The Outcasts

by John Flanagan

Welcome back to Readascopic.  To find out more about the blog click here.  I am writing on my favourite book yet.

Skandian battle equipment

Book 1 Brotherband series

Rating
***** 

The Outcasts is part of a series called Brotherband which is by the same author as the Ranger's Apprentice series and is set about five years after the first Ranger's Apprentice book, which I have already blogged about.

This book is about a group of Skandians who are pretty similar to Vikings.  Two young friends have to work together in a brotherband to overcome two rival brotherbands and win the contest to become warriors.

Brotherbands are a training program that teaches boys to become warriors.  They have to work together to master sailing a wolf ship which is like a longboat.  They must also become ferocious fighters.

Brotherband training is tough, painful and tiring; the trainees must work together and as individuals.

The main characters, Hal and Stig become very close friends and we follow them through the series.  They have to guard a precious jewel and then everything goes wrong.  The book ends on a very big cliff hanger.  Read books two and three to complete the rest of the adventure!

I enjoyed this book because it is interesting fun and sometimes amusing.  

I thoroughly recommend John Flanagan!        

Eragon

by Christopher Paolini

This time Readascopic looks at a book about magic written by the genius young author Christopher Paolinin who was only 15 when he wrote this gripping book.  To find out more about the Readascopic blog click here.

Stone that Eragon found

Rating
*****
This is a book full of magic and dragons.  It is absolutely gripping from start to finish. You may think it's starting to sound a bit like "Harry Potter" but trust me, it's way better.  The magic is definitely more practical because it's not unlimited, so you have to have other weapons.

A young boy called Eragon finds an odd stone whilst hunting deer in a forest.  This peculiar stone launches him into a magical adventure packed with fun and excitement.  He learns to ride a dragon, fight with a sword and he studies the arts of magic.

Eragon starts off living on a farm near a group of mountains in a village called Carvahall.  He lived with his uncle and cousin but he didn't know who his mum or dad were. Other people in the village are Brom, Sloan and Horst.  Sloan is the village butcher and he hates Eragon and Horst is the blacksmith and is friendly to Eragon.

Eragon has to Find the Varden to help kill an evil king and he has to beat monsters made to kill men.

As you may have noticed from my other posts, I like the medieval era.  So this is a great book for me and it is full of visual descriptions of characters, places and objects.  This makes you feel in the action instead of just reading a book.  

Click here to go to the publisher's website and you can read more about this author's books. 

Hope you enjoy reading this book.
Look out for the next post!

The Reada

The False Prince

by Jennifer A. Nielsen  

Welcome back to Readascopic.  To find out more about the blog click here.  This time I am writing about another book set in the medieval era.

Sword skills are important in this book

This is the first book in the Ascendance trilogy.  

Rating
*****
This book is set in a land called Carthya in a late medieval age when cannons have just been invented, as you will find out in later books.  

The main character is a young orphan called Sage who is forced to work for a man named Conner. He is trained to be a gentleman with two other orphans.  This involves learning how to use a sword, riding a horse and being taught about politics in the kingdom.  One of the children will be chosen to help Conner in his devious plan; the others don't want to guess what will happen to them if they are not chosen. 

The three orphans become close friends without realising it but they still have to fight each other.  This makes the book full of tension and you can really understand the difficulties facing all the characters.

Jennifer A. Nielsen is really good at putting her ideas on the page but not getting bogged down in description.  This is good if you like getting to the action quickly.   

I really liked this book because it is set in my favourite time and is full of plots, schemes and sneaking out in the night.  It is always a hard time for Sage but somehow he overcomes it every time.  But will he be chosen? 

Hope you enjoy reading this book.
Look out for the next post!

The Reada

The Mystery of the Whistling Caves

by Helen Moss

Welcome back to Readascopic.  To find out more about the blog click here.  This time I am writing about a book from a great children's writer, Helen Moss.  

Emily's notebook 

This is the first book in the "Adventure Island" series by Helen Moss.

Rating
*****

"The Mystery of the Whistling Caves" is in a series that is full of adventure, fun and daring actions.  I would recommend it for slightly younger readers.  Once you've read this series you can return to it again and again and it is still gripping and exciting.  

