Reviews

Quest by A.J. Ponder

brookeonbooks's review against another edition

3.0

A fun, witty, and quirky adventure story filled with ridiculous characters and situations. All the required elements of an epic quest are included: a princess, a dragon, a handful of wizards, a few opportunists, and feats of valor. Yet these things are woven together in a hilarious new way. I’ll be handing this one over to my middle schoolers to read very soon.

briarrose1021's review against another edition

5.0

Sylvalla is a princess who doesn't know how to be a princess. She wishes she could be a hero, though. In this beginning of an epic story, told with the comedic timing similar to Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams, Sylvalla runs away from home in search of a quest; not just any quest, but an Epic Quest that will make her a hero. Unfortunately, not everyone supports her in this cause. Her father, the king, sends many out after her, charged with bringing the princess home. Will Sylvalla be able to find - and complete - her quest before she is dragged back to her castle home?

This story was so much fun to listen to. I particularly liked the way new characters were introduced - with a character sheet very much like those of an RPG. The cast of characters that we meet throughout Sylvalla's search for her Quest are quirky and fun, and they add quite a bit of color to the story. I really enjoyed the way the author used the traditional tropes of epic fantasy stories to provide a satirical look at said epic fantasy stories. It was fun and inventive, and I will definitely be continuing the story with the sequel, Prophecy.

For this book, I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Benjamin Fife. This was my first opportunity to listen to him as a narrator and he did a wonderful job. It sounded like he had fun narrating the story, using just the right tone throughout the novel such that he pulled me right into the story. Given the choice, I would definitely choose to listen to the sequel over reading it, and I will likely listen to Quest again when I want/need a good laugh.

ashhh204's review

adventurous funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

Oh my goodness! This book was a whirl wind of adventures from the beginning. 

Let me start by saying the character development is phenomenal. This is exactly what I love in a book. I felt like I knew the characters. 

I enjoyed this audio book because the narrator actually speaks to the reader like they are apart of the quest. The footnotes in the book are very conversational as well. 

There were some places in the book that did get a little confusing I do believe it was because of the creative names they had for things. 

I can't wait to see what comes next.

penn_and_paper's review against another edition

3.0

am writing this review into two parts: audiobook and story.

Quest is my first audiobook and I listened to it at 1.0x. I enjoyed the narrator and while he did change his voice for the characters, I do wish there had been at least a female voice to help break it up. I am a visual reader and while listening to the story I could picture what the characters looked like and the scenery.

I enjoyed Quest and would like to read the book. There were two Quests going on throughout the story. One being that Princess Sylvalla is out finding her own quest. Her parents would rather she be the proper princess, but she very much enjoys being outdoors.

The second quest throughout the story are those trying to find Sylvalla. Some plan to return her to her parents while others are willing to help her with her mission.

Thank you A.J. Ponder and Love Books Tour for the opportunity to listen to Quest.

theirresponsiblereader's review

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
---  

What’s Quest About? 

Sylvalla is being raised the way most fantasy princesses should—but she’s not all that interested in the finery and culture. She has fire in her and ambition—she wants to be a Hero (with a capital H) and sneaks out of the castle to pursue her dreams and find a Quest so she can get that title, even if it causes problems with the one she already has. I couldn’t help but think of Princess Eilonwy daughter of Angharad, daughter of Regat of the Royal House of Llyr, just without being hampered by an Assistant Pig-Keeper. 

Dirk is one of the many swordsmen out to find her and return her for the bounty. He’s also one of the fiercest swordsmen around and has a long list of people he’s promised to kill the next time he sees them. He’s technically a Hero, but there’s little heroic about him. He finds himself Sylvalla’s sworn servant before too long and ends up accompanying her instead of bringing her home. 

Meanwhile, Capro Goodfellow a wizard of small repute has just turned 150 and continues to try to get his son interested in wizardry. Jonathan’s much more drawn to the commercial life, buying and selling—and profiting from both. But you know what they say about wizards being subtle, a vision about Sylvalla gives Capro a chance to involve Jonathan in something bigger than capitalism. 

Eventually, these four end up in the same place at the same time, and Sylvalla gets her chance—can she take advantage of it? Will any of them survive it? 

Yeah, There Was Another Thing 

There was another storyline and another group of characters that I didn’t mention. They were interesting enough, and the characters and story had potential, but I think they were squandered. I kept wondering how the book would’ve ended up had Ponder not bothered with this and had spent the space deepening the others instead. 

That said, I can absolutely see where this storyline is going to pay off in a further installment of The Sylvalla Chronicle. But for now, it felt like a poor use of space and imagination. 

How was the Narration? 

Fife did an acceptable job—there were some really strong moments. But there were a few times when the accent he was using didn’t work (words he didn’t know how to pronounce with a British accent, for example). When I read on his website that he comes from the same state as I do, some of that made a lot more sense to me. Also, there wasn’t enough variation in his tone of voice or pacing, which got a little old after a while and made it difficult to focus (that also could be a function of how tired I was, I grant—perhaps the combination). 

That comes across as more critical than I intended it to be—Fife was very strong when handling dialogue for his characters, and caught the tone of the book well. I could’ve used just a little more. 

So, what did I think about Quest? 

This was a light, fun fantasy story in a similar vein to A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher and Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin (to name a couple of recently discussed books here)—Ponder’s not looking to satirize the genre, just looking to tell a fun story within it. Which isn’t to say there’s no meat to it, by any means. I simply wanted a little more from the two main storylines, but that’s likely just me. 

I really liked Sylvalla as a character and enjoyed her arc through this—the same, to a lesser degree, for Capro and Dirk. I even came around to liking Jonathan—I enjoyed his arc throughout, even if I spent most of the book wanting someone to give him a swift kick in the pants. 

A quick hit of fantasy that will bring a grin to your face, Quest is one to check out. Given how things wrap up, I imagine the rest of her Chronicles will deliver more of the same, too. 

katblue2's review against another edition

1.0

Could barely get through a third of this book. I still have no clue wtf I was reading. The characters felt like they were out of a comedic adult fantasy, but the writing style felt like it was aimed for children. And what was the plot? Characters running around in circles different pov’s and the characters hardly even meet or interact in a genuine manner. I could not force myself to read any more.

jferrell526's review against another edition

4.0

A princess who's a hero?

A princess wants to be a hero not a princess. In this very fast paced novel we filled her and her companions on some amazing exploits. This take is fun. It would be great for anyone.