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Adventures in Reason #1
Logic to the Rescue
Lost in a fantasy world, Nikki has only logic and science to help her find her way home.When Nikki Murrow failed her first High School debating match she did what anyone would do. She hid in a closet. She found comfort hiding among the mops and cleaning supplies, but she also found two imps – tiny creatures from a magical kingdom who lead her on a strange journey into the Realm of Reason.There is Fuzz, a grumpy imp with a fondness for breaking the rules. And Athena, a model of impish manners, decorum and spotlessly clean clothes. Together they convince Nikki to join them in the battle against the king's evil advisor, Maleficious.In her debate class, Nikki learned the value of logic and reason, but who knew her ability to formulate a hypothesis would help a mud-splattered Knight redeem his tarnished reputation? Or that her knowledge of logical fallacies would rid the Realm's Haunted Hills of ghosts? Maleficious's hold on the king is strong, but Nikki and the imps are determined that the Realm will not fall into his clutches. Will their mastery of logic rid the kingdom of the ignorance Maleficious is spreading, or will the inhabitants of the Realm fall back under the sway of centuries-old superstition?
232 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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392 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 4, 2016
Enjoyed this introduction to logic but he story was a little forced. The story moved along much better once it moved past the logical fallacies but it also kind of lost its focus.
February 15, 2015
Tedious
As a former debate teacher I thought it would be cool to see logic in story type action. Boy was I mistaken. It's tedious at best then goes from logic to chemistry. I found Nikki to be irritating after the first few chapters. She's a know it all about everything from debate to chemistry to physics. She doesn't come off as a smart kid, rather an irritating know it all.There's no real plot and worse of all it just stops. Not a cliffhanger, just an incomplete rambling. . .yet it includes previews of the next book. Thankfully it was free.
As a former debate teacher I thought it would be cool to see logic in story type action. Boy was I mistaken. It's tedious at best then goes from logic to chemistry. I found Nikki to be irritating after the first few chapters. She's a know it all about everything from debate to chemistry to physics. She doesn't come off as a smart kid, rather an irritating know it all.There's no real plot and worse of all it just stops. Not a cliffhanger, just an incomplete rambling. . .yet it includes previews of the next book. Thankfully it was free.
July 19, 2013
It is important for children and adults to be capable of critical thinking. It is especially important to me that my children are able to think logically so I read this book first. It is a good introduction to critical thinking. The structure of the book engaged my children and the lessons gave them the foundation to make important decisions about truth by themselves. I am very happy with this book.
March 22, 2012
I loved this! What a great way to discuss logic with youngsters!
February 16, 2024
Cool idea, fun way of learning about logical fallacies. Had a hard time getting through it with the kids. It could use about half as many words. I felt exhausted reading it and felt like the fallacies and solutions were buried in unnecessary details. I could see it being more helpful in a classroom setting where the teacher takes the main idea of each chapter and sets the elements of the story up on a board or screen to help the class visualize what is being taught.
May 22, 2018
This book could be so good ... but instead it is soooooooooo bad. I think that is why it has many positive reviews - they are based on potential, not actuality. In actuality this book is a perfect example of the dangers of self-publishing.
Dear Langman, you really have something here. Please get yourself a high quality editor and redo your entire series. Considering your subject matter, please consider Alexander R. Cohen. You could have a hit series (and I mean HIT) if only you could humble yourself to your needs for an editor.
My six year old loved this book. Though he is super not happy with how it ended.
The problems with this book, as noted by all the other negative reviews that I didn't listen to is:
1) It is not outlined. Therefore it is repetitive and boring and has no ending. Main character gets kidnapped again and again. It has no clear direction and constantly introduces plot lines that don't go anywhere.
2) The book starts off with lessons in logical fallacies, and then morphs into chemistry lessons. This book would be so incredible if he stuck with logical fallacies, reinforced them and ENDED THE STORY. The main characters don't even make their way back to the king who they spend the entire book trying to rescue!
3) The drunk, gambling, thieving main character. Why? Seriously, what?
