Book One: Slathbog's Gold, Adventurers Wanted

This seems like it will be a great adventure series if the rest of the books are written as well as this one. It grabs you and keeps you wanting to find where and what Alex will find next. Very quick and easy read that was most enjoyable.

This book is great for people who seek action packed thrillers with unexpected surprises on the way and if you like the Lord of the rings or the hobbit you will love this book if you are one of those people.

This was very exciting adventure book with many different turns throughout the adventure. I'm looking forward to reading the next to the adventure books, to see where Alex is taken and how is wizardry expands.

This book was an excellent read. Forman allows his characters, here Alex, to grow and learn throughout his adventure. I have read all three of the trilogy and all are just as good as the first. I would suggest these book to readers of all ages.

The stories also give very good life lessons for younger readers. Excellent all around.

It starts off great! really it does! But about halfway through it I noticed something...everyone is always super polite and void of any further emotion other then "doing the right thing". There was no real feelings of the characters although the premise of the story is very sound and has a good idea behind it but I just felt the character interactions were very lacking.

I really enjoyed this book (the first in the series) along with all the adventures. The book is also inspiring as it models honesty and integrity; traits desperately missing in society. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series!!

Absolutely love this book and the series following after it!
I bought this copy for a the child of a family friend, and I'm thinking it has all the elements to keep him interested.
If you like Harry Potter, works by Tolkien, and a slight splash of Eragon, these are the books for you! It's very easy to get absorbed into this world ML Forman has created, and it reads easy enough for younger readers to enjoy, too.

M. L. Forman really knows how to write enjoyable fantasy for young readers, and even older people will enjoy it. The story is clean, and there are even some learning/discussing questions in the back to assist parents in teaching values to young children.

There are so many wonderful things about this book. From the humor to the adventure to the character growth to the craft of writing. The biggest issue I had was the lack of diversity. That isn't to say there weren't different races or ethnicities, there were. In fact there were no real descriptions of features beyond human, elf, and dwarf. No, what I mean is that in the entire story there are only three women.
I'm sure there are some in the background, but only three ever speak. Two are powerful women with high status in the world and one is the dead wife of one of the adventurers. At the beginning of the story the author makes it a point to say that anyone who thinks women can't be adventures is, more or less, a fool, but we never see this. And we are introduced to SO MANY PEOPLE. It's this books one great failing in my opinion.
It doesn't take away from the value of this story. It is, however, lost potential. I look forward to reading more and hopefully seeing more diversity.

In Slathbog's Gold, M.L. Forman attempts to capture the lighthearted adventure and feeling of wonder evoked by such works as The Hobbit. The trouble is that, in many places, he comes too close to The Hobbit itself. I understand that Tolkien redefined the fantasy genre and that many, if not most, subsequent works borrow heavily from his mythology. I cannot call this novel 'highly original'. However, the really interesting thing about this book is that, despite its similarities to a VERY familiar story, it still kept me reading. Forman has an engaging group of characters, so much so that I am disappointed that we don't see more of them. In order for them to be as developed as I would like, the length would exceed the standard for YA novels. I have similar complaints about setting, action, and emotion: there isn't *enough*, a snapshot rather than the portraiture that I would like. For all of its similarities to The Hobbit, there are divergences that work very well: the modern element, for one, including a denouement that caught me by surprise; the Oracle; the wall; the cultural elements; and the magics, as examples.

Forman does a very good job of crafting a light-hearted semi-contemporary fantasy. He keeps the reader turning pages, though not desperately, as you follow Alex's journey in an external and internal way. He does more telling than showing, which, while a little frustrating to me, is to be expected in a book aimed at the younger end of the YA spectrum. Some fights, both literal and figurative, are a little too neat, which is also a convention of the genre. The emotional stakes are a little vague.

Slathbog's Gold is an easy escape into fantasy for older readers and a wonderful stepping-stone to heavier fantasy novels for younger readers.

This book series adds almost no new concepts or ideas to the Fantasy genre. As the series progresses, there are not many things an experienced reader of Fantasy has not encountered before. What makes the series feel fresh and new, however, is its hero. He is a young man of 15, and grows over time to be a powerful wizard, and a great leader full of wisdom. But more than that, Forman makes the role of conscience play a key part in the story. The adventurers aren't flying by the seat of their pants: they have a still, small voice to guide them onwards. And at the end of the day, this series feels more full of hope and wonder than most fantasy series I've read...despite not adding much "new" to the genre.

