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A review by wyrmdog
The Illyrian Adventure by Lloyd Alexander
4.0
I've loved Alexander since my mom bought several books and asked me to choose one. I chose the Book of Three. I've probably read that entire series a dozen times over in my life and they were and are a big impact on how I process fantasy stories, moreso even than Lord of the Rings, which was and often still is the banner fantasy property in the west.
When I found out he had done a series about a young, globe-trotting redhead, I knew I had to track it down. I wasn't able to find them new, so I had to source them from...Thriftbooks? I can't remember. Anyway, I found them and ordered the entire thing, site-unseen, as the saying goes.
So the book...
It has possibly the best opening line of any book, starting off, "Vesper Holly has the digestive talents of a goat..."
Alexander has elided Indiana Jones into a teenage girl, given her a mentor of sorts, and an insatiable curiosity. It surprised me that it was written in the first person, the perspective of her new guardian, Vesper having been recently orphaned. It takes no time finding its voice, confident but surprisingly tame for all its rapid pacing and flashing swords and thundering dynamite and investigative archaeology.
Good clean fun, I am looking forward to discovering more of this little gem I missed the first time around.
When I found out he had done a series about a young, globe-trotting redhead, I knew I had to track it down. I wasn't able to find them new, so I had to source them from...Thriftbooks? I can't remember. Anyway, I found them and ordered the entire thing, site-unseen, as the saying goes.
So the book...
It has possibly the best opening line of any book, starting off, "Vesper Holly has the digestive talents of a goat..."
Alexander has elided Indiana Jones into a teenage girl, given her a mentor of sorts, and an insatiable curiosity. It surprised me that it was written in the first person, the perspective of her new guardian, Vesper having been recently orphaned. It takes no time finding its voice, confident but surprisingly tame for all its rapid pacing and flashing swords and thundering dynamite and investigative archaeology.
Good clean fun, I am looking forward to discovering more of this little gem I missed the first time around.