Grown UP YA.

Dammit .... circle of time. Robert Jorden. Its a good start.

no complaints here.

not really.

Its a good basic story with lots of potential.

I would strongly recommend this. It was one of our favorite listens as a family.

It reminds me of the excitement my son felt about the Percy Jackson series, though of course the setting is quite different. I first bought it because of the medieval setting -- we have been listening to other books set in that period at my 10 year old's request, such as Castle Corona and some books by Avi. It has familiar Hero's Journey elements found in many novels, and the theme of the talent found in the unexpected place (here a boy who is small for his age), such as found in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

The narration was one of the best aspects. He has a pleasing voice and voices the different characters clearly without going over the top. The differences are subtle but we always know who is speaking. The Irish accent for Halt is especially fitting and adds to that character's compelling qualities.

Yes if I could have!

A great book for tween boys, but this middle-aged mom is liking it as well as her son. I've now got the teenage older brother listening too.

I bought this to read for long road trips and was not disappointed. The characters are developed well enough to lure you into the story, and entice you to buy more. I began the book in mid-January, and one month later, I am on book 7. I have to agree with others who have reviewed the narration; the narrator is particularly good when he narratates the story line and is not trying to read as a character; but his narrations as characters are simply appalling. Sometimes you will hear what purports to be an Irish accent, or a Scandinavian or German accent, occasionally even a Southern accent; but the characters are not from particular countries, so their use is unnecessary. Yes, you could assume that the Skandians (I don't know if the the spelling is correct because I have only listened) could be Scandinavian, but don't assume and try to place them into real countries; it only makes the characters less real. The Southern accent is particularly horrendous, I believe he uses that for Halt. If you can get past this, the books are delightful.

Yes, excellent story line and characters. Really captures the interaction of a boy and his mentor.

When Horace rouses himself after a severe beating to protect his friend.

John Keating makes the story come alive.

No

Excellent Read.

Yes, I read the book the first time and listened to it the second time. I really enjoyed the reader and I particularly like how he knows how to pronounce all the words!!!

The story line is wonderful. I like the adventure and suspense mixed with the historical old world feel of kings and knights.

I like when Will realized that he doesn't want to be a knight.

No, it is much too long for that.

This is an awesome read for teen and pre-teen boys. I'm a teacher who is always looking for books to interest my boys!

No

Rescue of Will and Horace from the bullies

There isn't enough voice variation. It takes on a one note quality.

Listened to this book because my granddaughter (13 yrs.) told me how much she was enjoying reading it. Got me HOOKED on the series and am really BUMMED THAT AUDIBLE DOESN'T HAVE BOOKS 6 & 7 AVAILABLE! What's that about?? Anyway, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.

It is just, awesome!

All the characters.

He made the book come alive.

This blows away the hunger games.

Not a great range of voices, poor rhythm, missed the mark on timing way too often, and I kept hearing this strange muffled clicking, which I finally realized was John Keating swallowing between lines. Really poorly done production!

Luckily, the story kept me interested, despite John Keating's performance.

My 9 year old son had the book, but hadn't read it yet. I got the audio for him and he followed along. He read the entire book in about a week and was able to take and pass the quiz for the book. He's now on book 2 in the series.