Scott and Jack Carter have to spend the summer holidays in Castle Key because their dad is on an archaeological dig.  They think it will be a boring holiday with their great aunt Kate but when they meet Emily Wild and her dog Drift they end up exploring the whistling caves caves and solving exciting mysteries.  Other characters are Old Bob, Vicky White and Mrs Loveday who sometimes help the three kids but sometimes irritate them.  

I liked this book because it is set on a remote island with a small population that you can get to know really well.  Emily is very fun to read about and she knows about everything on the island.  She is also obsessed with her notebook!  Helen Moss is great at subtle humour and I found myself laughing out loud at what was going on.   

The three children have to solve a major crime by finding some valuable Saxon artefacts.  This book has a lot of tension and cliffhangers which makes it difficult to put down.  

Hope you enjoy reading this book.  There are plenty more in this series!  Click here to find out more on Helen Moss's website.
Look out for the next post!

The Reada

The Spook's Apprentice

by Joseph Delaney

Welcome back to Readascopic.  To find out more about the blog click here.  This time I am writing about a book from another one of my favourite series.

Weapons used by Spooks

This is the first book of the Spooks series in The Wardstone Chronicles.

Rating

*****

This book is about a young boy called Tom who has to train as a Spook and try and save the country.  This is more difficult than it sounds when he gets deceived into releasing a witch.

Tom's master, John Gregory, has served the country for over sixty years and is nearing the end of his career.  Alice Deane  starts off half evil and half good.  She gets Tom into danger but also helps him to overcome it.  There are many more unique characters such as Grimalkin, a powerful witch assassin, who terrifies the rest of her kin.  

In the Spooks series, Tom has to fight off evil witches, boggarts and other nasty things.  He has to fight with his staff, silver chain and also salt and iron; silver really hurts the enemy, salt burns the enemy and iron bleeds away their strength.

To be a Spook you  have to be a seventh son of a seventh son.  Spooks are trained to fight off evil and defend the country.  They learn to use different weapons but rarely use magic.

This book is set in a land very similar to Britain in the early medieval era.  This makes it a story full of daring actions.  Tom has to recapture a malevolent witch and save his family.  This book is a real page turner.  

I like this book because it is full of adventure and action.  However, I want to warn you that it can be a bit scary at bedtime!  


I hope you enjoy reading this book.
Look out for the next post.

The Reada

The Ruins of Gorlan

by John Flannagan

Welcome to Readascopic where you will find book reviews by "The Reada".  The aim of this blog is to give young readers some ideas about what to read.  For more info about Readascopic click here.

Saxe knife, bow and arrow, throwing knife

Book 1 of the Ranger's Apprentice Series.

Rating
***** 

This book is about a boy called Will who makes a firm friendship with someone who used to bully him.  He is trained by a ranger called Halt.  Most people think rangers are dark magicians and can make themselves invisible but they just are very skilled at hiding in a camouflaged cloak.

Will learns to use the knives shown above with great skill. They are called saxe and throwing knives but his main skill is in the recurve bow which, as its name suggests, is the bow.  

The main challenge in the book is that Will has to kill two of the most fearsome creatures ever known to human kind.  These are known as the Kalkara.  They are controlled by an evil war lord called Morgarath.  

The book is set in a medieval era in a country very like Britain.  There is a map at the start which shows you where things are.  It helps you get to know your way around the setting in the book.  

I liked this book because it was full of dynamic action and has just the right amount of humour.  

Read more about this book on the author's website here. 

Hope you enjoy reading this book.
Lookout for the next post!

The Reada

About Readascopic

This blog is meant to show you books that you might love to read. It gives you a taste of the book and a star rating on the chosen book and will be posted every time I've finished a book! 

Some of the books on the Readascopic bookshelf

I like books set in a medieval era but I have read some other great books set in the modern age.  These books are mainly aimed at readers who are 10-14yrs old but people of all ages might enjoy them.  

I am a young reader myself and blog under the name "The Reada".  

I might also post other interesting things from time to time, mainly to do with music, chess and films.  I hope you enjoy my posts and start or continue to love reading.

The Reada