This book is character design is very poorly written. If I were to use a term to describe the protagonist I would say "Gary Stu."
For those of you who don't know, a Gary Stu is a character that is idealized in every way, such as being smart, and strong, and handsome, and clever.
The protagonist Alexander Taylor is just this. Not only is he no fazed at all by the magic and whatnot, he's also chosen by a magic sword, the son of a famous adventurer, able to use magic very very well with little practice, and can talk to horses, he also is really calm and respectful and honorable about everything, despite only adventuring for such a short time. And then, he's the only one that can fight a dragon in his group, and he's part-elf, and part-dwarf!
It gets worse in the later books, with him being made waaaaaaaay to powerful. I read the next two books, hoping it would get better. It doesn't.
He doesn't experience any loss throughout the books, and at every opportunity he's made out to be this perfect guy. Myself as a reader could not really believe in this character.
If M. L. Forman would have toned down Alex's powers a bit, given him some problem such as having a bad-leg or be less physically fit, and maybe given him some character flaws, like a bad temper, or made him awkward, or given him some fear of what he encounters throughout this book, this would have been a great book.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I found it having a different setting than what we usually find in the genre.

Alex, being a normal teenager, spending his life with his stepfather and stepfather, is suddenly brought into a different world where the profession of Adventurers is among the well respected. Encountering a sign board in front of a shop which changes the notices as soon as it is read, Alex becomes curious and enters the shop, not knowing or thinking of what he might find there.

And so Alex's adventure begins. At later stage it is found that Alex has aptitude for being a wizard and a warrior; which is not unheard of but uncommon. With the goal of the quest to fight a mighty and evil dragon, Alex and his group marches through some dangerous and tough lands to face one of the strongest beings.

The quest is about treasures, honor, friendship and of course, magic.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book. Off to the next one.

In "Slathbog's Gold," Alex, a normal kid, becomes an adventurer. He and 7 others must kill the evil dragon Slathbog and steal his hoard at Varlo. But, as a 1st time adventurer, he has much to learn, such as using a weapon and everything about treasure and magic.

I believe fantasy lovers that enjoy books such as Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings would like this book because it has most everything needed to complete an amazing fantasy book and has somewhat similar plot to Lord of the Rings. I would put this on par with The Chronicles of Narnia and Lord of the Rings, but is outclassed by Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Harry Potter. I wouldn't give it 5 stars as it has not a lot to relate the characters with and it had no things uniquely special about it.

My favorite part was either when Alex brought Tayo back from the wall after beating Slathbog or when Alex fought the 3 legged troll to get back the horses owned by the adventurers.

Review by Charles M., age 9, Richmond Area Mensa

I have mixed feelings about this book. As an adult, I thought it was a terrible book! SO slow, boring, uninteresting, and not much character development. It was kind of painful in that way to read 400 pages of it!!! (Later books in the series pick up in interest level some as the story lines become a bit more original.) This is a very basic book, ie. this is what dwarves are like, this is what elves are, all the adventurers have magic bags (ie. a bag of holding) and guess what? We have to go kill a dragon! Not exactly an original or creative storyline. On the flip side, that is exactly why I liked it for my son. I read the whole book out loud to my then-6 year old son and he loved it! It was a perfect intro into this genre for him. The language was perfect for him to understand and even learn some new words and phrases here and there. This was the first book I'd ever read to him that was anywhere near this long, and it managed to keep his interest the whole time. He has anxiously looked forward to each subsequent book since we read this one. I love that it is a clean book - not too graphic, good clean language, and nothing inappropriate in it. The books in this series do have some values taught here and there along the way (honor, friendship...)

I've wondered if by the time children are old enough to be *able* to read this long of a book by themselves, whether it would be too uninteresting to them. But as my now-7 year old is my oldest, I guess I don't have a good feel for what is/isn't interesting to the young/YA audience at which ages. It's nowhere near the quality of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings though, so don't go expecting something of that caliber! But like I said, it's a nice intro into the genre for kids.

As a side note, I've noticed a handful of editing mistakes on each book of this series. Not anything too crazy, but it was slightly irritating, as it left behind some awkward sentences.

