In reading fiction, we always look for someone we can relate to. It should not matter the age of the protagonist, but it should matter as to their humanity. Many a writer has, in these contemporary times, added flawed and damaged people with something decent about them so we do not become so repulsed by them, we can't stand to have them in our head. Unlike television, a book actually gets into your brain. It is there that we develop the image, the texture, the taste, and even smells and flavors if we are given such.

For such experiences do we crouch down into a favorite seat, shut out the world, and live among others. It is probably the closest thing we will have as humans of mind-to-mind connection. So the story has to be good, the character has to have enough goodness to allow us to live in their skin, and not leave us so sullied by it, we ourselves feel violated. So I introduce to you Weapon of the Guild, book 2 of The Chronicles of Grimm Dragonblaster, set to be a seven part series (or more?) by Mr. Archibald.

O.K. I've finished, Weapon Of The Guild. Now where is book three? (The Author himself has kindly informed me, March 2008 is the intended date of publication of book three.) Yeah, book two was that good. Grimm Dragonblaster has now grown from a skinny half-starved kid of around six or eight, kept on as a charity, and forced to become a Questor by The Ordeal because of the greed of the head school taskmaster. He survives the ordeal and gains his staff, which did not break against the stone. Book two opens, and well, he is utterly bored. There is nothing like a young man, primed for adventure, to be told to cool his heels. His staff is ring-less (there are seven rings to gain) and no one has sent him anywhere. He is tired of his scrumptious quarters that are a far cry from the monkish one he had before, and even the library is beginning to feel limited. There is simply nothing and nowhere for him to go. All request to see his Grandfar (Grandfather) and Grandmother have been turned down, repeatedly. Seems they want to keep him near and on hand, 'just in case' this of course does nothing to null his tempers.

He has a friend, Dalquist Rufior, of the fifth rank, who feels much the same. Grimm is called upon by Arnor House of whom they are beholden to, who at last have need of their services. He is to make his first quest with the guidance of his best friend, Dalquist. The quest seems adventurous enough. The enemy of the Guild has stolen a magical object that must be return at any cost. Unfortunately, this is no simple Mage they meet and the magic they encounter is nothing of the kind learned in school.

Weapon Of The Guild brings delightful characters and worthy friends for the journey and quest. How they survive and the cost, makes a riveting read as well as the cliffhanger that makes you hunger for book three.

This book is a Reader's Choice Best Seller.
 
Reviewed by Nancy Louise
© November 2007