The first part of the book sounds like the most primitive of young adult fantasies, with your stereotypical high school boy being suddenly ripped from his ordinary life and dropped into a magical world of adventure where he has to play the hero. There, he meets a high school girl, and the two set of on an adventure. These two protagonists are the weakest part of the story: they don’t behave at all like high school kids, they don’t seem to have any depth to them, and they are totally unrelatable and unbelievable. The writing is mediocre and the pacing is uneven.
Fortunately, as the story continues, Mull develops an imaginative world, full of interesting lore, unique magical creatures (displacers, seed people, Manglers), magical items (The Book of Salzared, Wizatch liver), and an intriguing villain (I love the idea of inviting enemies to Harthenham). This fun world, and a few of the characters (Maldor, Ferrin, Jasher), are just enough to keep you reading, despite the weak protagonists.
Rating: 3 stars
Yevgeniy Brikman
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