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Monster Slayers #1
Monster Slayers
When vicious, dog-headed gnolls kidnap everyone living in the small village of Hesiod, only Evin and his fighter friend Jorick manage to escape. With help from an ancient guidebook of magical beasts called A Practical Guide to Monsters , the two boys and a new friend--elf wizard Betilivatis--must trek through ancient ruins and face one menacing monster after another in order save their families.
But Evin soon realizes that not everything is as it seems. Someone--or something--has taken leadership of the gnolls and has dangerous plans for the kidnapped villagers. Betilivatis often disappears mysteriously and has strange conversations with someone only she can see. And Evin is having unusual dreams of a place he's never been, a place that feels more and more real with each passing day.
The pace never falters in this page-turning adventure, as Evin, Jorick, and Betilivatis bravely battle gnolls, a chimera, an ormyrr, and a lich, and it ends with a shocking twist that will make readers want to start the story all over again.
But Evin soon realizes that not everything is as it seems. Someone--or something--has taken leadership of the gnolls and has dangerous plans for the kidnapped villagers. Betilivatis often disappears mysteriously and has strange conversations with someone only she can see. And Evin is having unusual dreams of a place he's never been, a place that feels more and more real with each passing day.
The pace never falters in this page-turning adventure, as Evin, Jorick, and Betilivatis bravely battle gnolls, a chimera, an ormyrr, and a lich, and it ends with a shocking twist that will make readers want to start the story all over again.
- GenresFantasy
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
1 person is currently reading
59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 4, 2022
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say I started this book probably 50 times as a child. I finally did it bitches. I finished the book that’s been on my tbr the longest. WOOOOO.
Now as for the book itself, ehhh. I can see why they had the maze runner writer review it with the twist being what it was. It was a cool way to poke fun at the tropes of the genre, and I’m impressed it was pulled off in a middle grade book without getting to such a point of meta it becomes confusing.
All in all, I’m glad I finally read it, and I’m not mad at it in any way. A solid 3-star best western experience if I’ve ever had one in a book.
Now as for the book itself, ehhh. I can see why they had the maze runner writer review it with the twist being what it was. It was a cool way to poke fun at the tropes of the genre, and I’m impressed it was pulled off in a middle grade book without getting to such a point of meta it becomes confusing.
All in all, I’m glad I finally read it, and I’m not mad at it in any way. A solid 3-star best western experience if I’ve ever had one in a book.
July 9, 2024
Wanted to reread some old books while the power was out. Found this oooold thing I read as a kid, I saw a sick monster on the cover and had no idea was DND was. Really cute going back and reading this, even if it took literally five seconds. I honestly didn’t care for any of the characters other than the chimera, everyone had a purpose in the journey though and I didn’t see the twists coming.
May 18, 2010
This is very much a children's book and as much as I'd like to say that adults would like it, I don't see those that don't enjoy easy to read children's stories being able to make it to the end.
With that said, on the children's side this was a great start to getting those children 8-12 involved with reading and enjoying it. There are plenty of monsters, and action involved that will keep the kids wanting more. There isn't much character development and really a kid isn't going to notice that :)
There is an interesting twist in this novel that I didn't see coming and I've read 100s of fantasy books. So I think children, and parents reading it will enjoy it.
Anything that gets kids, especially boys excited about reading I'm for. This book will definitely do that :)
With that said, on the children's side this was a great start to getting those children 8-12 involved with reading and enjoying it. There are plenty of monsters, and action involved that will keep the kids wanting more. There isn't much character development and really a kid isn't going to notice that :)
There is an interesting twist in this novel that I didn't see coming and I've read 100s of fantasy books. So I think children, and parents reading it will enjoy it.
Anything that gets kids, especially boys excited about reading I'm for. This book will definitely do that :)
November 18, 2012
I read this book when Will (7) picked it out at the library. I initially wasn't too concerned, despite the Dungeons and Dragons label on the cover because, at first scan it looked like the reading level was above my first grader. I thought I would be reading it TO him and could therefore censor as I read if needed.
