Aidan of Oren: The Journey Begins

Aidan of Oren #1

by Alan St. Jean, Judith Friedman (Illustrator)

In the remote village of Oren a child was hidden amidst a terrible war. A child of peace, yet powerful beyond imagination. A child unique in all of the world, whose destiny is to fulfill an ancient prophecy of restoration...a destiny that will not go unchallened. His name is Aidan of Oren, and this is his story.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Childrens

206 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2004

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. I chose this book because the auther actually came to the elementary school where I work and read his children books to my kindergarten students. This book is full of adventure and fantasy. I enjoued reading it and can't wait to read the other two series to this book. It kept me interested and wondering the whole way through reading it. Would reccommend this book to anyone who likes reading books full of adventure and fantasy!

[Noah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m pretty sure I read part of this series as a kid. I reread it now and am very underwhelmed. The characters are very boring and the plot points are forgettable fluff. The climax hardly felt significant and the pay off at the end of book one is that they get to sleep in soft beds.
Yes it was written for kids, but there are many children’s chapter books that can develop characters and tell an interesting story.

[Anya Zhang · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a quite a while, so I decided to finally read it. I feel like I would've enjoyed this book a lot more if I read this when I was younger, but I think I may read the next few books. I like the idea behind this book, but the way it was executed did not sit well with me. A lot of things and events lacked meaning, and the big climax of the book was anti-climatic. The bond between the characters was nice, but in my opinion, it was cheesy. Overall, this was an okay read.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great read aloud for 3rd through 6th graders. My third graders didn't want me to stop reading it. Each chapter ends with that cliff hanger that wants you to keep reading. The author does an amazing job of making the characters come alive and you feel you are part of their adventures. Enough plot twists to keep you on the edge of your seat.

[EmmmettSaltsman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book whats a bland, Unoriginal and somewhat sloppy attempt of the hobbit. It feels bland and unimaginative. Sometimes the plot can go to a crawl and other time it can be shot straight at you with no reaction time. The characters all feel selfish and bland. But sometimes, just sometimes it can be the littlest bit charming.

[Jill Santos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this series as a 5th grader and decided to revisit it during spring cleaning. Great heros journey with some unexpected turns.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is an easy read, but lacks depth. Characters, plot, setting, everything could use a little more oomph. I'm still trying to figure out the point of having Lilly. She's suppose to be the "smart" one, but all I can figure is that MacKenzie seems to know more than she does. The best thing Lilly's done is carry a basket with food. The bird (excuse me, the falcon) is meant as comedic relief but instead tends to annoy more than humor. Climaxes lack excitement since they're done no sooner than they started. The final climax the reader misses out on entirely.

The illustrations are nicely done, though.

Sad to say that if I weren't reading this series as research, I wouldn't be reading the following books at all.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids really enjoyed this book as a read aloud. It has everything that my girls love: fantasy, magic, elves, talking animals, adventure, and a mystery that only kids can solve. The only thing that was missing was unicorns. ;). So far, I really like this series for kids who enjoy fantasy. I think that kids who enjoyed Harry potter might like this as well.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read aloud to my son and we both loved it. The author, Alan St. Jean went to Luke's elementary school and spoke to the kids about writing and my son was very interested so we bought his books. It was exciting and the words flowed nicely (some books are decidedly NOT good for reading out loud but this wasn't one of them!) We immediately started on the second book of the series.

[Harold Smithson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh, right, this series.

Not much to say about it, honestly. It's your average middle-grade fantasy series, and not one of the more remarkable ones. The characters are archetypical, the villain standard, and the relatively straightforward story goes bananas by the end.

[Aurore Henze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this only because I have a son named Aidan, however- it is a wonderful story and all of my children love it very much. They love the characters and beg me to read it, even my 15 and 13 year old enjoy reading it again!

[Gomythology · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but it ust dragged on and on

[Casie Bailey]

This is my favorite book of all time. I read it in the sixth grade and I still think it was the most fun and creative book I've come across.

[Izzybee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is good so far.....

[Aine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story. Rather fluffy. Which is typically not my preferred reading, but it got me out of my slump. First book I've read all month, and I read it in a few hours.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it at my daughters request! It is a great children's novel!