Brandon Mull

Fourteen-year-old Jason Walker is transported to a strange world called Lyrian, where he joins Rachel, who was also drawn there from our world, and a few rebels, to piece together the Word that can destroy the malicious wizard emperor, Surroth.

A World Without Heroes

Christine

i am really surprised i’ve never read brandon mull before. i should’ve!!! super fun and very good maybe ya maybe mg (it’s one of those In Between books for me) fantasy. 
def enjoyed this. the world was interesting and not overdone, the characters intriguing, the plot not unbelievable.. for classic kinda medieval portal fantasy this slaps. liked jason and rachel and the complement of characters. plot moved FAST it was just thing after thing after thing relentlessly like phew this kid does Not waste time but it makes sense. all v surface level and unemotional but it felt fine cause 13 year old boy lo l. displacers and seed people and everything else.. fun times.
very very classic and unoriginal tropes? yes. very fun and good? also yes. thumbsup!
one grievance: kiddo STOP GRIPPING THE HORSE WITH YOUR KNEES does no one post the trot here bro. sad days. what a wonderful discovery of riding. huge fan of posting personally. i wonder what kind of saddles they use in lyrian

Kirsten Simkiss

To be honest with you, this book dragged in it's pace and ended in a way that made it feel like the end of a TV season - leaving you questioning what happens next. That sort of ending has always frustrated me in books. With nothing truly resolved, you have to read the next book to see how things go. It's very episodic in that way. I feel it would make for a good children's show, perhaps for Netflix or something. Don't get me wrong - it's still a fun read. I recommend it if you're reading a chapter or two a night to your middle schooler. It's a good book, but it lacks depth for me.

The characters are solid, albeit a bit samey, and the world is creative, but it really does drag. The supporting characters come in two distinct flavors: old and knowledgeable and weird or young and fighting the power after meeting Jason. It's actually a little irritating. Rachel and Jason often feel like very much the same character most of the time, just with talents in different areas. She's a runner, he's a pitcher. She rides horses, he knows animals. The differences are minuscule and their personalities are almost the same, which makes for some pretty dull interactions until you throw in supporting characters.

My favorite character so far is Ferrin, simply because he's more in the grey area when it comes to personalities. (view spoiler)[He works for the bad guy but he's also loyal to those who he considers friends. Especially at the end, he really sticks his neck out for Jason. (hide spoiler)] He also happens to be the only character who seems to have experienced any discrimination in his life out of any of the characters, making him infinitely more interesting. (It isn't ever directly stated, but Jason and Rachel are both more than likely white.)

I will probably read the next book just to see how things go from there, but it won't be super high on my priority list.

A World Without Heroes

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