The Axe of Sundering (Adventurers Wanted)

i love the world he's created in adventurers wanted but i don't approve of the many plots and parts of his stories that mirror j. r. r. tolkien's lord of the rings and especially the hobbit. seriously i better not be the only one who notices the many and highly obvious similarities between the two. its july now and i have not seen a letter from the axe of sundering

Very Dissapointed that the release dates for EVERY SINGLE BOOK IN THIS SERIES is pushed back again and again and agian.
Just set a date that the book will be out on and stick by it. I find it very annoying and has diminished my good thoughts on this series

Welcome back to the land of Adventures Wanted! In this fifth book, we find Alex and Whalen about to set off on a quest to stop Whalen's evil great-great-great-etc-nephew. Together Alex and Whalen, the two greatest wizards in the land, must disguise themselves and travel to the land where Jabez, the evil nephew, is plotting to overthrow Westland.

His death will be difficult, because he has tied his life force to any person he has ever helped, so Alex must find The Axe of Sundering, to cut through the ties and then end Jabez's life. Of course, the Axe is hidden and guarded by a dragon. The Brotherhood is also on the rise, and Alex and Whalen must watch their every move or the greater good might be in jeopardy.

My Thoughts-
So Good! I've been waiting for this book to come out. The author suffered an illness, and luckily got better. The Adventures Wanted world is FABULOUS! If you missed book one, Alex, then a sixteenish year-old, answered a sign in a shop window that said, Adventures Wanted. Think of all your favorite World of Warcraft or Dungeon and Dragon dreams come true. Plus, while he is gone in adventure land, barely any time passes in his home world.

This time he is with his teacher, Whalen, and together they travel with a caravan around Westland, so that they can sneak up on Jabez. As a reader, you are able to watch as Alex's character becomes even more powerful and smart. He is also kind, which makes him a great wizard. He discovers a clue about a dragon with no name who will save the land. Hmm, a tasty tidbit he tries to unravel for most of the book. As he travels, he meets wondrous creatures, including Sea Elves and Dark Shadows. He uses his talents to deal with each accordingly. He continues to grow into his destiny with fabulous fight scenes and skill challenges.

This story just flows, moving from beginning of quest, through trials, to a spectacular ending, and then bam! and extra ending you didn't see coming. I love this series. 5 stars!

Alex now has the opportunity to help his mentor and the world's greatest wizard, Whalen Vankin as he faces his evil nephew whom he trained before Jabez took this dark path away from the ways of a true wizard. The secret to defeating Jabez before he takes over Westland is the legendary Axe of Sundering which has been secreted away. Alex must find it and face the powerful Orion Stone if he and Whalen have a chance of protecting the land.

This is a very solid better than middle grade, middle grade series and the latest book in the series captures the same magic as the books before it! I loved the cover and the title... they left you intrigued the entire book as you wondered how the Axe of Sundering would work. My only complaint was that a murky brown was used instead of a pop of color behind the axe so that we could see better that Alex was also on the cover. Even if Alex was just dressed more in a green it would make him show up better.

The story was just like the cover... almost perfect but with a few slow points where enough re-writing wasn't done to smooth away the info dumping or the slow weariness of travel. Ultimately Alex and Whalen are traveling to where Jabez is holed up in the castle Conmar... since he can sense their magic they must take it slow and steady to not draw attention to themselves. I really enjoyed the larger moments that were developed along the trail. There were some connective events that lead between the larger plot points that I thought lacked the charm of previous books.

This lack of charm has to do with there being NONE of the friends that Alex normally has with him and hence a lot LESS interaction with others. This isn't bad per se... its just really different! Instead of starting with people he's comfortable with Alex meets a couple new friends along the way. There are only two but I liked both characters and thought their first meetings were fun. A LOT of pages was spent with Whalen and this time there was a focus on how to treat an elder... someone who is MUCH wiser than Alex but whom he didn't always see eye to eye with. I enjoyed how he handled those differences. The sea elves were a particular favorite of mine and I liked how they were personified through a couple characters...

The world of Westlands is one of island nations and little cities that stand free of one another. We get a sense of the history of the place as Alex travels along a merchant route and they start to get glimpses of the troubles that plague the area. It was all very intriguing. Of course, we KNEW who was doing it and why but it was fun to see what antics the evil wizard would throw at Alex. If you enjoy a Hobbit or D&D sort of world then this series as well as this book are for YOU!

Two other things I struggled with a touch were development and pacing. I appreciate the friendships that Alex made but events along the trail needed a bit more development so that the pacing felt more exciting. While I loved the book and enjoyed what happened there were times I could put down the book and I wasn't plagued to come back to it. This makes me sad as I'm normally raring to read the next page of this series the entire time...

The incorporation of many details from past books for the end was incredible! The dragons made my heart sing and I was NOT disappointed in the dragon lord part of the storyline. Really the way the END CAME TOGETHER is why I'm rounding up to 4 stars and why I still HIGHLY suggest this book despite it's flaws. Some of the best plotting all jammed up at the end... I literally could not put it down once we got to the castle and KEPT READING to Jabez and beyond!!

Alex totally makes this series and this book! To have read as he comes to be a young man is so incredible and such an example to other readers... I really think every young man could read this series and book and get SO MUCH out of them!! I want to say though that he is a normal kid who didn't think much of himself or his life but through persistence and being aware of opportunities he made choices that took him down this path to being an honorable, wise, respectful, magical, intuitive wizard who is a joy for those of like honor to know and adventure with...

I eagerly awaited this book. It was delayed, and I'm very thankful the author was able to finish it and share it. Alex has come into his own power in this. He still has a lot of lessons to learn, like patience and controlling his temper. The chapter that began the book had me worried that it would have an unhappy ending, but of course that wasn't so. Still this is bitterweet, knowing that Alex has a lot of new adventures to go on and that this is the last book. I absolutely enjoyed this. I'll even be putting this series on the reading list for my kids.