Title: The Oprhan Fleet
Author: Brendan Detzner
Publisher: Attack Rabbit Books
Release Date: April 15, 2016
Pages: 83
Book Source: eBook
“The Orphan Fleet” is terrific adventure fantasy — a non-stop tale of action and strange magic on a wind-swept mountain top where abandoned children have forged a free community, servicing far-traveling airships on sturdy wooden platforms. Here masked heroes with names like Golden Sam and The Sparrow are the ultimate celebrities — and the mysterious Count leaves shivers of terror wherever he treads. When that community is threatened by an admiral who demands the return of his prized daughter, it triggers a terrible war fought in the air, on the ground, and in the old abandoned scaffolding circling the mountain … a war where Golden Sam may prove himself a true hero after all, and the Count has a terrible role to play.”
John O’Neill, Publisher & Editor of Black Gate Magazine
My Review:
This Young Adult novella is a great start to a new series. When the author mentioned that more novellas of the various characters will be forthcoming, I was happy to read it.
I can see this being the perfect series to get younger boys, and girls who like adventure, more into reading.
Those who enjoy WWE or Mexican wrestling will definitely enjoy this story. While the orphans on the mountain top work hard all day, they get to look forward to the staged fights in the evening. The fighters wear masks to cover their identity, while jumping and fighting, and making it look as if they are dancing. Since you can’t see who the fighters are, you never know if you are passing by them on the streets the next day.
There is lots of action, between the fake fights and the real war that breaks out when the mountain people refuse to give up one of their own, but there is also a wonderful story of friendship. And if you enjoy scarier characters, then the Count will be right up your alley.
At first it did take me a bit to be able to find the rhythm with the sentence structure. Some of them would run on for while. I’m not sure if they got more precise as I continued to read, or if the story was just so enjoyable that I didn’t notice. On the other hand, at first, the one word sentences that the main character used were a bit jarring, bit they did fit well with his personality.
Brian Detzner does a wonderful job creating a new world, with lots of nooks and crannies to explore. The characters are well developed, and I think this will be a series where the characters will continue to grow, making you eager for the next book.