Review: The Paladin Prophecy by Mark Frost

The Paladin Prophecy (Paladin #1)

By Mark Frost

 Release Date: September 25, 2012

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Hardcover, 560 pages

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents’ insistence, he’s made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up, accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school . . . and is being followed by men driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee to the school. There he begins to explore all that he’s capable of—physical and mental feats that should be impossible—and learns that his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that has lasted for millennia. --Goodreads

3 Stars

Review

Superheroes have taken over our society. No one can deny it. Just check out the box office numbers for The Avengers or watch at least one episode of The Big Bang Theory. Our society's obsession with superheroes cause them to often be featured in entertainment, causing the superheroes to possess the same characteristics. Basically, they are clones of one another. I mean, each of the main heroes in The Avengers have basically one skill; beating things up with brute force.

The Paladin Prophecy seems to possess some of the superhero-mojo when it comes to Will's mysterious powers and the forces that are against Will. However, there seems the be a lack of a cohesive plot that all of Marvel's movies possess. At times, things are not thoroughly explained, leaving empty plot holes that leave the reader wondering, and other times, the actions done by some of the characters are ridiculous and idiotic. If I can be completely sure on one stereotype, it is that no superhero makes mistakes without resolving the problem in the end. There is now an exception: The Paladin Prophecy.

I just don't know how The Paladin Prophecy could possibly go wrong until I began it. Immediately, I sensed an awkward first chapter, and as time went on, events just did not smoothly transition from one another. Not to mention, Will's special powers don't really serve a purpose for the plot of this book besides forcing him to attend the new school out in Wisconsin and having him get into fights with the bad guys. Notice, I say getting into fights, not fighting fights. Let's just not start on the "battles," if they can even be called battles.

The mystery is the real power behind The Paladin Prophecy's ability to draw readers and suck them into this somewhat screwed up world. Mark Frost is a genius in drawing the readers into his dark world. I anxiously awaited for each new truth to be revealed as a flipped pages eagerly soaking up this fast-paced adventure. If you doubt me then hear about this; Reliance Entertainment and Kintop Pictures acquiring film rights for Paladin Trilogy. Apparently, the movie is to be released in 2014. The Paladin Prophecy is a decent starter to what seems to be an exciting adventure awaiting.

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