September 2022 Book Club: Ahren (The 13th Paladin, #1) by Torsten Weitze

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult, Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Content: In the beginning, it features an abusive parent

 

Ahren can hardly believe his luck. His normal life consists of being beaten up by his drunkard father or bullied by the village lads. But at the annual suitability tests for apprenticeships, the young boy finds himself selected by Falk, the guardian of the forest, to be his apprentice and his world is turned upside down.
From his new master he learns the skills of archery and how to fight the Dark Ones. And then, on the day of the Spring Ceremony there is another unexpected turn of events. He touches the Stone of the Gods and it illuminates for the first time ever. It isn’t long before a cantankerous wizard turns up and urges Falk and Ahren into action. There is no time to waste, for something evil is awakening.
The unlikely trio begin their dangerous journey to Evergreen, the elfish kingdom to get the elves’ help. But time is running out. HE, WHO FORCES has his eyes trained on Ahren and nothing will stop him from destroying the young man. 

 

I was excited to try this new-to-me fantasy series after this book was chosen as our book club book for September. Going in I started listening to the audio with my husband on a road trip, but couldn't stay focused on the book. That happens to me sometimes while listening to certain books. It happens more often with fantasy than other genres for some reason. I do think it was due in part to the narrator. He wasn't bad, but his voice just kind of began to drone on in my head and didn't hold my interest. My husband, on the other hand, had no such problem. It became apparent that I needed to stop listening, after I realized I had missed some key things. So, I put it aside until we got home from our weekend trip, and I could read the ebook version. 

While reading the ebook, I went from where we had left off in chapter 7, to almost all the way back to the beginning, and I was really glad that I did. I had missed quite a few things! I ended up enjoying this book, especially the first half of it. As it went on I realized that it wasn't going to bring anything new to the genre. It was very much a traditional fantasy, that felt like a mashup of Lord of the Rings and The Ranger's Apprentice. I liked the way the elves were portrayed in the book, and I thought the way their houses were made of cloth pulled tight in the trees was, a different and interesting concept. 

Overall, while I liked the story, it was a little hum drum for me. It read a lot like a middle grade or young adult book to me, and I think it would be a great book for those age groups to read and enjoy. My husband went on to read the next two books in the series and he has enjoyed it. As of now, there are eleven books in the series. I think I'll stop with just this one. It was good, but nothing great, and like I said, it would be great for a younger audience.

I do want to point out that this is a book that was translated from German, and there were a few words that I thought didn't translate well, but it didn't really bother me.