The book started out, unfortunately, great. Highly engaging and actually perfect reading level for Will. Very readable but with some vocabulary that was a stretch. Serpentine. Scant. Ajar. These are easily decode able wordS but words that Will doesn't run across in everyday life. Most of those words, however, could easily be figured out from context which is perfect for a young reader. The story sucked us in and then Will started to read on his own because he was so engaged. Another good sign (I thought). At this point I happened to be having a discussion with a friend about other age/grade appropriate reads and since the book was such a hit decided to tell her about it. I went to Amazon to grab the link to forward to her and the summary of the book that I read there was a bit worrisome. This prompted me to stop letting Will read the book and go ahead and pre-read to be sure the book was appropriate for a seven year old.
It's not.
Aside from the initial kidnapping of villagers (which was okay, not overly scary or gory) the book read initially like n adventure hero story. Two kids set out to save their families from probable death by marauding gnolls. The kids find elf wizard girl who is in possession of this book A Practical Guide to Monsters (still okay) and go off in search of gnolls. Still okay. Descend into gnoll lair, fight and kill two gnolls (booby traps an whatnot). Still okay. Find and this is where things start to go south in terms of appropriateness for a young reader. The first half of the book is fine but shortly after the halfway mark the decode able but unknown words start to be more like "impale" and "singed." The main characters then decide that .
.
If the book had stopped with the gnoll tracking and village saving it would have been fine. But the twists and turns made this book way too dark and sophisticated for a young reader. I think MAYBE I would think it was okay for a mature 9 or 10 year old.
The book started out, unfortunately, great. Highly engaging and actually perfect reading level for Will. Very readable but with some vocabulary that was a stretch. Serpentine. Scant. Ajar. These are easily decode able wordS but words that Will doesn't run across in everyday life. Most of those words, however, could easily be figured out from context which is perfect for a young reader. The story sucked us in and then Will started to read on his own because he was so engaged. Another good sign (I thought). At this point I happened to be having a discussion with a friend about other age/grade appropriate reads and since the book was such a hit decided to tell her about it. I went to Amazon to grab the link to forward to her and the summary of the book that I read there was a bit worrisome. This prompted me to stop letting Will read the book and go ahead and pre-read to be sure the book was appropriate for a seven year old.
It's not.
Aside from the initial kidnapping of villagers (which was okay, not overly scary or gory) the book read initially like n adventure hero story. Two kids set out to save their families from probable death by marauding gnolls. The kids find elf wizard girl who is in possession of this book A Practical Guide to Monsters (still okay) and go off in search of gnolls. Still okay. Descend into gnoll lair, fight and kill two gnolls (booby traps an whatnot). Still okay. Find and this is where things start to go south in terms of appropriateness for a young reader. The first half of the book is fine but shortly after the halfway mark the decode able but unknown words start to be more like "impale" and "singed." The main characters then decide that .
.
If the book had stopped with the gnoll tracking and village saving it would have been fine. But the twists and turns made this book way too dark and sophisticated for a young reader. I think MAYBE I would think it was okay for a mature 9 or 10 year old.
November 13, 2015
Monster Slayers is just the type of fantasy novel I really enjoy reading. It has three young heroes, although Betilivatis is much older than she appears since she is an elf, on a quest to save the kidnapped villagers. Along the way, they must outwit an ormyrr, (a monster that I had never heard of and wonder what it really looks like), fight a pack of gnolls multiple times, and work with a chimera.
I quite enjoyed the quick pace of this fantasy romp. The storyline is very exciting and there is a huge twist that I just didn't see coming. At first I was disappointed by this, but then saw the light and understood where the author was heading. By the end of the book, I was quite happy with the way the story ended and find myself looking forward to more companion books in this series.
