A World Without Heroes (Beyonders, #1)

A World Without Heroes (Beyonders #1)

4.04 of 5 stars 4.04  ·  rating details  ·  10,144 ratings  ·  1,474 reviews
Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he's ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who oppo...more
Hardcover, 457 pages
Published March 15th 2011 by Aladdin (first published March 1st 2011)
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Community Reviews

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Kathryn

There are so many disappointing YA books lately, since the genre has grown rapidly within a very short period of time, it almost seems like authors are writing books with only a stroke of a pencil. Not thinking hard enough. The plots are forgettable, unintelligent and always comes with an uncomfortable threesome.

Which is why I have turned my back to them for now and concentrating on "novel" and "Middle Grade lit".

This book had one of the most imaginative and amazing first chapter I have read i...more
Anne Toronto1
"A World Without Heroes" (Beyonders 1) by Brandon Mull is Lyria. One wizard remains, a tyrant ruler vulnerable to a secret magic word who discourages opposition. A few skilled adults in turn aid two foretold saviors, American children (13 is barely teen) uncommonly skilled in knife and bow, but not paddling (unlikely in Canada). Circumstances propel them more than courage. I feel danger to the pair more than Lyrians met once. Author imagination is creative; reader (my) involvement superficial. M...more
Raechella
To be honest, I haven’t read anything from Brandon Mull yet, notwithstanding his well-known children’s series Fablehaven (which I certainly would like to check out some time), not until Beyonders: A World Without Heroes. I’ve been seeing this on GR for a while now, so imagine my exhilaration as soon as I found this on Booksale’s crammed shelves; thus, I momentarily purchased it without any second thoughts.

The story kicks off when a 13-year old middle-grader, Jason, heard an unusual sound coming...more
Fredrik
Di luar dugaan...
buku ini ternyata LEBIH BAGUS daripada ekspektasiku (yang memang sudah menduga kalau ini akan bagus)! xD

Untuk standar sebuah novel bagi middle grade and children, buku pertama Beyonders ini layak dapat 5 bintang. Top.
Ceritanya, twist-nya, humornya, pesannya... Hai(n)yaaa~ <3

Juga yang menarik adalah karena cara bercerita di buku ini, apalagi dialognya, justru mengingatkanku pada game-game adventure di PC, khususnya serial Monkey Island (which is one of my favorite games ever!)...more
Natalie
I read this book for the second time because I needed a refresher before I read Book #2. It was a good thing too, because I realized that I had forgotten so much. I didn't even really remember the biggest point of the story - the climax - until I was nearly done.

Second time through was still fun. I was a little impatient, though, because I was anxious to start the second book. Therefore, I didn't find it as fascinating as the first time, but still enjoyable. Still leaving it with a four star ra...more
Lady Danielle aka The Book Huntress
A World Without Heroes is a 'grew on me' book. Initially, I was not sure I liked the tone at all. At first, I thought it would read more like a Disney film than a weighty young adult fantasy novel with potential. As I listened, my feelings started to change. The idea is not new, but the in- between steps of the journey proved interesting. While I am not extensively well read, not in the least, in epic fantasy, I appreciate the quest as a foundation for a story. Fairy tales (which I am very well-...more
Brenda
Jason is a middle school student who is great at baseball and works at a zoo (I don't know how someone in middle school gets a job at a zoo, but we move past that very quickly). One day while working he is transported through the hippo cage to another world called Lyrian where an evil wizard emperor holds all the power. There he meets Rachel, who was also transported from Earth to Lyrian. With the help of scattered rebels, they must fine a secret word that can be used to destroy the emperor.

One...more
Millerbl
Book: Beyonders SPOILER ALERT!!
Author: Brandon Mull
Book Type:Fiction
Theme: advanture

Sumirization:This book is about two teenagers neamed Rachel and Jason, Who were transported by axident into a distant world that they have no buisness being in, and they end up at the blind kings castle. Where they end up on a crazy quest to destroy the evil emporor maldor. But the only way to destroy him is with a sqecific word that when said directly to him will obliterate him and end his evil rain.
This book is...more
08nickb
This book is about a teenager named Jason that is in the eighth grade. He likes to play baseball and he has a job at the zoo. One day he goes to the zoo and he hears music playing but he doesn't know where its coming from. He finds that the music is coming from a hippo cage and he leans over the bar to make sure. He ends up leaning to far and he plunges into the water right as the hippo devours him. Jason thinks he is dead but he finds himself sitting in a tree. He had traveled to the beyond an...more
Brennan Sarich
Good book, but started out a little stilted.

There are times when Mull really hits his stride, and then there are other times where you really feel like the writing is getting in the way.

The one thing this book does well is the setting. The world is very, very interesting, and the quest is interesting, even if it is formulaic. Sadly, the main characters aren't very interesting. They try, but it's train wreck. The best characters (Jasher and Ferrin) are only there as plot devices, which is too bad...more
Despair Speaking
I'm actually glad I decided to get my own copy of Beyonders just a few months ago. Because if I got this earlier, I probably would've gone insane wondering what will happen next. Since I'm a late fan, that means the last book will come out quite soon. Otherwise... I don't even want to think about it.

The main character, Jason, is a volunteer in a zoo and happened to be hanging around the hippo tank when he heard this strange music. Wondering if someone dumped a music player inside the tank, he ch...more
05RyanH
The Beyonders is a book about a baseball player named Jason Walker. While he and his friends were at the batting cages, Jason had to leave early to go to his job, at the zoo. While working by the Hippo Exibit, he hears a strange sound coming from the water. He leans over the railing to listen better, when he fell in and the Hippo swallowed him! Instead of being eaten, he was transported to a world called Lyrian.

He pops out of a tree in the middle of the forest. He can hear the same music coming...more
Martin




Beyonders Book Review



Beyonders was a good book that had a good story line to back
everything up. It's about two individuals who come into
contact with each other when they are whisked away by portals to another world.
When these two individuals find themselves lost in this
magical world, they eventually find each other. They find out that
they were destined to come there. They find that there is one evil wizard
who is controlling the whole world. It is up to these two to help save
this poor wor

...more
06brittonR
This is a fairly longer read. Its about this boy name Jason and he is in eighth grade. He is a baseball player and works at a zoo.
So one day he goes over to the zoo and hears music playing. He follows the music and it seems to be coming from a hippos cage. Jason then leans over to see if it really was coming from the hippo and he made a huge mistake. He leaned to far over and fell into the cage, the hippo then swallowed him but instead of dyeing he found him self up in a tree. He starts to wan...more
02DallenM
Setting- this story could not take place in any other setting especially because the setting is the reason for the story

Main Characters- Jason, Rachel, The blind king, and a displacer that acts to be their friend but ends up to be bad, and Maldor the emperor and his minions.

Summary- starts out with a describing the life of a boy named Jason he works at a zoo. Later he falls in the mouth of a hippo and is transported to another world called lyrain he stumbles into a forest finding a huge library...more
Kate
Beyonders: A World Without Heroes is my favorite book by Brandon Mull to date. I'm not as captivated by his Fablehaven series as I would like to be, and while The Candy Shop War was fun, it felt too similar to Fablehaven for me (generic bad guys, for starters).

While different from his other works, Beyonders does remind me of other stories, such as CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia as the book starts out with two children from our world crossing over to a different world. Also similarly, this other...more
Daniel Shellenbarger
Jan 02, 2013 Daniel Shellenbarger rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Daniel by: Becky B
I picked up World Without Heroes (first book in Brandon Mull's Beyonders series) after a hearty endorsement from my librarian sister, who compared it favorably to Rick Riordan's writing (see Becky B's review for more on her thoughts). For me, I was strangely reminded of Angie Sage's Magyk books (for the wizardy bits) and Elizabeth Kay's Divide books (Earth connected to fantasy "Other world") and 1984 (for the Machiavellian villain and dystopian fantasy world), though thankfully without Sage's re...more
Robin
Dec 04, 2012 Robin rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lovers of Captivating Fantasy
A very good book that took a while to get into but once you were in it was nearly impossible to get out.
I am going to add a new part to this review, ,in which I will explain in my own words what this book is about. I have seen this done in other reviews and enjoy it, so I have decided to give it a try.

