The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Hardcover)

by Richard Yancey (Author), Rick Yancey (Author) "I never thought l would save the world-or die saving it..." (more)
Key Phrases: last knight, black sword, Alfred Kropp, Arthur Myers, Bernard Samson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-8–Astonishingly tall 15-year-old Alfred is plunged into a world of adventure, assassination, and Arthurian legend when he agrees to help his uncle filch an ancient sword from the office of a CEO who just happens to be a descendent of the Knights of the Round Table. Of course the sword turns out to be none other than Excalibur, and the guy Alfred swiped it for is Mogart, a knight-gone-bad who hopes to use its magical powers to take over the world. Enter Bennacio, another descendant of the Round Table, who then takes Alfred under his wing on a quest across the Atlantic to rescue the sword from Mogart. The descriptions of minor bits of blood and gore leave much to the imagination and will make Kropp especially appealing to fans of Anthony Horowitz's Alex Rider books (Philomel), Geoffrey Huntington's Sorcerers of the Nightwing (ReganBooks, 2002), and even Darren Shan's The Saga of Darren Shan series (Little, Brown). True to its action-adventure genre, the story is lighthearted, entertaining, occasionally half-witted, but by and large fun.–Hillias J. Martin, New York Public Library
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 9-12^B. Everyone around Alfred Kropp is dying. And all because the unassuming 15-year-old took something he shouldn't have. Darned kid. Then the big lug goes on to save the world. Sound incredible? Well, not when you learn that what he's taken is Excalibur, King Arthur's sword, the most powerful weapon on earth, which has somehow survived in the custody of descendants of the original Knights of the Round Table. Of course, taking the sword is one thing; keeping it, as Alfred discovers, is quite another, especially given international forces--for good and evil--are after Excalibur, too, and they will stop at nothing to get it back. Heads literally roll in the ensuing, intensely violent and cinematic action, as Alfred discovers enough astonishing things about himself to fire a whole host of sequels, which are sure to follow. For readers willing to suspend disbelief, Yancey's first novel for YAs is a white-knuckle, page-turning read. Michael Cart
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 375 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (September 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582346933
• ISBN-13: 978-1582346939
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #584,483 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A breathtaking and action-packed blend of modern superheroes and ancient legend, November 1, 2005

By	Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Fifteen-year-old, down-on-his-luck Alfred Kropp seems to have drawn the short straw in life. Cursed from birth by his unusually large proportions, including his big head, big hands and big feet, the kids at school call him Frankenstein and everyone thinks he's mentally handicapped, even though he's most definitely not. (His worried mom once even had his IQ tested and confirmed that he was "just a big boy meant for big things.") His shy, awkward personality doesn't help matters, nor does his tendency to hole up in his room listening to music instead of playing sports and pursuing girls like the other boys his age.

Alfred's unfortunate luck in the family department hasn't made things any easier either: he never knew his dad, who left before he was even born, and his mom died of cancer when he was just 12. Shuttled between foster homes until being taken in by his well-meaning but clueless Uncle Farrell, poor Alfred has lost just about everything in the world of value to him, except his hilarious sense of humor.

Besides being funny, the only thing Alfred seems to excel at is failure --- failing at math, failing at taking his drivers test (twice, to be exact), and failing at being even a second-string player on the school football team (he can't seem to memorize the playbook). But little does he know that his underachieving status is about to undergo a supersized overhaul when his uncle latches onto a dodgy get-rich-quick scheme to retrieve a stolen sword from the office building where he works as a security guard.

Against his better judgment, Alfred is roped into being an accessory to the crime, which goes horribly awry and sets a deadly chain of events in motion. Too late, he comes to the shocking realization that the sword he stole is no ordinary sword at all, but the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man --- Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur. And Alfred has just placed it into the hands of an enemy with intentions of the evilest kind.

Determined to atone for his mistake, Alfred embarks on a daring mission to restore the sword to its rightful owners, in the process stumbling into a world of modern-day knights bound by a sacred oath to protect Excalibur with their very lives. As he becomes the de facto apprentice to the powerful knight Bennacio and begins to unravel the mysteries of the sword's illustrious history, he discovers an ancient secret that reveals he might not be so "ordinary" after all. In fact, to Alfred's immense chagrin, he learns that the entire future of the world may just rest in his oversized, underachieving hands.

With its dazzling displays of death-defying swordplay, white-knuckle high-speed car chases, and breathtaking helicopter air battles, THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP plunges us headlong into a daredevil world of international intrigue where nothing is as it seems. In a high stakes air and land race that crosses continents and spans centuries, modern superheroes must risk everything they have to uphold an ancient Arthurian oath that could save the fate of the world.

With bumbling, lumbering, wisecracking Alfred Kropp by our side, there's never a dull moment on this bumpy ride that proves just how extraordinary "ordinary" can be.

--- Reviewed by Joni Rendon

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Adventures, Indeed, April 2, 2006

By	Jennifer Robinson "Editor of Jen Robinson's B... (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm not normally a fan of the hapless hero. I prefer my heroes to be smart and brave and action-oriented. And Alfred Kropp is definitely of the hapless breed of heroes. He's big-headed and slow on the uptake, and a self-declared screwup. He fails at playing football, doesn't have any friends, and spends most of his time lying around in his room watching TV. And yet ... he falls into an epic sort of adventure, and through sheer tenacity he manages to save the world. And somehow as I listened to the book he got under my skin, and I found myself caring what happened to him.

I think that this would be an excellent book for early teens who are feeling awkward, or uncertain about their place in the world. For anyone who sometimes feels too big or too slow or too different, but who INSIDE knows that he or she has the potential for greatness.

The book is also a fun read for anyone, full of chases and sword-fights, and bravery and betrayal. Arthurian legend is juxtaposed against modern-day espionage, with all of the associated trappings of both. Picture black helicopters, Ferrari Enzos, and Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycles along with Stonehenge, King Arthur's sword, and bows and arrows, and you begin to get the idea. The character of Bennacio is also highly entertaining, with a wonderfully dry sense of humor, and little patience with young Alfred's mis-steps.

All in all The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp is worth checking out.

This review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 10, 2006.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, April 6, 2006

By	William Irvine "Sang Raal studios" (St. John's, Houston) - See all my reviews

This book is a great peice of writing. It is extrodinarily funny (for and action book) and well paced,
not dragging you through hours of character building, it happens during or after the action.
Any fan of fantasy and the Legend of King Arthur should pick up this book and read it immediantly!