Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Some name calling and belittling of the enemy.

Violence: War and battle-type violence. A poisoned arrow is stabbed into the heart of a sleeping giant goblin. Fighting with swords, clubs, arrows and magic. Three arrows are seen protruding from a giant cyclops’s eye. A sword is stained red with blood. The royal family is taken up to a tower, arms bound together, for the villagers to see while a goblin wielding a sword parades in front of them getting the observers riled up. Cheers are heard from a distance and the reader knows the family has been executed. Bodies fall from the trees after they are shot by arrows or hit by clubs. Deadly creatures are created to be soldiers to fight the enemy. An evil wizard uses his powers to destroy.

Adult Themes: An evil pirate wants revenge on his enemy and plots to start a war. A young princess must deal with the loss of her family and find someone to care for her.

Synopsis

After carrying through with his evil plot, a pirate causes the goblins and people of Sonnencrest to go to war. The goblins take over the city, killing the royal family, except for young Princess Babette who was lucky to escape into the local woods. After days of travel, Babette comes to a small cottage belonging to a kind wizard named Astrolex. Knowing the danger she is in as the sole survivor of the royal family, the wizard takes her in and cares for her. Astrolex uses his magic to transform Babette into an unattractive gypsy girl so that she will not be discovered by the goblins. Under the kind wizard’s care, Babette learns that forgiveness and love transform into a powerful magic for good. Ten years later, the kingdom of Sonnencrest is still under goblin rule. The people have been oppressed so long that they have all lost hope for a better life. All, that is, but a young, lame boy by the name of Darrow who dreams of freedom. The small framed boy decides to begin a quest to free the kingdom. He travels the countryside hoping to find others willing to fight. After he has traveled many days, he too stumbles across Astrolex’s cottage. With help from Astrolex and the disguised Babette, Darrow continues his quest and finds others that want to join his cause. Darrow’s eloquent words and fierce hope bring more followers to his group daily until they are large enough to capture the goblins attention. Battle becomes imminent, but unfortunately, Darrow’s army has more men than weapons. To make matters worse, an evil wizard is on the goblins’ side. Darrow must find a way to use his keen intellect, his valued friends and his faith in good to overthrow this powerful enemy.

Honestly, I am not a huge fantasy fan. This book, however, sucked me right in. I loved the characters. They were uniquely real and faced human frailty and weakness as we all do. The beauty of it was how they learned that their strength came from hope, love and forgiveness, which became their strongest weapon. There was also plenty of intense adventure and suspense to keep me on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. The book ends with this: “There are no true heroes. They are ordinary persons, perhaps possessed of some skill or another, lifted by people who need to believe that somewhere, someone possesses a magic that can rewrite the future and leave them in a better place.”

To top it off, this book was written by a father/son team. At the time Alex and his father Hal started writing this book, Alex was eight years old and still could not read because of a learning disability. After Hal had finished reading The Hobbit to Alex one night, Alex suggested that they write a book together, which they did. Today, Hal has given up his job as a political consultant to write and Alex is an Honor Roll Student at St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C. Quite an impressive duo. Quite an impressive book!