I loved the Adventurers Wanted series as a kid so much, but I never ended up reading the fifth and final book in the series. I am rereading the series now, starting from book one, and I’m going to finally see how it ends. It meant so much to me, so I’m really excited to get back to this world. The series is very dnd style fantasy. The main character Alex comes from our world, and is chosen to go on an adventure to slay a dragon, with a party of humans, elves, and dwarves. I love how there is a focus on adventurer culture, and ideas about honor that Alex has to learn to adapt to. There are some really cool places and monsters, and I can’t wait to see more of the magic.

The focus of the book is more on the journey than the actual destination, and it’s about the bonds the characters make. I didn’t find any of the characters super compelling, and they more fit general archetypes. Also, the main character Alex is actually perfect at everything on his first try, which makes it a little hard to ever worry about the stakes of the plot. He just is lucky and gifted, but I still would have preferred if it felt like he needed the other characters for anything. Especially since it’s his first adventure, and I hope that in the future books as he begins his training he’ll have to struggle a bit. I’m really enjoying rereading the series, and excited to continue. It’s very comforting and easy to read, and I remember really liking the later books.

It’s hard to say how I feel about this book, since it is just the first in an epic sci fantasy series. The whole book is more or less set up, and while there is a promise of more interesting things to come, I didn’t feel like anything that happened in this book moved the plot forward enough. The story is written in a deliberately confusing way, and you have to read very actively and go back and reference previous chapters in order to understand what is going on. I don’t mind that, since I knew to expect that going in. I actually enjoyed puzzling out what was happening, and I feel like I was able to understand at least the surface level of the plot and the character motivations. However, just not enough happens in this first book. It feels like the future books have the possibility to go off the rails and become amazing, but I don’t know yet if I’m going to actually feel like it is worth the effort to read.

The world is very interesting, and I like the feeling of working to piece together the setting and the character motivations. I am also aware that I could be missing some biblical subtext. But I am curious where the story will go. I initially was interested in this series because I heard there were similarities to Gideon the Ninth, which I can see. However, the reading experience feels very different. Gideon the Ninth is more fun and modern, and honestly easier to follow, even though The Locked Tomb is really difficult. I do want to keep reading, since the books are actually not that long, they’re just dense. The chapters are short, which helped make it feel like I was moving quickly through the story.

I follow Kat Schneider on Instagram and I really like her art style. The art in this graphic novel was so expressive and vibrant. There were a few panels that were clearly just for fun, and I really enjoyed how they showed how everything feels as a teenager. I also liked the exploration of the main character’s identity crisis, and I thought it was depicted in a very realistic way. As a narrative, the story felt a little unfocused. Based on the summary, I expected more of a focus on like, challenging religion. But really, it’s more intimate, and about the main character’s role in a community. It felt very clear that this was based off the author’s own life. I appreciated when things were explained to me, since I know next to nothing about Christian summer camps, but the style of exposition did feel a little heavy handed at times. Overall, it was a quick read and I enjoyed it.