Synopsis: Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable--until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything...more
Doc Opp
Perhaps if I were an adolescent I would really like this book; that's clearly the intended audience. But unlike many other books in the genre (like the Harry Potter series) the allure simply doesn't generalize. The writing is really, really bad. Awkward, and stilted to the extent that it knocks you out of suspension of disbelief. The main protagonists are so generic that they are utterly forgettable. Their motivations and goals are artificial feeling, and anything involving relationships is expl...more
Elizabeth Ku
The author has a very strange, kind of morbid imagination. The result is some really creative races who populate the book, drive the plot and make the story interesting. However, the book is poorly written - descriptions are canned and dialogue is invariably introduced with "said" or "replied". As some other reviewers have mentioned, the character development is weak and the primary motivation for the hero is not courage but instead the belief that if he can just manage to get through all this,...more
Marilyn W Lathrop
I rate this book 3 1/2 stars. The concept of a doorway into a different world is not new. Mull does come up with some fascinating characters, such as the Displacers who can remove body parts or have body parts taken away from them and still live--provided a body part critical to life isn't destroyed. One Displacer's head and one hand lives in a cave while the rest of his body lies at the bottom of a sea. His hand gathers food and water and brings it to his head and he manages to survive.

Another...more
Jessica Harrison
read full review and author interview at Cracking the Cover
Written by the same author of the Fablehaven series and geared toward the same age group, “A World Without Heroes” feels more mature on a number of levels. I think that comes from having characters that are a little older to begin with. The characters, especially Jason, seem to have more weight to them, as if they were further developed in the author’s mind before putting pen to paper.

Brandon Mull’s writing has also grown. With a five-bo...more
Abbe
Amazon.com Review

A World Without Heroes is an addictive blend of fantasy, humor, and heroic quest. Jason is an ordinary 13-year-old involuntarily transported to Lyrian, a world ruled by the evil wizard Maldor. Jason stumbles across a book bound with human skin and learns of a secret word with the power to unmake Maldor--knowledge that puts Jason in grave danger. Galloran, a blind king who once searched for the word himself, introduces Jason to Rachel, another Beyonder (as people from Earth are

...more
Nico F
Beyonders is a story about how an ordinary boy's life changed instantly. This boy, Jason always liked baseball but his dad kept insisting him to be a dentist like the rest of the family. One day after school Jason was at the bating cages with his friends when a baseball hit him right in the temple while he wasn't paying attention. Soon he woke up with all of his friends surrounding him and asking him if he was alright. He didn't feel his best but he said that he was ok. He had a job at the zoo...more
Jamie
Aug 15, 2012 Jamie rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fans of fable haven
*sigh* I don't really want to write this review, mostly because I'm kind of indifferent to the book. I mean, I liked it, and it was super interesting. I mean, the plot and the whole story were so original. (Like the Amar people? And those puckerlies, or something like that? And the pies that kill you? And, good lord, the displacers? I found myself often wondering what psycho came up with this stuff... No offense.) But it wasn't one of those books where I'm glued to it, can't put it down, don't-b...more
04kaitlynr
Beyonders is a book of adventure with a touch of fantasy. It starts out with an ordinary boy, named Jason, who plays baseball and works at zoo. Little does he know that he will be transported to a world called Lyrian; a place like the Middle Ages at Earth with wizards and all kinds of different people. Jason will be forced on a Quest to find “the word” that will destroy the evil wizard emperor Maldor.