Review by Jill Williamson

Fifteen-year-old Alex Taylor walks by a bookshop one day and spots a small sign that says, "Adventurers Wanted. Apply Within." Inside he meets the talkative Mr. Clutter, who treats him as though he is on an interview for a great adventure. Alex was merely curious, but the next thing he knows, an elf and a dwarf are brought into the interview to ask him some more serious questions. The adventure? A quest through a portal to another world to faraway Varlo to kill the evil dragon Slathbog and seize his treasure. Alex isn't sure what he's gotten himself into, but he has always wanted a little adventure in his life...

If you liked The Hobbit, you'll like Slathbog's Gold. It's practically the same premise, though for a younger audience. There are trolls, bandits, elves, and dwarves, as well as an Oracle and some creepy wraiths. I enjoyed that Forman created a unique set of rules all adventures must follow. My favorite magical item in the story was the adventurer's magic bag. Each owner chooses his or her own password. Inside, the bag is like a small apartment, though extra rooms can be added later if need arises. This is a fun book for anyone who loves adventures. I expect a long and enjoyable series from the new author. Recommended.

ok before posting I read the good and bad reviews, I completely thought the bad review was by someone whom doesn't read many books even though that reviewer said the same of others reviews, mostly because we devour, books in our family and being the Mom of 4 boys we read alot mainly adventure, good vs. evil and fast paced sci-fi are favorites, especially audio books on long car trips. This book was better then the Harry Potter books but set for a bit older group I wish books could be labeled 12-17 rather then 9-12, either group would love this!I'd put this book in the Eragon category, only we liked (Eragon) first book best, rather then later installments. It was so good we stopped at a mall on our trip and went in to see if book 2 was out yet. LOL! This summer my graduating seniors from High School are taking college literature classes, "Lord of the Rings" and in the fall our other son is taking "Harry Potter", so we really cover a wide age range and interest, yet we equally liked this story.. so I think your 9 through 50 age group could enjoy this! Try the audio version the narrator has a great voice that transports you on the journey! Way to go! Congradualtions to the new author! As a teacher we often read more then 30 books a year, so from our house a recommendation means alot! I'll be recommending this book to our book club/group. Dear author, We want book 2 now get to writing!

I have just finished the first book in the Adventurers Wanted series and I loved it so much that I wished I had the second book in the series immediately. It has a great plot and M.L. Forman has combined scariness with happiness in a very nice match so you're not always tense and you're not always thinking this is happy and boring. Another thing that's interesting is that the fight scene with Slathbog the Red (which they may not win) is not very long but the author does a very good job of taking into account all the intricate details leading up to the fight itself and exactly what Slathbog looks like. There are some very happy scenes with lots of good food and merriment also. I highly recommend this book for readers that are into battles and wizards and elves and are okay with some characters not surviving. You should read this book!!

Slathbog’s Gold, written by M. L. Forman, was a very good book to read. The book was easy to follow and fun to read, but I have made a connection that most people haven’t. I found that the book had a plot that wasn’t very original, was very similar to J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Hobbit. At the beginning, there is a boy named Alex Taylor that has no adventure in his life at all, same with Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, but he is drawn into a shop where he is almost thrown onto this adventure, but after a lot of thought, he decides to go on this life changing adventure, like Bilbo Baggins as well. Later in the book, Alex’s first fight was against a 3-legged troll, I believe the three legs represent the 3 trolls that Bilbo fights in Tolkien’s book. Later they go to a place where the Oracle dwells, or the Lady Galadrial in the Hobbit, and the Oracle lives in a white tower surrounded by a settlement, which is Rivendell in the Hobbit. Later in Slathbog’s Gold, the party of adventurers manages to obtain a map with a secret passage on it, as well in Tolkien’s book, a map that leads the Dwarves to a secret door in the Lonely Mountain. Lastly, the whole goal of the adventure is to kill a massive dragon that has mountains of gold underground, and they had to find a certain stone that belonged to the Oracle mentioned earlier, also known as the Archenstone in Tolkien’s book. So really, when you read this book with the knowledge of The Hobbit, you can tell what is going to happen in the end, and it is ruined, almost.
Besides the unoriginal plot, this book was a fun read, I am not saying it was a bad book and you shouldn’t read it, it is just a little flawed plot-wise. This book is full of a lot of adventure and meeting new humanoid races, and quite a bit of action, but the action scenes, along with everything else is very hurried along. Battles don’t last long, and aren’t filled with lots of detail, which is what readers like to read. There is supposed to a be a five month time period between leaving the town of Telous, to the mountain were the dragon dwells, but it is passed by in a matter of a few chapters, with no time statements, or saying how long it had been since leaving Telous, it was a bit annoying. After killing the dragon, the party stays in the mountain, to sort the gold and care for their injured companion from the beginning of winter, to the beginning of spring. This period of time passes in only one chapter, with minimal detail, just saying they went and sorted the gold. Not all books are perfectly written, but this book is definitely not the best. I plan on reading the second book, but I am not going to rate this book very high.
Another flaw with Slathbog’s Gold, is Alex Taylor is extremely good at whatever he does, and is a pretty good fighter, with no training, Forman mentions that Alex trains with his companions every once in a while, and doesn’t go into detail. But he also picks up the skill of combat, and the elfish language almost supernaturally, so there is almost no mention of Alex’s errors in the book, so I assume that he is supernatural in his abilities. There are no trials that Alex has to go through, but just can do them. I like to read about a person having to learn as they go, not just be so supernaturally good at everything he tries, and I mean everything.
Written by
Ryan Thurman

