Son of the Borderlands By Joseph Sterk: Book Review

 3.5/5 

This book was sent to me by the author for review and has not impacted the review in any way. The opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

My thoughts on this book are mixed. To start, Son of the Borderlands, has a really good introduction that makes you really curious and draws you in as a reader. Great opening chapter. Joseph Sterk also knows how to utilize descriptive writing. He paints an amazing picture in the reader's mind. On that same note, it carries forward into the characters. They are vivid and well thought out. My main issue is that the main character is not someone who is likeable, so I felt a disconnect with him. Going through the entire book, I only liked a couple of characters, none of them were main characters. 

Son of the Borderlands, did have a good overall plot and an interesting twist. What it was lacking though was a true climatic moment, which in turn made the conclusion only okay in my books, pun intended. It also got kind of slow in many parts, which is where my attention faded. I was looking for that part that was going to make me say wow. A redeeming quality is that as far as created worlds go, this is a well thought out and carefully planned world. Goes back to the descriptive writing comment, painting that picture for the reader. A little personal peeve from the days of notes from my creative writing teacher, is using the same words to start sentences. Writers must find creative ways to start sentences. Over use of names, he, she, they, the, and these kinds of words makes it feel too repetitive. 

Overall, Son of the Borderlands, was a decent read for those who enjoy dark fantasy and carefully crafter worlds.

 

Book Review- Avi- Crispin: The Cross of Lead

Avi- Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2004) 3.5 Stars

One day Asta died and suddenly her son was left alone. After finding out he was christened with a royal name, Crispin, he finds himself on the run. Everyone wants him dead and he has no idea why. Medieval England is an intimidating place for a servant boy with no friends. Coming across a man named Bear, may just have been the best thing that happened to him. At least now he has someone looking out for him.

Starting off a little slow, it did pick up the pace fairly quickly. It wasn’t ever really gripping until the end, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading. I love this time period and found it cool to see how they wound their way through the countryside. The characters were captivating, although I am not sure why it took Crispin so long to figure things out. The plot was good, but there weren’t a lot of twists. I did love the ending though, it was very exciting and was a great conclusion of events.

For more of my reviews check out my website, www.tonypeters.webs.com.

Tony Peters

Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnapping

http://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/

Book Review- Elizabeth Janet Gray- Adam of the Road

Elizabeth Janet Gray- Adam of the Road (Puffin Books 1988) 3.75 Stars

It is the thirteenth century in England and 11-year-old Adam wants nothing more than to be a minstrel. His father is the personal minstrel of royalty and he is coming to take Adam to learn the tricks of the trade. Adam is taking his red spaniel, Nick, with him and when his dog is stolen he finds himself searching many roads for his beloved pet. Adam now finds himself separated from his father and Nick, and he must rely on his own personality and skill to survive.

I did enjoy this book overall, although it did have its boring sections. The characters were well-crafted and seem to pop off of every page. I also loved the setting as Elizabeth Gray painted a beautiful picture of this time period and you could tell that she had done her homework in researching the medieval era. The lessons that Adam learns along the way of his journey make great lessons for life, and they were integrated into the story with suck skill that they did not feel like a lesson. I remembered reading this book in school during our medieval studies, which helped bring those nostalgic moments, although I did not remember much about this book. I would recommend this book to children and youth.

For more of my reviews check out my website, http://www.tonypeters.webs.com/

Tony Peters
Kids on a Case: The Case of the Ten Grand Kidnappinghttp://authortonypeters.blogspot.com/