SLATHBOG’S GOLD

Boy meets adventure in a paint-by-numbers fantasy quest. Young Alex toils with mild discontent in his stepfather’s tavern when he spots a sign in a shop window declaring ADVENTURERS WANTED. Succumbing to impulse, he inquires within and is recruited willy-nilly to help slay the evil dragon Slathbog and claim his treasure. His cookie-cutter companions include painfully generic dwarves, elves and human stereotypes, all of whom regard Alex with inexplicable delight and wonder, especially as he starts to reveal a dazzling range of hitherto-unknown powers, while remaining so gosh-darn modest and likable that every person of note wants to be his friend and every villain makes him his target. After an interminable journey through vaguely described fantasy locales, the company eventually catches up with the Big Bad Beast, whom Alex (naturally) dispatches in a few paragraphs. Cue another chapter divvying up the loot, before Alex can return home to receive a SHOCKING!!! revelation, just in time to set up threatened sequels. Wait for the collectible card game instead. (Fantasy. 10-14)