The Impossible Quest #1: Escape from Wolfhaven Castle product reviews

I love reading and will read anything that sounds like it might be interesting and any book that sounds like it could be the start of a great series is always something I would love to read.

In the beginning I was wondering how it could be called The Impossible Quest but as the story moved along it did become obvious. There was always the element of wonder, who is behind the attacks and how can the children trust? For this book they had to get out of the castle, some of the unique gifts are hinted at and I would love to continue with the series to see how it turns out.

The characters are well written, they don't always get along and have issues with trusting each other but soon learn some valuable lessons and that to manage to get to where they need to be that they have to believe in the impossible and always have an open mind.

I also liked that some parts of the book had pictures to show how things would have looked, eg jewellery and that maps were shown in the story so you can see what the author is trying so say but I must admit that some of the writing on the maps did seem a little bit small (might just be my old and tired eyes) but overall a good idea.

I know there are four other books which I'm hoping to be able to get a copy of to see if this series does actually live up to the high expectations it promises.

I must say I was intrigued as to what sort of storyline this new series would employ, but after reading the mini-bio on the back of this book my curiosity rose to a higher level, and I soon became engrossed in this book. I am more a fan of sci-fi then I am of fantasy fiction novels, but this story takes place in a medieval-like culture, combined with magic, fate, an undead army and mythical beasts, which is almost the entire set of things I like in fantasy books, so as you may expect, this book was rather enjoyable for me. The characters were well-designed, they mimicked the same sort of morals and decision-making abilities that would be found in a regular human subject, especially of that sort of time period, as well as each character having it's own distinct and unique personality.

While the story was enjoyable, it was also very predictable. The main "bad guy" became apparent to me very early in the story, and when the characters began to walk right into the castle of this nemesis, who they believed was on their side, I could not help but hear Admiral Ackbar's most memorable quote echoing around inside my head, "It's a trap!". Also, I noticed that the main "flesh" of the story took up a small portion of the book as a whole, but, then again, this is often the case with most series, as the first book is often used primarily to introduce the reader to the basic cast of characters as well as the initial paradigm of the story.

Also, I often enjoy books which have a cliffhanger at the end, just after the completion of that book's objective, and this was an element which was missing from this book, as the characters were not landed into what seemed like an impossible situation just before the book ended. In the case of this book, I think it would have been better for the story to have cut off just a little bit sooner in the story, as that would have given it the ideal cliffhanger to immerse the reader in a state of overwhelming anticipation as the await the next book to that they may finally know how the characters managed to escape. All of these downsides to the story are understandable, as they are written for an age group which I have since exceeded, so while I may find this book predictable, I think that a younger subject, perhaps between 8-12, would find the book a little more compelling.

The price is a little unusual, I would have expected a book like this to be a little more expensive, and while this low price might be good news for those who have tight budgets, it does lead me to question the value of this book, so I will give the price a 10/10, but I shall reflect on the point I just made by giving the "value for money" aspect a 9/10, even though it does not show up in the official aspects list to the left of this review. I did, however, enjoy the book, as it was still fun to read, had a good storyline that did not have any plot-holes or contradictions, and it was easy to visualize the scenes detailed in the story using nothing more than the best graphics chip available: the mind. All in all, somewhat disappointing, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I'm a big fan of Kate Forsyth's adult books so imagine my excitement when I heard about her latest book for kids. My son is too young for this book but that didn't stop me from getting stuck in and I can quite honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The Impossible Quest series is aimed at children 9+ and I admire the authors ability to write a book that is brimming with excitement and danger at every turn while still keeping it age appropriate - yes there's still fighting but without the gore and graphic descriptions.

The book is about four children (and a dog) who find themselves embarking upon what seems to be an impossible quest when their home, Wolfhaven Castle, is mysteriously attacked.

I love Kate Forsyth's writing style. It's very concise without any confusing descriptives and feels very real and down to earth, making the characters more relatable to the reader, while still painting a compelling picture and pulling us into their world. It's a fast paced and action packed book that I'm sure both boys and girls will love.

I can't wait to share this book with my son when he's a bit older - I just know that he's going to love it.