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Legends of the Saloli #1
Approaching Storm
When a dark threat arises, a single boy must become a man by becoming a squirrel.
Jeremy Lander wanted nothing more than to relax during his summer break, but a Saloli tribe looms on the brink of war and is forced to look for help outside their own species. Facing the threat of never being human again, Jeremy must serve his new tribe, even to the point of death, all while keeping his human past a secret. The stakes grow higher every day. The upcoming war could affect far more than one measly forest, and Jeremy may just be the deciding factor.
Jeremy Lander wanted nothing more than to relax during his summer break, but a Saloli tribe looms on the brink of war and is forced to look for help outside their own species. Facing the threat of never being human again, Jeremy must serve his new tribe, even to the point of death, all while keeping his human past a secret. The stakes grow higher every day. The upcoming war could affect far more than one measly forest, and Jeremy may just be the deciding factor.
236 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2011
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2015
When I was first given a copy of this more than a year ago, I read a chapter and a half before putting it down due to, as I recall, poor writing style. Or maybe not 'poor' - maybe it just wasn't a style I connected with. Recently I decided to try reading it again to see if I could make it even halfway through the book. No such luck.
Clunky writing ("Jeremy nearly leapt down all the stairs at once, but reminded himself that doing so would not be a good idea at the last minute"), bad cliches ("the hot summer sun beat down mercilessly"), and a needlessly wide variety of dialogue tags (asked, said, screamed, responded, corrected, advised - all on the same page) abound. The hero's surname is an obvious variation of the author's surname (Lander and Bolander). There is writing style and then there is poor writing, and it is my opinion that this is the latter. I would recommend Mr. Bolander to spend more time developing his craft and getting feedback from professional tutors and editors before embarking on a career in writing.
Clunky writing ("Jeremy nearly leapt down all the stairs at once, but reminded himself that doing so would not be a good idea at the last minute"), bad cliches ("the hot summer sun beat down mercilessly"), and a needlessly wide variety of dialogue tags (asked, said, screamed, responded, corrected, advised - all on the same page) abound. The hero's surname is an obvious variation of the author's surname (Lander and Bolander). There is writing style and then there is poor writing, and it is my opinion that this is the latter. I would recommend Mr. Bolander to spend more time developing his craft and getting feedback from professional tutors and editors before embarking on a career in writing.
April 19, 2012
Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm by Adam Bolander
3.5*
Jeremy Lander was just settling down to enjoy his last summer break when a family emergency forces his mum to travel and leave him alone for a few days. Wondering how he can fill his time alone he wanders outside in the sun and something very strange happens. At first he thinks he is dreaming, but he soon realises he is wide awake and things are far from okay. His body feels odd, his surroundings seem to have grown bigger and he swears he can understand what the forest animals are saying! Faith, a Saloli prophet looks at Jeremy and sees this human boy as her tribes saviour, with agreement from Rust, the tribes chief and a little bit of magic Faith turns Jeremy into one of them and is convinced in this form he will be enough to save the tribe from imminent threat.
This was an unusual little story, Saloli are squirrels who live their lives similar to humans they have a ‘God’ to worship named Valde Abbas, they believe in a life after death. They have marriage ceremonies and funerals and the story puts me in mind of ‘Wind in the Willows’ or ‘Bright eyes’ with it’s humanlike talking animals. Our MC Jeremy aka Blaze is a teenage boy who has been turned into a squirrel in order to save the Icefire tribe from some unknown threat that the groups prophet Faith had been warned about in a dream. He soon proves himself as an able fighter and is promoted from trainee to fully-fledged tribe member within a few weeks.
Blaze happens along many threats and we watch him fight foxes, eagles and humans as well as other things in this steady paced exciting fantasy. I did notice a hand full of typo’s which I find in most books I read and didn’t find them detrimental to the enjoyment of the story. The writing flows easily and the plot if somewhat predictable is entertaining. Although there is quite a lot of violence in the story the writing style and vocabulary suggests this book is aimed at young people aged thirteen and over. We are left with a cliff hanger that implies this is the first of a series of books involving our Saloli friends and I recommend it to all young fantasy lovers.
Copy supplied for review
3.5*
Jeremy Lander was just settling down to enjoy his last summer break when a family emergency forces his mum to travel and leave him alone for a few days. Wondering how he can fill his time alone he wanders outside in the sun and something very strange happens. At first he thinks he is dreaming, but he soon realises he is wide awake and things are far from okay. His body feels odd, his surroundings seem to have grown bigger and he swears he can understand what the forest animals are saying! Faith, a Saloli prophet looks at Jeremy and sees this human boy as her tribes saviour, with agreement from Rust, the tribes chief and a little bit of magic Faith turns Jeremy into one of them and is convinced in this form he will be enough to save the tribe from imminent threat.
This was an unusual little story, Saloli are squirrels who live their lives similar to humans they have a ‘God’ to worship named Valde Abbas, they believe in a life after death. They have marriage ceremonies and funerals and the story puts me in mind of ‘Wind in the Willows’ or ‘Bright eyes’ with it’s humanlike talking animals. Our MC Jeremy aka Blaze is a teenage boy who has been turned into a squirrel in order to save the Icefire tribe from some unknown threat that the groups prophet Faith had been warned about in a dream. He soon proves himself as an able fighter and is promoted from trainee to fully-fledged tribe member within a few weeks.
Blaze happens along many threats and we watch him fight foxes, eagles and humans as well as other things in this steady paced exciting fantasy. I did notice a hand full of typo’s which I find in most books I read and didn’t find them detrimental to the enjoyment of the story. The writing flows easily and the plot if somewhat predictable is entertaining. Although there is quite a lot of violence in the story the writing style and vocabulary suggests this book is aimed at young people aged thirteen and over. We are left with a cliff hanger that implies this is the first of a series of books involving our Saloli friends and I recommend it to all young fantasy lovers.
Copy supplied for review
March 20, 2012
Aside from a few minor editing details, Legends of the Saloli: Approaching Storm is one of the most well written books I’ve read. The fact that it was about a boy that turned into a squirrel didn’t appeal to me when I first started reading it, but this isn’t a book to judge by its cover. By the time I finished, I wanted to read more. The author creates a realistic world with characters that you can connect with, the dialogue and narration never grows boring, and the fighting scenes, though they can be violent, are vividly described. I highly recommend reading this book if you are looking for an adventure.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Adam Bolander for a review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
NOTE: I received a copy of this book from Adam Bolander for a review. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews