Allie Strom and the Ring of Solomon by Justin Sloan
I am very glad to have come across this book. I’m upset that it took me so long to get to it, but I’m very grateful that I did, as Justin Sloan has crafted a very palatable first entry into his young adult, fantasy-fiction series. I’ve run into an abundance of YA novels lately (as they are a current trend) and very few actually stand out to me in terms of pacing and narrative strength. This one was very refreshing in terms of both.
Allie Strom is a very believable preteen girl whose primary concern in life is befriending the popular crowd at her new school. She is in no way ready for what the world has in store for her when she finds her mother’s lost heirloom. She believes in her cause above everything else though, as a young person would when faced with the decisions she has to make and she acts on them as anyone should.
In terms of pacing, we spend a decent amount of time getting to know our heroine and her family. Everything in these early chapters feeds into her motivations and the motivations of the secondary and even tertiary characters. We even get a small taste of what’s to come. The kind of taste that has you knowing something happened, but no idea what! That’s the type of thing that keeps you turning the pages, eager to get to the meat of the story. It’s a constant build up that gets you to the point of no return by the middle of the book. You have to know what happens!
It’s a fun way to get into a Arthur/Excalibur style story of discovery that is also a story of self discovery for this fantastic character. If you are a fan of light hearted fantasy, this is a good start into a series that I’m sure offers much more with each book. Allie Strom is a character you can invest in mixed with a bit of interesting knowledge about existing legends. If you want your tweens to start reading more, this is a good way to get them interested.
Jonathan Thomas Jones is a speculative fiction author and founder of geekhavenreviews.com. He has been passionate about all things geek for his entire life. See more about him at jonathanthomasjones.com and follow him on twitter @jtgloryjones.
