From School Library Journal
Gr 6 Up-- An average school story from England. A group of middle-school misfits are absorbed in a fantasy role-playing game that helps them overlook the drudgery of their British village, but also reveals and gives expression to their inner anxieties. Fast-paced sword-and-sorcery segments contrast with predictable family/school problems. John, 14, and his sister spar good-naturedly while they share the worry of their parents' failing marriage. John escapes by taking on the persona of the swashbuckling Jan Wildblood. The only boy who abuses the game is the Routemaster, who sets parameters for the imaginary adventure, revealing his hunger for power and control. This is not a fantasy; none of the players believe that they are the characters in the game; and nobody dies or goes crazy, as in Rona Jaffe's Mazes and Monsters (Delacorte, 1981; o.p.). Believable, if unmemorable, characterizations and wisecracking dialogue keep up the pace. The cover photograph uses computer graphics to suggest teenage conflict, without much greater success than the text. --Anne Osborn, Riverside Public Library, Calif.
Copyright 1989 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