Lukas Ritter weaves a magical tale that will keep young readers entranced by the story. The hard-hitting action, dramatic disappointment, and twist and turnabout in story left me reeling. I was so shocked by what happened that I didn't know what to think at first. But then it all became so clear at the end of the story. Ah . . . now I see where this all was heading and how books in the future will use what all started here in Monster Slayers.
I really liked all three of the main characters, Evin, Jorick, and Betilivatis, and hope that they appear in more books about monsters in the world of DragonLance. At first I thought the chimera was the main bad character. Then that darned twist occurred and a new villain reared its ugly head. Ha has a plan to turn himself into a powerful lich, and no one is going to stand in his way.
I found it interesting the Curston lay in ruins. This book obviously takes place far in the future from other books I have read in the DragonLance World. I wonder how far into the future it is? Last time I read a book by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (see DragonLance), Curston was still a bustling city. Very interesting . . .
Overall, Monster Slayers is a great beginning to a series of books that are companion novels to the book A Practical Guide to Monsters. All I can say about this book is that I really enjoyed it. Any reader of fantasy novels will find Monster Slayers to be highly entertaining. Great start!
I rated this book an 8½ out of 10.
I quite enjoyed the quick pace of this fantasy romp. The storyline is very exciting and there is a huge twist that I just didn't see coming. At first I was disappointed by this, but then saw the light and understood where the author was heading. By the end of the book, I was quite happy with the way the story ended and find myself looking forward to more companion books in this series.
Lukas Ritter weaves a magical tale that will keep young readers entranced by the story. The hard-hitting action, dramatic disappointment, and twist and turnabout in story left me reeling. I was so shocked by what happened that I didn't know what to think at first. But then it all became so clear at the end of the story. Ah . . . now I see where this all was heading and how books in the future will use what all started here in Monster Slayers.
I really liked all three of the main characters, Evin, Jorick, and Betilivatis, and hope that they appear in more books about monsters in the world of DragonLance. At first I thought the chimera was the main bad character. Then that darned twist occurred and a new villain reared its ugly head. Ha has a plan to turn himself into a powerful lich, and no one is going to stand in his way.
I found it interesting the Curston lay in ruins. This book obviously takes place far in the future from other books I have read in the DragonLance World. I wonder how far into the future it is? Last time I read a book by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (see DragonLance), Curston was still a bustling city. Very interesting . . .
Overall, Monster Slayers is a great beginning to a series of books that are companion novels to the book A Practical Guide to Monsters. All I can say about this book is that I really enjoyed it. Any reader of fantasy novels will find Monster Slayers to be highly entertaining. Great start!
I rated this book an 8½ out of 10.
April 12, 2012
A decent book, but not quite what I was looking for. I hoped it would be an older kids book with a group of fantasy-folks embarking on a quest, Tolkein-style. It started out that way but had a twist near the middle that changed the tone noticably.
The writing was fine although the tie-in to the other monster guide book was repeated often enough to be annoying. Also near the end the writer gave the main character a short sword that he had always been carrying but never told us about before that made my eyes roll, but other than that it was a good read.
The writing was fine although the tie-in to the other monster guide book was repeated often enough to be annoying. Also near the end the writer gave the main character a short sword that he had always been carrying but never told us about before that made my eyes roll, but other than that it was a good read.
March 7, 2011
Decent for what it is - I read this with my 8-year-old as a bedtime story. It's nothing amazing, but a decent tale with enough of a twist at the end to make it less than predictable.
January 20, 2022
A good kid's book for the 3rd to 5th grade level. For parents that roleplay, this could be a good way to introduce your kids.
October 4, 2011
awesome plot twists in the story! :)
July 5, 2013
Predictable but an interesting premise which is always good. Drug a little but picked up at the end.
November 11, 2015
Great book. Its like D@D meets Maze Runner and the Hunger Games.
June 30, 2010
ARC from publishers
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews