Customer Reviews

The Revenge of the Shadow King

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Max Sumner is a very rich kid in the small town of Avalon, Minnesota whose parents have just divorced. He lives with his mom and baby sister who is 18 months old. This summer Max wouldn't have anything to do if it weren't for his friends Harley, Ernie and Natalia. They all meet at Mr. Iverson's store "Shoppe of Antiquities" to play a card game Mr. Iverson taught and is teaching them called Round Table. I imagine this is much like the Magic fantasy game my older sons played.

The four friends call themselves the Grey Griffins and love to meet in their tree clubhouse or each other's homes. Max loves going to his grandmother's home to spend the night. While there he discovers a magical book and accidentally lets loose a mischievous faerie called a spriggan that is also a shape shifter! She tricks him into releasing an evil thing called a Shadow and from then on the adventures and excitement are non-stop!

I read this book at the request of my 7th grade son who bought it at a school book fair. It is very well done and I can see why he looks forward to the next installment!

For parents, I also loved this book as the authors did not feel the need to put in vulgar and offensive language!! It is so refreshing to have a book that you KNOW is fine for your son/daughter to read. So many of the so-called young adult books these days have alot of swearing, smoking, drinking, etc. even if the characters are as young as these.

A pleasure!!

It's been said that Jon Lewis and Derek Benz, the authors of this story, were childhood friends who used to hang out together and pretend that they were running from goblins, monsters and other things as they acted out fantasy stories. For better or for worse, it shows in this book and helps shape it.

The Revenge of the Shadow King is a fantasy book about a group of friends who always hang out together, and enjoy playing a card game called Round Table. When strange events start to occur, it begins to look as if the characters from the card game are starting to come to life and appear in the real world. Things get stranger and more dire as the chaos only gets worse and begins to spread through the whole town, and Max and his friends are stuck in the middle of it.

Many creepy and violent things happen throughout the story. Characters become possessed, mysterious villains show up at the worst times, and there are many close brushes with death. If that's not enough, the kids even get framed for something they didn't do.

Max is developed enough to get us to know him a little better, as we get to understand why he dislikes his family's wealth, why he doesn't get along with his parents, and to some degree, his fear of his possible destiny. His friends don't fare so well in the characterization department. They show enough personality traits to make them interesting and likeable, but not enough to really flesh most of them out. The two boys can be summed up in simple sentences: Harley is a tough kid, but a nice guy deep down inside. Ernie is an asthmatic, overeating wimp who gets scared easily and is afraid to risk his life to help his friends.

Natalia's personality is the most detailed one out of Max's friends. She is "girly", riding around on a pink bicycle with tassels and unicorn stickers, and enjoying occasions that give her an excuse to dress up. She is smart, and carries a notebook which she uses to write things down to try to help herself figure things out. She likes to snoop around and investigate to try to learn things on her own. She's bossy and pinches people who annoy her. But she also has a strong sense of justice. For instance, there is one time when her friends express a desire to get revenge on Ray, a bully who has changed into a monster against his will who now poses a genuine threat to their life. Natalia rebukes them, claiming that his unfortunate, and unwilling, transformation made him someone to pity rather than to hate, and that he needed to be rescued from his fate. I like Natalia second most out of the characters, and can only wish Ernie and Harley could be developed as much.

The story is all about the adventures Max and his friends go on. There is always something interesting happening in each chapter, propelling the story along at a nice pace. On the other hand, quite a lot of it seems semi-random. There are plot elements that are picked up and then rarely touched upon afterward. For example, Max discovers he can sense where magic portals appear that take him to another world. We're told in the next few sentences that he sensed portals all throughout school over the next few days. After that, portals don't get mentioned for a long time, only for us to find out that Max can no longer sense them, until he suddenly uses one much later in the story. Essentially, what could have been a neat plot element was mostly unused. Similarly with a creature called a spriggan, who Max meets early on. He likes the spriggan, but he seems to forget about it around the time the book forgets about it. We are later told occasionally that he likes and misses the spriggan, but it appears in the story and is mentioned so rarely that I just didn't feel the connection.

There are also some seemingly random plot elements that are brought up and then totally left unused. At one point, a portal opens up, and Max tries to convince his friends to follow him in there. He lies to Natalia by claiming there are unicorns inside, and lo and behold, there are. There are a lot of neat things inside the world in the portal, but they are out of that world by the end of the chapter, and it is NEVER mentioned again. Not only is it not revisited, but it's not even mentioned in dialog or the plot. There are a couple instances of things like this, where a plot element that could have been great if expanded upon ended up being forgotten, just when I was really hoping to learn more about it.

Fortunately, there are some major plot elements that flesh out the story. The capture of an important adult figure, for instance, plays a pivotal role in the story, and is developed well enough for the audience to get engaged in his rescue. Another important development concerns a bully being possessed and changed into a monster, who makes repeat appearances throughout the story. There are a number of continuing plot threads and important characters, but there's also just as many minor random or forgotten events.

Likewise, there's many deus ex machina-esque close calls. Kids are about to be skewered by a goblin? Good thing a wandering wizard is nearby to stop it with a spell. About to be skewered by the same goblin again? Good thing a truck driver ran it over. An explanation is later given for these close calls, but I was hoping to see the kids become more self-sufficient. They do, but they seem to survive their perils more often not through their own wits or skill, but through luck and chance.

The thing is, much of why the book is this way can probably be chalked up to what I said in the first sentence. The authors were childhood friends who used to pretend that the events in this book were happening to them as they acted them out. That's what the book feels like: a group of kids experiencing a series of random violent adventures with some continuing/recurring plot elements. At times, it seems to follow the flow of make-believe play: "Pretend that the evil witch just sent a goblin to get us." "The goblin's back! Run!" "He's almost got me!" "A portal just opened, look! Head for the portal!" This also explains the occasional randomness of the plot: "Oh good, we just escaped through a portal." "But the portal took us right where the bad guys are, and now we have to make sure they can't see us." That's just the impression I get from reading this book. It's enjoyable fun, but full of contrivances.

Also, likely for the same reason, the dialog during the adventurous moments tends to sound more like what kids would say while pretending to be in danger than what they'd say if they really *were* in danger. While adventure novels obviously don't lean too closely towards realism so as not to ruin the fun, the dialog and storytelling do tend to make the kids seem like they are maybe a little *too* brave and willing to risk their lives, choosing to jump into adventure rather than being forced into it by circumstance. Then again, this is rather common for adventure stories - but the length and tone of the book led me to expect that it would be a little more realistic and take itself more seriously, so the tone of the dialog was quite unexpected.

There is one glowing positive that came from this story's "two friends just playing" origins: there is a great deal of banter - conversations the characters have when they're together and just hanging out. These scenes are plentiful and do a great job of making the kids more personable and likeable as characters. There were many times when I felt as if I could have been there, so believable were these moments.

The friendly banter and "pretend" adventure dialog combine to create a playfully adventurous mood. To be honest, once I got used to it, I began to enjoy this mixture. It defuses the seriousness once might expect from the menacing artwork on this hardcover book, or even the sheer amount of violence and close calls within, but it also makes the story more fun, which is possibly what the authors intended.

Even with its flaws, I was glued to the book throughout, save for the last few chapters. Deus ex machinas aside, I enjoyed the kids' constant brushes with danger. Even with the occasionally forgotten plot elements and sometimes seemingly random events, I still had fun seeing what happened to the characters. The Revenge of the Shadow King feels like the type of story that just flowed largely linearly from the author's imagination, albeit with a number of elements planned out beforehand. Not the most realistically fleshed-out story in existance, but an enjoyable way to get wrapped up in the moment, see what happens next, and have a fun time.

I've already ordered the sequels and will gladly read them when they arrive in the mail.

I loved reading for enjoyment when I was in grade school, and find in the last two decades that I'm deluged with management and business books, serious biographies and textbooks. I forgot what it was like to just read for fun, but this book taught me again. I don't know which I enjoyed more: the book or the fact that I could still read for pure enjoyment. The book had to be that well written to engage this senior manager. Not since I was ten years old have I not wanted to put down a book as much. I felt like a friend of Max's and hoped for him to call. I found Natalie's intelligence was slightly formidable -or annoying- even to this old geezer. No wonder at twelve years of age, I found girls attractive, interesting, and yet oddly intimidating. Earnie and Harley seemed so perfect just being themselves, and it was comforting how the kids all looked out for each other. Honestly, what a ride this book was for me. I don't know whether to recommend it to my friends, their kids, or their grandchildren.

