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The Adventurer's Guild #1
Jaikus And Reneeke Join The Guild
Jaikus and Reneeke are ordinary lads whose dream in life is to become members of The Adventurer's Guild. But to become a member, they must be able to lay claim to an Adventure, and not just any adventure. To qualify, an Adventure must entail the following:
1-Have some element of risk to life and limb.
2-Successfully concluded. If the point of the Adventure was to recover a stolen silver candelabra, then you better have that candelabra in hand when all is said and done.
3-A reward must be given. For what good is an Adventure if you don't get paid for your troubles?
Jaikus and Reneeke soon realize that becoming members in the renowned Guild will prove much more difficult than they thought. However, when they learn that a party of experienced Guild members are about to embark on an Adventure and are in need of Springers, they quickly volunteer only to later discover that a Springer's job is to "Spring the trap."
If they survive the ensuing ordeal, membership in the Guild is assured.
1-Have some element of risk to life and limb.
2-Successfully concluded. If the point of the Adventure was to recover a stolen silver candelabra, then you better have that candelabra in hand when all is said and done.
3-A reward must be given. For what good is an Adventure if you don't get paid for your troubles?
Jaikus and Reneeke soon realize that becoming members in the renowned Guild will prove much more difficult than they thought. However, when they learn that a party of experienced Guild members are about to embark on an Adventure and are in need of Springers, they quickly volunteer only to later discover that a Springer's job is to "Spring the trap."
If they survive the ensuing ordeal, membership in the Guild is assured.
- GenresFantasy
ebook
First published March 28, 2009
16 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Brian S. Pratt
23 books160 followersBrian was born in Modesto, California. He graduated high school in 1985 and went straight into the Air Force where he was trained as an Avionic Specialist on the F-117A Stealth Fighter.
When his tour of duty was over, he joined Pizza Hut as a delivery driver where he quickly rose to become a General Manager of a delivery unit in Edmonds, WA.
Then after a short stint as a taxi driver, he spent two years as a driving instructor and now writes full time.
He currently lives in Boswell, OK and missing the three most wonderful children in the world: Joseph, Breanna, and Abigayle. They truly are the lights of his life.
When his tour of duty was over, he joined Pizza Hut as a delivery driver where he quickly rose to become a General Manager of a delivery unit in Edmonds, WA.
Then after a short stint as a taxi driver, he spent two years as a driving instructor and now writes full time.
He currently lives in Boswell, OK and missing the three most wonderful children in the world: Joseph, Breanna, and Abigayle. They truly are the lights of his life.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 10, 2019
The Adventurer's Guild / 294-0-000-69109-0
When I was a kid, my favorite computer game (and, indeed, the first one I remember playing outside of "Colossal Cave") was Sierra's "Quest for Glory". The game placed the player into the boots of a young Fighter/Mage/Thief who had traveled to a small cursed town in the mountains in hopes of lifting the curse and becoming an honest-to-goodness hero. In true Sierra fashion, the game was as humorous as it was engaging - your player-character was frequently referred to as being a proud graduate of the "Famous Adventurers' Correspondence School for Heroes".
With all this in mind, I can hardly help but enjoy "The Adventurer's Guild" from fresh author Brian Pratt. "The Adventurer's Guild" follows the adventures of two young boys, fresh from the farm, who dearly want to join the local and famous guild for fighters, mages, and thieves, but are vexed by their complete lack of experience, money, or connections that would provide them with an entrance to this exclusive and important club. The two boys spring at what seems like wonderful fortune when a local adventurer is willing to take them on an adventure and allow them to earn a good word with the guild, but they're about to learn that real adventures are more dangerous than romantic bards' tales often let on.
Pratt's writing and setup really shine - he's taken the "usual" fantasy setting of so many D&D adventures and has provided an amusing undertone to the world that reminds me so strongly of the tongue-in-cheek Sierra humor that I like so much. I flat-out guffawed when a smith in the first chapters complains that all fresh farm boys want swords (as opposed to the perfectly good maces he keeps unused in the back room) and the reader can't help but enjoy the verbal dressing-down the boys suffer at the hands of the Guild guard. Later, when the adventure develops, Pratt is able to perfectly spin an exploratory tale that is both visceral and visual - the reader always feels actually there, seeing the traps, feeling the poisons, and suffering with the characters. Pleasingly, character development is fairly solid, with Charka, Kate, and Seward standing out as nicely three-dimensional characters, which helps to round out some of the two-dimensional qualities of the two main characters.
To be fair, "The Adventurer's Guild" isn't perfect. As engaging and fresh as the writing is, the narrative flow does get broken occasionally to provide 'relevant' backstory that the reader will often not deem worthy of the interruption (such as a quick explanation of why a character is used to cold baths whilst swimming tensely through a dangerous swamp). And at least one character, Reneeke, comes strongly across as an author surrogate - always kind, wise, patient, clever, strong, gentle, and well-spoken, despite his rough upbringing on a farm, his supposed reticence to be an adventurer, and the fact that he really should have gotten fed up with his friend Jaikus by now. Indeed, I felt myself wishing for a little more balance between the two - with greater strength and courage from Jaikus and with a little less hyper-competence from Reneeke.