4) Super super boring bad guy identical to Voldemort. Random hatred of some minority in society. No reasons given. All kinds of people joining with the bad guy and hating but with no actual complaint about the minority. I can't stand boring bad guys.
5) The feminist propaganda. So tired of it.
Dear Langman, you really have something here. Please get yourself a high quality editor and redo your entire series. Considering your subject matter, please consider Alexander R. Cohen. You could have a hit series (and I mean HIT) if only you could humble yourself to your needs for an editor.
My six year old loved this book. Though he is super not happy with how it ended.
The problems with this book, as noted by all the other negative reviews that I didn't listen to is:
1) It is not outlined. Therefore it is repetitive and boring and has no ending. Main character gets kidnapped again and again. It has no clear direction and constantly introduces plot lines that don't go anywhere.
2) The book starts off with lessons in logical fallacies, and then morphs into chemistry lessons. This book would be so incredible if he stuck with logical fallacies, reinforced them and ENDED THE STORY. The main characters don't even make their way back to the king who they spend the entire book trying to rescue!
3) The drunk, gambling, thieving main character. Why? Seriously, what?
4) Super super boring bad guy identical to Voldemort. Random hatred of some minority in society. No reasons given. All kinds of people joining with the bad guy and hating but with no actual complaint about the minority. I can't stand boring bad guys.
5) The feminist propaganda. So tired of it.
September 6, 2017
Not bad at all for a kids book — only up to a point. The book sets up a 14 year old debate team girl in an imaginary kingdom where people routinely fall prey of logical errors, you know, false dilemma etc. These are pretty good as they set up pretty reasonable simplified situations and expose commonly made logical errors. There is some “plot”, but it’s justifiably overly simplistic and really serves the point of making the logical arguments not in an overly abstract way for the kids. This part of the book is 4 stars. If the author could drop the pretense of telling an actual story, it’ll be 4.5 stars.
So why “up to a point” then? Somewhere in the middle of the book, the author seems to have forgotten the formula. It started in a place called “Castles and Chemistry “, which sounded like another book, but it’s not as this is a supposedly a trilogy and part two is about physics. This part only had a passing smell of a chemistry-lessons-disguised-as-a-story, but instead is a bonafide story with occasional references to bases and acids. As such, this part becomes a 2-stars bore. Skip completely. If this part portends what to come in the rest of the trilogy, skip those parts too.
So why “up to a point” then? Somewhere in the middle of the book, the author seems to have forgotten the formula. It started in a place called “Castles and Chemistry “, which sounded like another book, but it’s not as this is a supposedly a trilogy and part two is about physics. This part only had a passing smell of a chemistry-lessons-disguised-as-a-story, but instead is a bonafide story with occasional references to bases and acids. As such, this part becomes a 2-stars bore. Skip completely. If this part portends what to come in the rest of the trilogy, skip those parts too.
February 9, 2014
100 page book aiming to introduce a lay person to logic by using storytelling. I can't argue with the effectiveness of this approach.
Each chapter focuses on a specific logical fallacy. Ten Chapters in total. Each chapter, our trio of main characters encounter different townspeople suffering negative consequences as a result of these fallacies. The female imp Athena (yes, there are some restrained fantastical elements here), is the reader's in, asking our leading character, Nikki, the questions we normally would. Yes, we are shown the logical fallacies, but we are also told, quite explicitly, what they are. I don't disagree with this. Again, the target audience is a lay person to logic, and this book is effective enough.
I recommend this to anyone looking to get an intro to logic. Anyone else can pass on this.
Each chapter focuses on a specific logical fallacy. Ten Chapters in total. Each chapter, our trio of main characters encounter different townspeople suffering negative consequences as a result of these fallacies. The female imp Athena (yes, there are some restrained fantastical elements here), is the reader's in, asking our leading character, Nikki, the questions we normally would. Yes, we are shown the logical fallacies, but we are also told, quite explicitly, what they are. I don't disagree with this. Again, the target audience is a lay person to logic, and this book is effective enough.
I recommend this to anyone looking to get an intro to logic. Anyone else can pass on this.