I hope there's more books about the Grey Griffins in the future. Read this book and enjoy the ride yourself. You'll see.

I wanted to like this book. My son, a Harry Potter fan, picked it out and my wife and I enjoyed taking turns reading it to him. As we read, though, it began to sound as if it had been written by committee - "How about this? Harry Potter in an affluent American suburb with some G-rated 'Da Vinci Code' thrown in." As other reviewers have noted the descriptions are full of overworked similes and it sometimes seems as if a large number of writers had been allowed to insert adjectives or adverbs without consulting the others. At one point I thought there was an educational strategy in use - different characters look "quizzically" on consecutive pages - but by the fourth time a character's "eyes narrowed" I began to think it was just slipshod editing.

The real letdown was the characterization. The authors use stereotypes so that we can fill in the characters that they have left blank. Max is the "poor little rich boy", Harley his poor-but-honest, tough-yet-sensitive friend and Natalia is a know-it-all and scold, Hermione without the charm. Ernie gets the worst of it, though. Overweight, nearsighted and asthmatic, he exists only to be less brave, less strong and less smart than the others. By the time we got to the noisy anticlimactic end our family, at least, was ready to look elsewhere.

... As an adult and an avid reader of SciFi/Fantasy I tend to be very picky. Were this an adult book I'd have given it 3 stars for a fairly interesting story and sophomoric style. But it's geared toward the 10 to 12 year old reader and, therefore, hit the mark squarely. Yes, Natalia was annoying. Unfortunately I *knew* a Natalia when I was that age (though maybe they were rainbow stickers instead of unicorns on the bike) so she didn't seem all that unrealistic to me.

A light read for adults, but something I think younger readers will enjoy quite a bit.

Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis team up to write a fantastic young adult trilogy called Grey Griffins, a series of young adult, modern fantasy novels. The first book, The Revenge of the Shadow King, introduces Grayson Maximillian Sumner III, or Max, as an eleven year old boy in Avalon, Minnesota who is the son of a rich and powerful businessman. Money is never a problem for the boy but he isn't spoiled. A very humble child, troubled by his parent's recent divorce, only wishes everyone didn't make such a fuss about his father's success. His only friends are Ernie, a thin, nerdy, sugar fiend who is more coward than anything; Harley, a rather big eleven year old who could easily pass for thirteen; and Natalia, Avalon's greatest aspiring detective.

The four friends, the sole members of their secret club, The Grey Griffins, spend their evenings playing a fantasy trading card game called Round Table in the upstairs room of their favorite hobby shop. The game is run by a old gentleman named Iver who owns the shop. A father figure, of sorts, to the pre-teens, he helps mentor them on teamwork and understanding through the scenarios of the game.

Staying at his grandmother's house one night, Max is awakened during a storm and sees a creature from the card game stalking in his room. He is barely able to escape and ends up hiding himself in his grandmother's attic. While there, he notices an old book on a desk glowing magically. He opens the book and discovers a picture of a faerie creature, called a Spriggan, with a foreign script designed around the picture's edge. Somehow Max is able to make sense of the script and reads the words, letting loose the creature into the world. Later, the Spriggan persuades Max to release a shadow creature trapped within the pages, which, of course, starts the chain of events that lead Max and his friends to discover that the world of faerie and their fantasy card game are more real than they could have imagined.

The Grey Griffins learn that an evil sorceress is searching for the magical book. Through Iver, who apparently is more than a hobby store owner, the four Griffins find that Avalon is populated with many friends and foes alike. Hidden in the normal humdrum of the daily affairs are mysterious Templar Knights and minions of King Arthur's powerful sister, Morgan LeFay. The Grey Griffins find more about their destiny as the world of faerie pushes its way into reality, slowly taking the town of Avalon across the threshold of magic and faerie.

The Revenge of the Shadow King is good story. Whether young adult or regular adult, the tale is well spun and is enjoyable. Benz and Lewis have done a great job putting together an amazing story for their readers. Chock full of characterization and plot readers will find themselves keeping the book open and wanting to find out more about this story. I was well entertained throughout the entire trilogy.

There were just a few little innocent typos, it seemed, for instance, there was one point in which two characters were talking and the text indicated a character not in the scene had spoken. But the little hiccups in this story are hardly worth the consideration. The story is geared for the younger crowd thus it is put together a little more simply than a standard adult novel. For fans of Harry Potter (a series in which the writing I just can't seem to get past) the style of writing is far more rewarding in my opinion.