To Sum It All Up
With the expectations I went into the book with I was very dissapointed with the author and the characters and EVERYTHING! The fact that this is the first book in the series makes me a good bit hopeful that the author is not yet defeated and will come back with a strong, knock out book, that will have me reading it over and over agian until the pages are well worn. With this book I found that I did not have the desire to read the story again and again, to get back into the magical world where this story takes place, like all my favoraite classics have me doing. So I will end this summary with saying that I am dissapointed, but hopeful. (I myself like legthy reveiws and so have listed how I feel below.) JUST A WARNING, I will most likely give away many spoilers to those who have not read this book.

Things I Liked

1. Even though Alex is given great amounts of power and ablitly he is still very humble
2. I also like that he was given a fun quest even if it was largely similar to that of The Hobbit by J. R. Tolkien, but ,hey, why not barrow from The Hobbit, it is a classic for a reason.
3. Even though there was a lot that was modeled after The Hobbit, it was written in a way that was easier to understand than the original.
4.I enjoyed the refreshing ideas on very well know classical mythological characters and concepts, such as elves and dawrfs.
5. I liked the fact that all thogugh the book is rated as a young adult book there isn't any material in the story that I would feel guilty about if I gave this book to a youger audience.
6. The beginning of the book and of many chapters I enjoyed quiet a bit, and found the unusal way of telling the story very entertianing. Usually I like first person narratives so I can see what that the character thinks, but I liked this way much more.
7. I enjoyed the fact that the story wasn't slow at certian parts and kept the adventure going though I will agian coment on the speed in my Dislikes section.

Things I Didn't Like

1. The story was too fast in certian parts and I would have liked it to slow down at certian important points.
2. Even though Alex has great character I felt that he was a little flat and gained things much to easily to make him believable, like with learning elfish or swordplay and magic, I would have liked to see him struggle a little bit with something, ANYTHING!!!!!! NOTHING was a problem or hurtle for him.
3. I never felt like I learned anything about the detials of the world Alex found himself in. We never hear any Elfish words, we learn of only one or two plants and learn nothing of the weapons seen or the different attacks, defenses and so forth that I love a great deal about books set in medievil settings.
4. The end, and I never thought I would have to say this with a book I liked, was way too HAPPY! There was nothing realistic about it at all.
5. I learned very little about the characters personality or of the two metioned virtues in the snopsis offiacally given for the book (courage and honor).
6. There was very little detial given to customs, beleifs and religon/rituals. There weren't even any superstions.
7. Alex's courosity about how magic worked was brushed off. Even a little explaination would have been appreciated.
8. THe author was fine with telling of the setting, but cared very little making it seem like they really were in a medievil realm. The language was extermely similar to that of modern day times. Also he brushes of describing the clothes of the time peroid although it is greatly different from that of our own time period.
9. From the way the author wrote the story it seems I, a young girl, know more about the time period that Foreman chooses to write about than he does himself and he is subpost to research or at least have a good bit of knowledge his setting as well as his characters and such.

It was very easy to remember all of the characters' names without too much character development which I really like. Also M.L. Forman takes into mind how long it takes to travel on foot which I really like, also events take place at a fast pace but not too fast! The main characters are all very different and like-able with good original names. Some people say it is too much like the Lord Of The Rings/Hobbit which I partially agree with, but the second book does not do anything of the sort. I love this book and is a great read alone or aloud to the whole family.

