Michael Witwer

Dangerous moments, strange secrets, quirky characters and even heart make this into a fun read.

Vivian has been acting out ever since the death of her mother, but she's pretty sure the move to her mother's family house in a small town isn't going to make things any better. Vivian's fears seem confirmed as she immediately butts heads with the school's mean girl and giggles follow everywhere she goes. But her problems are about to change as farm animals are dying under mass attacks from an unknown creature, and her own teacher disappears. Although a few acquaintances she plays with claim to be new friends, she refuses to open up and decides to take on the growing weirdness and mystery alone...but she's taking on something deadlier than she could have ever dreamed.

This is a tale loosely spun around Dungeons & Dragons (aka Beasts & Battlements, in this tale) and launches nicely into its own, rich world. Vivian and her friends play B&B, but it's the mystery surrounding the school and people, which really dig in. Of course, it helps that the school was once an asylum (great way to build up the spooks and tension) and that the founder of B&B just happened to have lived in that town and had an odd history himself. While it's not too hard to guess where some of this is going, the author weaves wonderful tension with interesting details to make a grabbing tale.

While the monsters and secrets keep Vivian and her 'acquaintances' on their toes, the emotional end doesn't dissipate. The usual bulling theme comes in with the cliche mean-girls, there's guilt after the death of a parent, and the inability to open up and receive support from others rings loud and true. These themes, while not rare in kidlit, mold nicely into the plot and do add needed depth without bogging down on the action and mystery end.

While this tale clearly spins around D&D, there are also references to other cultural points. These work here even if I'm not a huge fan, since they will tend to age the book quickly in the long run Plus, I wonder if some of these will connect with the average middle grader as its hoped they will. There are many references to Harry Potter, which held an odd edge against the D&D's main lead. But this will hit every reader differently and by no means diminishes the fun of this read.

It's an exciting tale with so many aspects to make it fun from the first page until the very last. I am excited to see where this series heads next. I receive an ARC and enjoyed this read quite a bit.… (altro)

A wonderful trip down memory lane, with the right balance of art, brief history and humour.
From page 85:
And as D&D attracted this eager audience, the newly printed Dungeon Masters Guide (1979) was there to meet them.
In addition to providing counsel on the design of adventures and the adjudication of combat, the Dungeon Masters Guide also contained the ultimate treasure room of magic items that every adventurer coveted -pages where players would endlessly window-shop and fantasize about artifacts that might turn their characters into gods.

And although primarily focusing on the Art of D&D, the structure provided by using a chronological history of the game, interspersed with the developing art of monsters through editions, make this a fascinating and entertaining read.… (altro)