The Paladin Prophecy

The Paladin Prophecy was one of my Christmas gifts from Kevin this year - the books he buys at a discount store based on their covers. They tend to be hit or miss, but this one landed somewhere in the middle.

The book follows Will West, an extraordinary boy who has spent his life attempting to hide his talents at the behest of his parents. But then a shadowy organization comes after him, and after they capture his parents, Will flees to a hidden boarding school for other exceptional teenagers, where he starts digging into the mystery of who's after him and why. All while the forces of darkness are closing in on him from various sides.

The book was enjoyable, but I had a hard time trusting anyone. Though the school seems (and ultimately is) benevolent, there's no real reason for the reader, or even Will to be comfortable there. Everything is too suspicious and shadowy, and I felt like I was off balance more than I was meant to be.

On the bright side, the plot moved fast, and there was a good mix of science fiction and mythology. The advanced technology was completely ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone deciding to invent some of it. But it made for some cool scenes that couldn't have happened outside a computer generated environment.

I think the book mostly suffers from being yet another entry in the over-saturated teen dystopian genre. Too many kids outsmarting all the adults around them and refusing to trust anyone and not really being taken seriously. Too many shadowy organizations and incredible abilities. I had fun reading it, but I know how it will all play out, so I'm not in any rush to track down the sequels.

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