May 20, 2019
This is a kids book, but I wanted to see what an educational book about Logic was like. I think I would have enjoyed it as a kid. I enjoyed it enough now to want to read the next book containing physics lessons.
A young girl, Nikki, has a tough day while participating in a debate competition. While trying to escape the rest of her debate team and collect herself she enters a school maintenance room. As she sits waiting for the students to clear the hallways she finds herself being talked into traveling to another Realm to assist the King, by a couple of imps. Logic to the Rescue is book one of the series
A young girl, Nikki, has a tough day while participating in a debate competition. While trying to escape the rest of her debate team and collect herself she enters a school maintenance room. As she sits waiting for the students to clear the hallways she finds herself being talked into traveling to another Realm to assist the King, by a couple of imps. Logic to the Rescue is book one of the series
February 19, 2013
~Some Spoilers~
It's a cute fantasy-fiction story with a lesson about logical fallacies and superstitions versus logic, the first in a series. It's geared toward older children in their tweens and teens. At first I thought it was a bit corny (remember it is geared toward, I'd say, 11-13 yr olds maybe) but then grew to love those two little imp characters, especially that rascal Fuzz. It turned out to be entertaining as I refreshed my memory of scientific method, etc.
It's a cute fantasy-fiction story with a lesson about logical fallacies and superstitions versus logic, the first in a series. It's geared toward older children in their tweens and teens. At first I thought it was a bit corny (remember it is geared toward, I'd say, 11-13 yr olds maybe) but then grew to love those two little imp characters, especially that rascal Fuzz. It turned out to be entertaining as I refreshed my memory of scientific method, etc.
October 29, 2013
This short book is a parable designed to introduce junior high and high school students to logical fallacies--but could be used with younger students as well. The simple plot was just enough to keep me interested, and I enjoyed the situations the author created to illustrate each fallacy. This story is a good introduction to the sometimes-dry topic of logical fallacies for any age. The story ends with a bit of a cliff-hanger, announcing the story will be continued in the next book.
November 29, 2014
Great introductory book discussing logic. Logical fallacies are presented through a storyline. It is probably best suited for preteen or teenage readers. However I also enjoyed the book and I will read it to my son when he is a little older.
June 2, 2021
This book was not a hard read. I think that it will pull the majority of kids in fairly easily. If kids will let themselves use their brains they will find it amusing and a good set of brain exercises.
July 12, 2013
Cute way to look at logic and scientific reasoning. Suitable for pre- and early adolescents.
December 2, 2013
Wonderful explanation..
January 4, 2014
Superb!
A great story for kids, and adults too, about thinking logically.
A great story for kids, and adults too, about thinking logically.
December 2, 2014
Great story that introduces logical fallacies.
March 15, 2015
Very enjoyable for a fantasy book, seamless logic! (lol)
November 11, 2015
I think this book was amazing! It combined logic and fun in a way that is original, and has never been done before. I enjoyed every second of this book!
January 4, 2025
This is a fun book - but repetitive (characters turn up in a town, explain the logical fallacy the townspeople are encountering and then help resolve it)
Unfortunately, midway through the book starts being about physics and chemistry
and it ends abruptly.
A real shame as the initial premise is really promising.
Unfortunately, midway through the book starts being about physics and chemistry
and it ends abruptly.
A real shame as the initial premise is really promising.
September 25, 2022
This is an interesting fantasy series, as it integrates pretty casually the study of logic and logical fallacies. My compliments to the author!
January 17, 2013
Very cute way to teach logic to kids!
April 15, 2017
An entertaining read that helps make some concepts of logic and reason accessible to a young reader. The story is well-told with a young girl getting transported to a kingdom where the people don't follow the rules of logic. Each area of the kingdom illustrates a different fallacy. Even though this sounds a bit dry, it is anything but that. There is a bad guy adviser that is trying to undermine the king's rule under the king's very nose. The story becomes more gripping with each chapter until I found it hard to put down, and I am not even the intended audience! The same was true for my two children, so it has wide appeal. Additionally, there is a great deal of humor and the stories illustrating fallacy are memorable enough to provide good scaffolding for later discussions of logic. Casual logic at its best!
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews