An Unexpected Apprentice [Paperback]

The best thing about An Unexpected Apprentice is its characters: Tildi is a sweet heroine whose journey is fun to follow, and I especially liked Rin (the courageous centaur), Lakanta (a humorous peddler woman), and Olen (the wizard who takes on Tildi as an apprentice) as well. The mystical, amiable Silvertree (the sentient tree in which Olen makes his home) was also an original and fun "character," in a sense. Jody Lynn Nye does a good job of creating a pleasant world in which her characters live, and I genuinely enjoyed spending time in that world.

That said, this was not the most breathtakingly original story I have ever read. As others have mentioned, you can easily draw a lot of parallels to Tolkien: hobbit protagonist, quest for a potentially world-ending object, council of leaders, magical weather... yes, it's all there. I will throw Jody Lynn Nye a bone, though, in saying that the coolest idea in the book is that of objects being tied to the thing that describes them. In Tildi's world, every object has a rune that describes it precisely, and every object can be altered - for better or for worse - by altering the rune. That premise was really fascinating (and provided the most frightening moments in the story when the power to alter runes was used for ill). So that was really cool, and focusing on that idea was enough to draw me away from nit-picking at the Tolkien similarities.

However, there are other things about this book that I found distracting, such as the also-aforementioned tendency for characters behave inconsistently. Tildi see-saws between being incredibly bold and gallingly timid straight through the final pages of the book, which makes it hard to believe that her experiences have had any profound impact on her. The main villain, Nemeth, also falls into this trap, oscillating between being cold, ruthless, and devoted to his cause and feeling like he'll be sick to his stomach if he has to harm one more living creature. How is a reader supposed to really loathe the "bad guy" when he becomes a blubbering mess between twisting nature to his will and sending his demented creations off to kill his pursuers?

There are also a few subplots that seemed superfluous until the end of the book, like Magpie and his marriage to Inbecca. This whole storyline felt like a placeholder for the author's descriptions and history of Tildi's world... sure, the descriptions were beautiful, but I think they could have been worked into the story much more fluidly. As it is, the chapters on Magpie scattered throughout the text just frustrated me and made me wonder when I'd get to hear how Tildi's quest was going.

The uncanny thing about this book, though, is that even with the negatives, overall I found it to be very charming, and I honestly enjoyed reading it. Now that I know how everything comes together, I'll probably reread it at some point and see what I can pick up on that I missed the first time through. Moreover, since the last sentence declares that Tildi is only half-finished with her task, I'm betting that a sequel is in the works -- and I'll definitely give it a read and see where Tildi goes next.

I read this book after liking the jacket cover's description of a clever girl breaking out of her cultural chains and overcoming prejudice to lead the way on a magical journey. However, this book was a huge disappointment for a number of reasons including its lack of depth and interest and a second half of the story. The biggest downfall of this book is that it is boring. Reading a summary of the plotline would accomplish the same end as reading the entire book. The lack of depth in the characters and the storyline leaves the reader wanting. There is no cleverness to this book. I would recommend this book for an eight-year-old who needs every important detail or character emotion in a blinking Time Square light display that says "Reader, this is important. Feel [put emotion here] for this character or about this scene." Given the length, this gets old quick.

When I finally started to reach the end of the book, I realized the story wasn't over. A half story. I read all that length to get a sequel ending, an ending that was written purposefully for the next piece. Like those movies where you see the supposedly dead bad guy punch his fist through the concert wall that feel on him, setting up a comeback for the next movie. I hate those endings. Such a copout.

After reading the book, I realized that it was a really, really bad version of Tolkien that was less interesting, obviously less original and with none of the original jacket cover-offerings inside (Besides the plot basics; there is a girl and she does lead the journey.).

I bought this book because I thought the gender bending ("what if Bilbo had been a girl?") conceit might justify the unoriginal story. Unfortunately, the author did not deliver the goods: Once Tildi leaves her staid Hobbiton-esque burrow, the fact that she's female isn't important to the very standard desperate-quest-for-the-ultimate-talisman-against-towering-evil-wherin-the-small-but-plucky-protaganist-reveals-her-heretofore-unnoticed-talents story. The plot unfolds in a series of set pieces pretty obviously pulled from the Ring cycle (Flying wraiths...check; Tree houses...check; Council of Elrond...check; Magical snowstorm...check). What is completely missing is any mythological or literary depth (the one or two songs are completely lame). This book failed to evoke any sense of wonder in this reader.

Other reviewers have called this a "comming of age" story. I disagree. Tildi starts and ends the story with a well-realized sense of self. Her character doesn't develop so much as the people around her come to recognise and value it.

Sadly, the best thing I can say about this book is that it is a very handsome volume: The cover art is beautiful, and the book is typeset with nicely illuminated chapter initials. While I haven't quite thrown this book in the reject pile, I might have if I'd had something else to read.

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