None of these flaws, however, detract from the fact that "The Adventurer's Guild" flows smoothly, and provides a fun and engaging "adventure game" type narrative for the reader. And while my impressions almost certainly stem in part from my nostalgia, I was truly pleased with the guilty pleasure that "The Adventurer's Guild" provided, for I was definitely transported back to my youth. Although I would absolutely love to see a revised second edition to tighten the writing, I still recommend this edition of "The Adventurer's Guild", and I definitely look forward to reading more of the adventures of Jaikus and Reneeke.
~ Ana Mardoll
When I was a kid, my favorite computer game (and, indeed, the first one I remember playing outside of "Colossal Cave") was Sierra's "Quest for Glory". The game placed the player into the boots of a young Fighter/Mage/Thief who had traveled to a small cursed town in the mountains in hopes of lifting the curse and becoming an honest-to-goodness hero. In true Sierra fashion, the game was as humorous as it was engaging - your player-character was frequently referred to as being a proud graduate of the "Famous Adventurers' Correspondence School for Heroes".
With all this in mind, I can hardly help but enjoy "The Adventurer's Guild" from fresh author Brian Pratt. "The Adventurer's Guild" follows the adventures of two young boys, fresh from the farm, who dearly want to join the local and famous guild for fighters, mages, and thieves, but are vexed by their complete lack of experience, money, or connections that would provide them with an entrance to this exclusive and important club. The two boys spring at what seems like wonderful fortune when a local adventurer is willing to take them on an adventure and allow them to earn a good word with the guild, but they're about to learn that real adventures are more dangerous than romantic bards' tales often let on.
Pratt's writing and setup really shine - he's taken the "usual" fantasy setting of so many D&D adventures and has provided an amusing undertone to the world that reminds me so strongly of the tongue-in-cheek Sierra humor that I like so much. I flat-out guffawed when a smith in the first chapters complains that all fresh farm boys want swords (as opposed to the perfectly good maces he keeps unused in the back room) and the reader can't help but enjoy the verbal dressing-down the boys suffer at the hands of the Guild guard. Later, when the adventure develops, Pratt is able to perfectly spin an exploratory tale that is both visceral and visual - the reader always feels actually there, seeing the traps, feeling the poisons, and suffering with the characters. Pleasingly, character development is fairly solid, with Charka, Kate, and Seward standing out as nicely three-dimensional characters, which helps to round out some of the two-dimensional qualities of the two main characters.
To be fair, "The Adventurer's Guild" isn't perfect. As engaging and fresh as the writing is, the narrative flow does get broken occasionally to provide 'relevant' backstory that the reader will often not deem worthy of the interruption (such as a quick explanation of why a character is used to cold baths whilst swimming tensely through a dangerous swamp). And at least one character, Reneeke, comes strongly across as an author surrogate - always kind, wise, patient, clever, strong, gentle, and well-spoken, despite his rough upbringing on a farm, his supposed reticence to be an adventurer, and the fact that he really should have gotten fed up with his friend Jaikus by now. Indeed, I felt myself wishing for a little more balance between the two - with greater strength and courage from Jaikus and with a little less hyper-competence from Reneeke.
None of these flaws, however, detract from the fact that "The Adventurer's Guild" flows smoothly, and provides a fun and engaging "adventure game" type narrative for the reader. And while my impressions almost certainly stem in part from my nostalgia, I was truly pleased with the guilty pleasure that "The Adventurer's Guild" provided, for I was definitely transported back to my youth. Although I would absolutely love to see a revised second edition to tighten the writing, I still recommend this edition of "The Adventurer's Guild", and I definitely look forward to reading more of the adventures of Jaikus and Reneeke.
~ Ana Mardoll
June 8, 2016
I don't see this as either a good book, or a bad book. It was more than a little belabored with exposition in the beginning, there were a few misplaced commas irritating to the English major in me, and in spite of all of the time spent with them I don't feel like I got to know our protagonists' minds and personalities very well. However, it was a decent story about a couple of kids aspiring to better themselves in a society obsessed with questing, and it gave me plenty of action, magical beasties, and some pretty scenic window-dressing as it continued.
September 12, 2020
Very good character driven dungeon crawling. Well written. I found myself identifying with Jailus and Reneeke. was a very immersive book.
August 5, 2013
I was suitably impressed with this story. The story line was good and kept one entertained throughout. I would definitely recommend this to all those that love a good adventure.
I would definitely look forward towards a sequel of this story.
Well done!
I would definitely look forward towards a sequel of this story.
Well done!
June 3, 2015
This started out as a break from what I normally would be reading, science fiction, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The story/plot was engaging with a subdued kind of humor. The action was there but not the kind that"slaps" you in the face, but enough to keep you interested.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews