Slathbog's Gold by ML Forman

Premise: Alex is swept away on an incredible adventure 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. [from Goodread]

Title: Slathbog's Gold
Author: M.L. Forman
Length: 382 pages
Genre: High Fantasy
Series or Stand Alone: The first book in the Adventurer's Wanted series
Content appropriate for: Grades 4-8

3 adjectives that describe this book: fun, predictable, tedious

This is another one of those books that doesn't really fit a rating model. Adults will probably find fun, but annoying. Kids are likely to find it just plain fun.

The fun:
* Elves, dwarves, wizards, and dragons.
* Battles with trolls and visits with oracles.
* Magical swords and hoards of treasure.
* Need I say more? This books bills itself as an epic fantasy, and it's just that.

The annoying:
* The main character: Alex is 16, but I found his way of speaking to be very grating. He speaks like a 50's bourgeois. Here's an example - "I shall pledge as Bregnest has. I will do as you ask."
* The world: Forman does little to develop the world of this book. There aren't enough details to accurately picture the setting and most of the things we learn about the world is from Alex's questions. He constantly says, "What's that?" and "I don't understand" so that other characters can describe the world. Blah.
* The plot: Ever heard of the Hobbit? This is the same book, just with different character names and more simplistic writing.

Even with all the annoying things, somehow I still enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book to MG, YA, and adult readers who enjoy a good adventure, but not to readers who want to be immersed in a compelling story.

A great fan-made trailer:

From an adult's perspective: 3 stars
From a kid's perspective: 4 stars