Overall, The Revenge of the Shadow King is a grand tale told by excellent up-and-coming authors who are only growing in skill as they continue their craft. I recommend it as a good book just to keep up with what the little ones are reading and to have an easy read on a lazy weekend.

I didn't know what to expect with this book. I never figured it would be based around a game. I enjoyed the characters, Ernie is a wimp, but he grows on you as the book progresses. This isn't a page turner, nor is it boring. It did seem as alot was going on and the Grey Griffins were supposed to be saving the town etc etc, however, they did alot of talking. Not alot of action on their part. This book felt like the first Harry Potter book where you know its full of magic but you just don't seem to find alot of it actually practiced in the first book. This was a good book, not excellent, hence the 4 stars. I will be reading the rest of series.

From the first page I was hooked. I finished this book the day I received it from my younger siblings book fair. It is a great fantasy for all ages!

It starts off with the four friends who call themselves the grey griffins, and they include the billionaire Grayson Maximilian sumner III or max, Natalia romanav, Harley Eisenstein, and ernie tweeny. They all get together and play this game called round table, supposedly invented by King Arthur himself to train his knights (and soon to be a real card game come christmas!), at a shop owned by their grandfatherly-like-figure Iver. When max finds an odd book inside of his grandmother's attic room and says some magic words whispered in his head, the creatures from the round table game are unleashed to wreak havoc. so you have goblins and dragons and fairies and pixies and vampires running around, added to this you have the black witch morgan le fay, a mysterious teacher, a school mate turned blue monster, and an evil shadow king trying to destroy the world, and that is the exact recipe for a fantastic story, over flowing with action, by far one of my favorite books (yes even better than harry potter)!

I absolutely loved the Revenge of the Shadow King. I couldn't stop reading it. I read it as I walked home from school and read it every spare minute that I could. A must read for anyone!

I couldn't finish this, even after giving it a second chance.

The story felt too contrived, and the writing was full of misplaced or overused similes.

An example of overuse of similes/metaphors:

When we meet Dennis, the bully, he is first described as "hulking". Then he has a "formidable shadow". Then, "Dennis was every bit as strong as he looked...[he] was as big as a bull moose". Then, Dennis is a "mutant--a freak of nature". A "juggernaut of ill intentions and bad breath". He is a "giant", a "Goliath", his fists were "the size of a brick (and twice as hard)". He is an "oaf". Then "the giant [grunts] a toothy grimace...his massive frame casting long shadows over the whispering students as the crowd pushed to get out of his way".

This is simply too much. Pick one and go with it. Hulking is fine, a formidable shadow is fine too. But then we have more similes and metaphors than we need, and some don't make sense. A sixth grader doesn't have fists the size of bricks...or twice as hard. And you just can't say that in a book where you want the reader to take you seriously. It's one thing to say that whimsically, but then the entire book needs to be whimsical. This, I am quite certain, was a book written to be taken seriously.

We were introduced to Dennis when he was about to beat up Ernie, one of the Grey Griffins, and a friend of Max (the main character who is rich and popular but whose divorced parents don't seem to care about him). Max steps in before the hulking juggernaut of an oaf can hurt Ernie, and my expectation--even with all of the heavy handed descriptions of Dennis--was that Max would be a deterrent to this. Just a chapter before he was receiving tutoring in the fine arts of kung fu by someone who is too talented to be his teacher, and who knows too much about *something*. Regardless, with the workout that Max was put through, and the evident skill that he has because of these lessons, he is not shown to be formidable. Max admits to himself that he knows he's in for a beating.

I have tremendous respect for anybody that even tries to write a book and more yet for anyone who finishes one. I think Studs Terkel once said, "Writing is easy. Sit in front of your typewriter and open a vein."

This read like a rough draft, or at the very least, a draft submitted to a publisher waiting for an editor to hone it. It seems to me that publishers have less and less respect for children's fantasy, as I'm coming across more and more books that are one editor away from being a great read. I don't know if this would fall into the great read category (there was mention of Max being descended from King Arthur...that's asking for too much suspension of disbelief), but it certainly was one editor away from being a good read. Tight, well crafted prose can tell almost any story.