The Paladin Prophecy

July 23, 2012
Frost, adult author and Twin Peaks co-creator, makes his YA debut with this densely plotted thriller, first in a trilogy. After a lifetime of keeping a low profile, 15-year-old Will West is forced to live up to his true potential when strange forces take over his parents’ minds and he seeks refuge at the elite Center for Integrated Learning, a prep school for the gifted. There, he’s confronted by a demanding academic schedule, but encouraged to embrace his abilities as a superhumanly fast runner and a scholastic genius. He befriends his roommates, investigates his parents’ odd behavior, is targeted by a malevolent secret society, and discovers the extent of his
superhuman abilities. Disparate elements —super-science, evil conspiracies, genetic engineering, an extensive cosmology featuring a war between good and evil—give this adventure something of a split identity. Despite the feeling that Frost threw in everything but the kitchen sink, his story has serious entertainment value and pulls together satisfyingly by book’s end, while laying the groundwork for the sequels. Ages 12–up. Agent: Ed Victor, Ed Victor Ltd.

August 15, 2012
New school and new mental powers meet ancient mysteries and ancient war. Fifteen-year-old Will West's parents have moved him around a lot, and his father's taught him 99 rules to live by. One of the most important rules: Don't draw attention to yourself. When Will accidentally draws the attention of (and a scholarship from) the prestigious Center for Integrated Learning, it's a lucky thing, because his world shatters; he needs an avenue of escape. Arriving at the school, Will finds the mystery back home deepening. Who is he? And is his father safe? He makes new friends, and all of them must face an ever-widening net of conspiracies that make them question everything they know about reality and the history of the world. Twin Peaks co-creator Frost's first for young readers is a slick, hot mess of Judeo-Cthulhu-an, sci-fantasy palaver. The constant quoting of Dad's rules wears thin early on. Will's interactions with a helpful taxi driver from home while at school are stupefyingly improbable. The tale stumbles at nearly every turn: The plotting is clumsy, the dialogue is unrealistic, and the characters so annoying readers will be rooting for the bad guys. The fantasy elements are interesting enough, but they're strangled in an overabundance of detail and long-winded, extraneous scenes, making this twice as long as it should be--especially given the "Book 1" on the spine. Superficial adventure with arbitrary authorial intrusions at every plot twist. (Fantasy. 12-16)

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October 1, 2012

Gr 7 Up-Will West has tried to obscure his special abilities all his life, at his parents' request. He makes a point of getting average grades, and he is careful to hold back when running cross country. However, when he gets a phenomenally high score on a standardized test, he finds himself running from strangers in black sedans who have abducted his parents and are targeting him for some reason. His only hope is to make his way to the Center for Integrated Learning, which has contacted him after finding out about his test score. Once there, Will can unleash his hidden physical and psychic abilities, but he and his new friends must also contend with school bullies who are part of a group connected to otherworldly beings from the Never Was. There is nothing terribly original here. The story is long on action and high-tech gadgetry, but short on plausibility, even for a sci-fi/fantasy novel; for example, the taxi driver who has just met Will smuggles him past a police roadblock, gives him an untraceable cell phone, and subsequently carries out complex espionage missions for him. Much of the plot, including the mysterious Paladin Prophecy, is unclear, though this may be cleared up in the next volume. While this title might appeal to readers of Pittacus Lore's I Am Number Four (HarperCollins, 2010), its length may prove discouraging to reluctant readers. A film version is due out in 2014.-Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2012
Grades 7-10 Frost, screenwriter and cocreator of the innovative TV series Twin Peaks, joins the parade of adult authors trying their hands at YA books with this first in a planned series. Making an assured transition, Frost delivers an addictive Jason Bourne/Pittacus Lore/Harry Potter mash-up. Teen Will West has shaped his life by his father's Rules to Live By, especially number three: Don't Draw Attention to Yourself. Throughout many moves, Will has learned to appear mediocre until one morning, when he learns that he has scored off the charts on a national test and is offered a full scholarship to an exclusive prep school. After receiving a terrifying text from his father, Will flees to the school only to discover that he and his new roommates possess hidden talents and are linked to an ancient struggle for world domination. Nonstop action and a richly layered plot propel a breakneck pace, and if the characters fit a tried-and-true trope, the skillful dialogue and touches of humor make that easy to overlook. A cliff-hanger ending will have readers begging for the sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)