I am an adult reader and enjoy fantasy type books - after 7 years of college, I now enjoy "easy" reading (as opposed to physics books). I loved Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Ranger's Apprentice, Eragon, etc. Slathbog's Gold contains a good story, but is annoying, to me, in that the characters are always smiling or laughing. Most times when a character speaks he is doing it with a smile, chuckle, or laugh. As in "Alex said with a smile", or "Skeld said with a laugh". Many times it happens 5-6 times in one page. It gets old quick.

I also wish that Alex's magic training was explained in more detail. We basically get, "Alex read the magic book a couple times and now he can produce fire!" Is it that easy?

Also, there is hardly any conflict in this book. Everyone is merrily enjoying the adventure, and the few "bad guys" we meet are dispatched quite easily. The dragon at the end of the book is almost an anti-climax. I hope Mr Forman's future books are a bit more serious because the story is decent.

Alex Taylor didn't think much of the strange looking bookshop. But then there was the blinking sign. The wooden, hand-painted blinking sign. The sign that kept telling him to come inside. As soon as Alex walks through the door, his life changes forever. Questions he's always had will be answered: who is he? Why does the "real" world feel so strange? Who are his parents? Alex discovers another world: a place where he can travel with elves and dwarfs, and face countless danger and adventure. And now Alex has his first quest: Find an evil dragon's lair and rescue the hoard of gold. The only problem is: no one has ever come back alive from a quest to the dragon's rotting domain. On all accounts, this adventure is a not much more than a death sentence.

Mark Forman's debut book, ADVENTURERS WANTED: SLATHBOG'S GOLD, is a pretty fun, adventure story, with some heavy borrows from THE HOBBIT and RPG-esque ideas. The story world is firmly rooted in high fantasy with trolls, goblins, wizards, dwarfs, elves, and quests. I wondered about this book for a while: would I be inwardly groaning over the obvious similarities to other fantasy titles of the past? Or would Forman manage to pull his own weight and give us something fun and exciting to follow? As I read, many of the plot devices and elements reminded me heavily of THE HOBBIT, but the writing drew me in. Forman keeps things moving along at a steady pace, and there are mysteries and questions to be answered unique to the world he's created.

Alex is a fairly typical and straightforward character -- he doesn't know who his parents are, or who he really is. And as he begins to discover the secrets surrounding his life, he humbly embraces them. This aspect of Alex's character won me over. A lot of characters traveling from the "real world" to a fantasy world end up whining their entire way through their journeys. Those characters question things in a very grating way and just want to get home. Alex, however, is different. He starts out wondering what is happening around him, but not in a whiny-sort of way. And slowly we can see his wide-eyed wonder at the magical world he's stumbled into.

Forman doesn't drag us into long and drawn-out descriptions either, which was definitely a plus. It didn't take long to get to the action or the mystery. And by the novel's end, he delivers a couple of interesting twists that made me excited for the second book. There's also the interesting dose of RPG elements into the book from the use of inventory-holding magic bags to the dividing of gold based on a character's adventurer level.

All this said, the book did feel like a more modern-day telling of THE HOBBIT, and die-hard fans of Tolkien will definitely turn up their noses here. Being a fan of THE HOBBIT myself, I wondered if by the end I was going to be annoyed or not, but I was surprised to have really enjoyed the book as a fun epic fantasy that didn't feel dragged through the mud in description or utter cliches.

Fans of Brandon Mull's THE BEYONDERS series would do well to pick up SLATHBOG'S GOLD and check it out in between books. Light-hearted readers of fantasy will definitely enjoy this adventurous romp through magical worlds and into the very mouth of danger.

What a wonderful adventure, just finished listening to an Audible version of the first book of the 'Adventures Wanted' series; Slathbog's Gold. A real coming of age tale filled with dwarfs, elves, a troll, bandits, magic and a whole lot more. Alex Taylor asks about a sign in a bookshop window and winds up going on an adventure that lasts over a year of his life. I've bought all four Audible's in the series and can't wait to start the next one! About 10 and a half hours of great listening.

The BEST fantasy surprise I've had in several years. After years of awaiting sequels, here's a bright new voice. Alex is a 15 year old dishwasher who sees a cardboard sign in a store window with words that change everytime he glances away. He wanders in and inadvertently answers the Adventurers Wanted Sign. This is a fast-paced dragon-slaying adventure with many classical elements of a quest but always a surprising quirk around the corner. I especially loved the fact that the "wardrobe" was out-of-order and they had to use the back door. When I got to the end of this one I turned back to the first page and started over again. I'm so glad this is the first book in a series