Book Review

I'm not any great reader. I have no credentials that say I am qualified to critique or review anything. If I see a picture or a painting that I like, then I like it. I don't care what medium it's in, what techniques were used or if a 3 year old created it. So as I review “things and stuff” on this blog, take it all with a grain of salt. Half of the time I have no better reason for loving something than it made me laugh.

The Dragon War Relic
By: Berin L. Stephens

I picked this book up while I was at LDS Storywriters conference a few months ago. I didn't even read the back of it before I decided I wanted to buy it, the title alone sold me. (And who says what's in a name?) When I read the back I decided this book was for me. Rings, aliens, spaceships, lasers and dragons? I'm totally in.

The audience on this has to be YA boys. Maybe even younger than YA. It was pretty cheesy. Of course I'm fine with a little cheese. As a matter of fact, every single chapter from this book was filled with parodies on life, and most of them were hilarious. For instance, Chapter 1 is titled “Mystery at the Mighty Mart”. What just popped into your head? Come on, don't be shy. Now add a teenage Mighty Mart employee, his best friend whose primary communication is the world “dude”, a strange man with a ring, an exploding building, elves that love Star Trek and ogres. Oh, and the dragons. See what I mean? Good fun.

The writing wasn't spectacular, but it was easy to read and, true to the back cover, kept me laughing until the very last page. Wait, no, I just re-read the last page, and nothing made me laugh. But the page before did! If you have young teenage boys who like science fiction, video games, aliens and reading I would highly recommend this book. Or you could read it yourself and say you bought it for a friend.