Book Review - Swords For Hire by Will Allen
Category Book Review
Some time back, I ran across a posting somewhere that said Swords For Hire: Two of the Most Unlikely Heroes You'll Ever Meet by Will Allen was a fun read in the mold of The Princess Bride. Having loved Bride, I decided Swords had to go on my library hold list. I started it last night around 7:30 and didn't put it down until I finished it at 9. It really is a fun read that had me shooting the movie of the book in my own mind...
King Olive is locked up in an ultra-secure dungeon of The Boneman. This is because his brother, a strange individual named Boonder, slowly poisoned him in order to take over the throne. But really, Aleron is running the kingdom as Boonder's aide, as Boonder spends most of his time putting worms on his head. Olive is able to smuggle a note out about his existence, and it ends up in the hands of two rather strange and quirky potential heroes. Rigby Skeet is a crazy soldier who didn't fit in with the regular regiment, so they let him find his own quests. Sam Hatcher is the son of a farmer (and former war hero) who wants more than what life is giving him. He doesn't fit the mold of a soldier either, but they send him off to Skeet for an apprenticeship. These two oddball adventurers get the message and decide that this is the quest they must pursue. They're really not sure how they'll pull it off, but something will come to them as they head in that direction...
The characters in the story are crazy and would turn into screen characters with little effort. Skeet's off-the-wall behavior and dialogue is reminiscent of The Princess Bride and that cast of characters, and it's no stretch to think that fans of Bride will enjoy this one as well. The only sad part is that Will Allen died many years ago of cancer. This book is something he wrote but that was never published. His brother decided to release it to the world, and the reaction has been unanimously positive. It's disappointing that he can't follow up on stories involving these people, but I'd love to see this go to the big screen...
Some time back, I ran across a posting somewhere that said Swords For Hire: Two of the Most Unlikely Heroes You'll Ever Meet by Will Allen was a fun read in the mold of The Princess Bride. Having loved Bride, I decided Swords had to go on my library hold list. I started it last night around 7:30 and didn't put it down until I finished it at 9. It really is a fun read that had me shooting the movie of the book in my own mind...
King Olive is locked up in an ultra-secure dungeon of The Boneman. This is because his brother, a strange individual named Boonder, slowly poisoned him in order to take over the throne. But really, Aleron is running the kingdom as Boonder's aide, as Boonder spends most of his time putting worms on his head. Olive is able to smuggle a note out about his existence, and it ends up in the hands of two rather strange and quirky potential heroes. Rigby Skeet is a crazy soldier who didn't fit in with the regular regiment, so they let him find his own quests. Sam Hatcher is the son of a farmer (and former war hero) who wants more than what life is giving him. He doesn't fit the mold of a soldier either, but they send him off to Skeet for an apprenticeship. These two oddball adventurers get the message and decide that this is the quest they must pursue. They're really not sure how they'll pull it off, but something will come to them as they head in that direction...
The characters in the story are crazy and would turn into screen characters with little effort. Skeet's off-the-wall behavior and dialogue is reminiscent of The Princess Bride and that cast of characters, and it's no stretch to think that fans of Bride will enjoy this one as well. The only sad part is that Will Allen died many years ago of cancer. This book is something he wrote but that was never published. His brother decided to release it to the world, and the reaction has been unanimously positive. It's disappointing that he can't follow up on stories involving these people, but I'd love to see this go to the big screen...
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Comments
Posted by Paul Allen At 12:08:40 On 15/05/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by T/Kitty At 07:18:50 On 25/04/2007 | - Website - |
Posted by Duffbert At 13:24:30 On 25/04/2007 | - Website - |