Read the first of John Flanagan's new series, the Brotherband Chronicles last night....cover to cover....in three hours. Beck got it at around 3:15 PM and finished it by chore time (less than three hours, but, hey, she's younger.)
Mind you this book has 434 pages.
Yeah, it is really that good.
Beck is kind of a guru of young adult fiction in her spare time. The library consults with her quite often about good stuff to purchase or bring in from MVLA for that section. They also often notice what she is ordering on inter-library loan and buy it. She discovered the Ranger's Apprentice series and she, Alan and I read them...at least twice for each of the books for each of us. Once is not enough and there aren't enough of them.
Then Mr. Flanagan wound up that series and yesterday the first of this new one came out. (It was very hard to say good bye to Halt and Will. Good thing I like to re-read books.) Brotherband is even better than they were.
Flanagan is like the Dick Francis of young adult fiction. (If you read Dick, you know that he did not use a single extra word to advance his plot, yet wrote riveting stories that grab you by the throat and pull you right in...and keep you there until the last page is turned.)
These are adventure stories for young boys that transcend the genre. By miles. I am not young and have never been a boy, yet the spare prose and tongue-in-cheek humor, along with wall-to-wall roaring adventure, simply enthrall me. Lots of bows and swords and building of shelters, lots of sailing, complete with terms and how it's done, issues like bullying addressed, but as part of the story line, all with unfailingly satisfying results.
Kind of like a Middle Ages Gary Paulsen without the politics.
The Outcasts, was like a Thanksgiving dinner for the mind only without those pesky calories.
A small challenge, from your humble farm wife.....if you do read one of the Rangers books, I'll bet you can't stop at one. And if you read this new one, i'll bet you will be panting, as we are, for the release of the next
I envy anyone who hasn't already read either the RA books or the new one. Lucky you to get to enjoy them for the first time!
And no, I am not being paid by anyone, I just love great books.
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7 comments:
And aren't you glad I bought it instead of making you wait for the library to get it?
We're going on our library book run on Tuesday and I'm putting this name on my list......any others the guru would reccomend??
Thanks. I'm always looking for good reading from a respected source.
Several years a friend introduced me to Dick Francis. I didn't think the subject matter sounded interesting, then she said, "Well, Queen Elizabeth loves him."
That did it.
Beck, I am indeed glad. It was terrific!
Linda, I hope you enjoy them! I will ask her if she has any suggestions
Jan, I was in a hip-to-toe cast and bored and crazy when my folks brought me several. I did not want to read them. Not my thing....or so I thought. Now I have read them all, many, many times and have most of them. Wish Felix would write some more even though his dad has passed on...alas...
Linda what sort of books do you prefer? I read a little of just about everything and am always willing to share the authors and books that I enjoy with others.
Oh crud! Another series to get engulfed in. I hope the library carries this one so I don't have to go all in and buy them all. (Although I probably will if they're as good as you say. After all, I've purchased all of Terry Pratchett's books, all the Myth Adventure books by Robert Asprin and Jody Lynn Nye, all of Piers Anthony's Xanth books (I like puns, okay?), Lindsey Davis' Marcus Didius Flaco books (a little Roman history mixed with a lot of mystery), etc.)
Joated, these are probably aimed a younger audience, but they are purely engrossing, a lot of fun and truly satisfying to read. Try one and see if you enjoy it. I hope you do. BTW, they get better and better as they go along and the characters develop.
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