Jason is an ordinary teenager who ends up going to a place called Lyrian; a world ruled by Maldo...more
Petit-lips
- Après la saga « Fablehaven » que j'ai adorée, Brandon Mull réussi une nouvelle fois à m'émerveiller avec son nouveau roman « Beyonders ».

- Jason, jeune adolescent de 13 ans, se retrouve accidentellement projeté dans le monde de Lyrian. La peur laisse vite place à la découverte et à la soif d'en savoir plus, afin de pouvoir espérer trouver un moyen de rentrer chez lui. Le problème est qu'il va s'attirer les foudres de Maldor, le sorcier tyrannique et cruel qui règne sur ce monde inconnu. Jason,...more
IndyPL Kids Book Blog
From the author of the Fablehaven series comes another highly imaginative world full of unique characters and interesting plot twists. I like it when characters are smart - even the bad guys. I like it when things I can’t predict happen and they make perfect sense.

This books starts with a prologue that is a very gripping description of a warrior in a dungeon chained to a wall, suffering both physically and mentally. He is determined not to break and tell his captor what he wants to know.

The prin...more
Barb Middleton
Don’t lean too far into a cage enclosure at a zoo or you might end up like thirteen-year-old Jason who fell into the hippo tank and got sucked down its mouth into an alternate world called, Lyrian. Jason finds himself in a series of adventures beginning with attempting to rescue a group of musicians plunging over some falls on a raft. He later ends up at a remote library where he reads a forbidden book that is made of human skin and forces him on a quest to find the syllables of a word that will...more
Erik This Kid Reviews Books
Thirteen year old Jason had a very unexciting life. He was just like any other teenager. He went to school and worked part-time at a zoo after school. One day, Jason thought he heard music coming from the hippo’s mouth (yes you read it right, music from a hippo’s mouth). When he leaned over the railing to investigate he thought the music was coming from INSIDE the hippo. He leaned too much and fell into the hippo’s mouth which wasn’t really any hippo’s mouth but a doorway to the world of Lyrian....more
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topics  posts  views  last activity   
Shout Out to LOTR? 10 15 May 01, 2013 06:50pm  
"Warm Voice" in the Prologue 4 15 Apr 25, 2013 12:14pm  
What do you think about Ferrin? 54 61 Apr 18, 2013 11:35am  
Fablehaven readers-How did you like Beyonders? 21 86 Apr 12, 2013 08:54pm  
Movie? 6 26 Apr 08, 2013 12:19pm  
A World without Heroes (The Beyonders, #1)
A World Without Heroes (Paperback)
A World Without Heroes (Beyonders, #1)
A World Without Heroes (ebook)
A World Without Heroes (Paperback)

25052
"Brandon Mull resides in a happy little valley near the mouth of a canyon with his wife and three children. He spent two years living in the Atacama Desert of Northern Chile where he learned Spanish and juggling. He once won a pudding eating contest in the park behind his grandma’s house, earning a gold medal. Brandon is the author of the New York Times bestselling Fablehaven series and The Candy...more
More about Brandon Mull...
Fablehaven (Fablehaven, #1) Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven, #3) Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven, #4) Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven, #5) Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven, #2)

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“You're just a character in my dream."
"You wish."
"I didn't mean my love interest," she replied defensively. "You'd have better hair. You're the character I dreamed up because the rest of the dream was making me homesick."
"Maybe you're the character I dreamed up to scare myself awake."
"That's not very nice!"
"You made fun of my hair. I like it this way. Short and simple."
I don't mind short. Mine is short."
"Then what's wrong with mine?" Jason challenged.
"Maybe we should talk about something else."
"Like the guy on a horse coming to kill us?"
"It needs more style," she muttered.
"The horse?"
"Your hair."
"I forgot to bring my gel when I got eaten by a hippo.”
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“Say no to death pies. Another good motto.” 24 people liked it
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