Early Review - A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull

Title: A World Without Heroes (Beyonders #1)

Author: Brandon Mull

Publisher: Aladdin/ Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: March 15, 2011

Format: e-galley

Genre: Middle Grades Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy

Other Books in the Series:

Seeds of Rebellion, book #2 - to be released Spring 2012

untitled book #3 - to be released Spring 2013

How I Got It: provided by Simon & Schuster for review 

Goodreads Summary:
Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable - until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen.  In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power.  The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.
In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world.  With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor, and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.

Review:

Jason is a good kid, a good student, and a really good baseball player but he's not really understood by his parents.  He was having a pretty bad day (he'd argued with his mom, was stressed about an honors class, and had been hit on the head by a baseball at batting practice) and was trying to unwind at his volunteer job at the zoo.  He was cleaning the hippo pool when he thought he heard music coming from the hippo.  Worrying that the lump on his head from the baseball might be worse than he thought, Jason leans forward to hear a bit better and is promptly swallowed by the hippo!  Instead of being eaten, Jason finds himself inside of a large hollow tree.

While trying to find help, Jason accidentally reads a book that forces him onto a quest to gather all of the syllables of a single word of power in hopes of destroying the tyrant Maldor.  Along the way he meets up with Rachel, a girl who stumbled upon Lyrian at the same time as Jason.  They find themselves in a world where maps are forbidden, traveling is strongly discouraged, and the various villages and towns throughout Lyrian's many kingdoms are cut off from each other.  Those who oppose Maldor are either systematically crushed (along with their friends and family) or are bribed to give up their quest to over throw the him. 

While both desperately want to go home, the dire situation in their new world force them to act.  Lyrian has become a place filled with sadness, cruelty, and poverty.  Everything is in decline, nothing flourishes except for assassins and spies.  Jason and Rachel can't just leave or go into hiding knowing that they could have made a difference.

When I originally read the synopsis for A World Without Heroes I first thought, "A hippo tank?  What was he doing in the hippo tank?  No heroes?  Sounds an teeny bit corny."  And I'm big enough to admit that I was dead wrong.  This book was awesome!  It's a great middle grades fantasy adventure book that I know my students are going to love.  The prologue was great, the first chapter slowed things down a bit but picked up by chapter two and just kept going.  There are giant man eating frogs, addictive pies, royalty in hiding, musicians on the edge of a waterfall, adventure, danger, escapes, humor, duels, riddles, and a host of surprises and betrayals.  I had a hard time putting this story down.  The last few chapters had me going, "Ahh!...Yes!...No!...WHAT?...But...Ahh!...Wait, the book can't be finished!".  (A World Without Heroes has a wonderfully cruel cliff hanger of an ending.)

While the book is targeted for 8-12 year olds, it does have a bit more violence than the younger kids might be used to.  I would recommend it to my fourth and fifth graders, no problem, but for the third graders/ 8 year olds, I would let them know about it.  It's not a super violent book, but there is death.

Verdict:

I have a new go-to-book for students looking for adventure and have already added it to my library order.  I am really excited about this book and I can't wait to share it with my students.  This book has everything - good story telling, likable and realistic main characters, great heroes, wonderful bad guys, lots of action, and surprises and plot twists that leave you stunned.  This is one that you have to try, 5 out of 6 stars!