Official Review: Anderson Andrews and the Griffin's Prost...
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Official Review: Anderson Andrews and the Griffin's Prost...
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Anderson Andrews and the Griffin's Prostate" by Joshua Snyder.]
This amusing book is a comic fantasy novella. The book is actually a parody of books such as Harry Potter. There are some parallels such as a magic school, the chosen one (or the non-chosen one as the case is here), the evil Master, but here the similarity ends. The author doesn't take himself too seriously, has his own voice and his writing is unique.
I had doubts at first regarding the book, since it was self-published without any editing. I was afraid of many typos, but such was not the case. Another misgiven of mine was about the grammatical tense. The book is written in the present tense, not my favorite tense. When it comes to present tense, I tend to find it annoying. However, in this case I got used to it after a bit and pretty soon was engrossed in the book. The beginning captured me and I was curious about the rest of the story.
So what the book is about? Tim Goldstein, a witty Jewish student, finds himself in a public school of magic in New York, through no fault of his. The school got him confused with another student, so Tim was recruited. The school board thinks Tim is actually Anderson Andrews, the chosen one who will fight the evil power. Sounds familiar?? A speaking marmot comes to enroll our Tim to this school and doesn't take no for an answer. Tim finds himself in a magical school, a dream of any sane student, but apparently not his… Alas, our Tim has just his wits about him and no magical abilities. Tim tries to explain the situation to the principle, but to no avail. Tim explains in earnest that he is certainly not the chosen one. In fact he is the non-chosen one, so the principle should transfer him to a "less merlin centered school". The principle makes it plain that it isn't possible.
Due to a lot of red tape (don't ask but it involves a rare dragon, moonlight and some other obscure stuff), Tim is obliged to stay at school and cope. Others in his place were happy enough to study in such a place (me included), but our Tim has other plans and studying spells isn't one of them. Tim starts his studies and of course fails in the magic department. He befriends with another Jewish student who like him has no magical powers. When the real Anderson Andrews shows up and dies soon after (by a default no less), Tim has to take matters into his own hands, stop the evil one in order to win the girl of his dreams and save the day.
I enjoyed the novella and liked the humor and the many references to other books, characters and historical figures. The use of the present tense added immediacy to the plot, although at times it reads more like a screenplay than a book. A little more meat to the plot would have made it even better. Some parts were of the book were too obscure and unclear, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment.
I rate the book a 3 out of 4 stars. The book is hilarious, entraining and fast paced and I laughed out loud every other page. Laugh out loud books are my absolute favorite. I also liked the hero and would like to read more of his adventures. I recommend this book as a good read.
***
Buy "Anderson Andrews and the Griffin's Prostate" on Amazon
This amusing book is a comic fantasy novella. The book is actually a parody of books such as Harry Potter. There are some parallels such as a magic school, the chosen one (or the non-chosen one as the case is here), the evil Master, but here the similarity ends. The author doesn't take himself too seriously, has his own voice and his writing is unique.
I had doubts at first regarding the book, since it was self-published without any editing. I was afraid of many typos, but such was not the case. Another misgiven of mine was about the grammatical tense. The book is written in the present tense, not my favorite tense. When it comes to present tense, I tend to find it annoying. However, in this case I got used to it after a bit and pretty soon was engrossed in the book. The beginning captured me and I was curious about the rest of the story.
So what the book is about? Tim Goldstein, a witty Jewish student, finds himself in a public school of magic in New York, through no fault of his. The school got him confused with another student, so Tim was recruited. The school board thinks Tim is actually Anderson Andrews, the chosen one who will fight the evil power. Sounds familiar?? A speaking marmot comes to enroll our Tim to this school and doesn't take no for an answer. Tim finds himself in a magical school, a dream of any sane student, but apparently not his… Alas, our Tim has just his wits about him and no magical abilities. Tim tries to explain the situation to the principle, but to no avail. Tim explains in earnest that he is certainly not the chosen one. In fact he is the non-chosen one, so the principle should transfer him to a "less merlin centered school". The principle makes it plain that it isn't possible.
Due to a lot of red tape (don't ask but it involves a rare dragon, moonlight and some other obscure stuff), Tim is obliged to stay at school and cope. Others in his place were happy enough to study in such a place (me included), but our Tim has other plans and studying spells isn't one of them. Tim starts his studies and of course fails in the magic department. He befriends with another Jewish student who like him has no magical powers. When the real Anderson Andrews shows up and dies soon after (by a default no less), Tim has to take matters into his own hands, stop the evil one in order to win the girl of his dreams and save the day.
I enjoyed the novella and liked the humor and the many references to other books, characters and historical figures. The use of the present tense added immediacy to the plot, although at times it reads more like a screenplay than a book. A little more meat to the plot would have made it even better. Some parts were of the book were too obscure and unclear, but it didn't hurt my enjoyment.
I rate the book a 3 out of 4 stars. The book is hilarious, entraining and fast paced and I laughed out loud every other page. Laugh out loud books are my absolute favorite. I also liked the hero and would like to read more of his adventures. I recommend this book as a good read.
***
Buy "Anderson Andrews and the Griffin's Prostate" on Amazon
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