Thursday, August 18, 2011

The Bent Sword by Stephen Gashler –NOT RECOMMENDED

Gashler, Stephen The Bent Sword, 240 pgs. Cedar Fort, Inc, 2010. $14.99. Language-G, Violence-G; Sexual Content-G.
Steffin is a young man who wants his life to be full of adventure. When a traveling storyteller, Jimbob, some to his village –Steffin manages to catch his eye. Rumor is that Jimbob is actually a magician. Finally it seems his dreams are coming true when Jimbob sends Steffin on a mission, a guiding book in hand, to fight against his nemesis, The Lord of Boredom. He gains some valuable friends in his quest, makes mistakes, and finds out that the true magic is within.
The juxtaposition between Steffin’s adventures and those within the book, and how those two stories come together, is vaguely reminiscent of The Neverending Story. I thought the plot itself was uninteresting and was random to the point of being goofy, so I could not buy in. You never knew what could possible happen next, so there were no real consequences. I don’t think that today's student will click with the character or ‘adventures’ of Steffin. He is older than them, and boring to boot. There was a lesson here, about imagination being the true magic or something to that effect, but I ended up being highly irritated at the constant little hints about it. I have got to be honest, this book was a chore to read, so not recommended.
ELEMENTARY –NOT RECOMMENDED Reviewer: Stephanie MLS graduate.

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