the peace between his two friends.

The only complaint I have about the book is that sometimes it's a little technical and long winded. By technical, I mean that James Dashner has obviously put in a lot of effort to make a very complex world/reality. Sometimes the jargon (made up) is a little hard to follow. But, it doesn't take away significantly from the story.

Rating:

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Book-A-Likes: This book would be great for boys 9-12 that like fantasy. It's similar to Fablehaven by Brandon Mull, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, and other books where a group of kids learn their true identities and attempt to save the world.

Profanity: None

Drugs and Alcohol: None

Sexuality: None

Violence: Mild. There is a little fighting.