400 pages
"The sign is small, tucked into the corner of Mr. Clutter's book shop window: Adventurers Wanted. Apply Within. No one but fifteen-year-old Alex Turner even seems to notice it is there. And for Alex, who has wished for a change in his life, it is an irresistible invitation. Upon entering Mr. Clutter's shop, Alex is swept away to a faraway land filled with heroic warriors, mysterious elves, and hard-working dwarves. Alex becomes the eighth man in a band of adventurers seeking the lair of Slathbog the Red, an evil dragon with a legendary treasure. Along the way, Alex and his friends must battle dangerous trolls and bandits, face undead wraiths, and seek the wisdom of the Oracle in her White Tower. Alex's adventure takes him to distant and exotic lands where he learns about courage, integrity, honor, and most important, friendship." -Amazon description
I read this on the recommendation of my daughter who read it and really liked it. It was a fun book but I had the same complaint she had: the battle with the dragon is a let-down after the build up to it. For hundreds of years no one has been able to defeat the dragon, and it's over relatively quickly. (Hope that's not a spoiler...if the dragon won then there'd be no sequels!) Alex is a likable character and I like that he's older (almost 16) than most characters are in these types of books.
Alex is the only one who can see the sign in Mr. Clutter's window and once he enters the new land he discovers that he's actually capable of becoming a great wizard which is uncommon, yet Alex doesn't let it go to his head. He feels his inadequacies and doubts his abilities. His seven companions treat him with respect though and teach him the rules of being an adventurer.
The magic bags were fun, very much like Hermione's bag in Harry Potter that can expand and store lots of things. Alex can add rooms to his bag and the group uses them to hold their supplies and treasure. One thing that I'm not sure how I feel about with this book is that it was very much, sometimes too much like, like Lord of the Rings, my favorite books. There are men, elves and dwarves who go on this adventure. The dwarves are light-hearted yet hard working and brave fighters. The elf has lived for a long time and seen a lot of things. He and the dwarves tease each other. The leader of the group is a man who has been on many adventures. There's a part of this book where the wraiths almost kill Alex and he has to be rushed to the elf queen to bring him back to the light. He then recovers in the woods where the elves live for several days. That part was just a little too similar for me. But, having said that, I think this is a book that's better suited for younger readers and if they don't ever read LOTR then it will be fun for them. I just didn't like how similar that part was. It felt like a Tolkien rip off. It didn't ruin the book for me and I liked the twist at the end that tied in the world Alex knew before his adventure and the one he now knows. I'll definitely read the sequels.
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