Brainstorm 312: Unexpected Adventures

For today’s Brainstorm I bring you some unexpected adventurers. These aren’t the characters who sit down and plot their journeys carefully, and they aren’t usually the most brave or adventurous. Think of a Bilbo or Frodo. They are the ones who get snatched up in circumstances and are off before they realize what’s really happening, the ones who think they are just running down to the corner store and end up halfway across the land. They may not be the most likely adventurers, but they are often the most compelling to travel with as they find unexpected depths in themselves, the lands they visit, and the others they meet along the way. One thing’s for sure, they will not return from their unexpected adventure the same. Click on the titles to see my full review for each book including any content notes/trigger warnings.

Bear Came Along by Richard T. Morris, ill. by LeUyen Pham

Bear meets a growing assortment of creatures as he rides a log down a river. They all have different personalities, but the journey is better with everyone along.

The story is fairly simple, but has a lot of potential talking points and the illustrations are delightful.

Target Readers:

Animal Story Fans, Adventure Story Fans, Art Lovers, Forest Setting Fans, Award Winner Readers, Picture Book Readers

 

Bear Knight (Lightraider Academy, #2) by James R. Hannibal

The Lightraider Academy recruits have returned from their first mission and are eager to get going to address the growing threat, but the Prime Council is insisting someone come and give them an update/answer their questions. They want to interrogate interview Kara, but Jairun sends Connor and Lee instead. Kara is trying to catch up on finishing her quests so she can stay with the rest of the recruits in her year, but the metalworking one may kill her. As more reports of dragon's minions slipping across the border reach the Lightraider ears, all of the recruits are sent out on quests. And these aren't training runs any more, these are life or death missions to address the growing evil threats.

It is quite hard to summarize this book well. There's a lot going on, and many of the quests start off in one direction and then shift at least once if not twice through the book (thus why I’m including it in today’s Brainstorm). Hannibal does an excellent job of weaving in the Christian allegory elements and writing an engaging, exciting fantasy adventure with a lot of distinct character voices.

Target Readers:

Fantasy Fans, Quest Story Fans, Adventure Fans, Christian Fiction Fans, Knight Story Fans, Boarding School Story Fans, Epic Good vs Evil Story Fans, Young Adult Readers

 

Calor (The Nightingale Trilogy, #1) by J.J. Fischer

Sephone Winter is a slave, a mem forced to use her ability to view memories to soothe and diminish those memories of the ones who hire her through her cruel master, Cutter. When a Lord Adamo comes through town looking for a powerful mem like Sephone to help him on a quest, she is intrigued. The fact that the lord was the young man who saved her from the ice when she was 4 gives her extra bravery to trust him and take a chance by running away with him and his guards, Bas and Bear. They make their way from town to town in a quest to find the Reliquery, a legendary item that predates the cataclysm and is supposed to increase abilities of those with powers. But Cutter is hot on their trail as is another powerful Lord who wouldn't mind having Sephone's powers at his beck and call and would like to finish the job of killing of Lord Adamo's family. Along with the very smart wolf, Jewel, who has been a companion to Lord Adamo, and another man with powers to discern when people are telling the truth, Damian, Sephone, Lord Adamo, Bas, and Bear must find the item of legend without falling into evil clutches.

This is a thought-provoking fantasy dystopia with a lot of complex, flawed characters. There’s an ongoing discussion in the story of whether removing all memories of hurt is positive or negative for a person. Without memories of events that hurt, are you the same person? 

Target Readers:

Dystopia Fans, Fantasy Fans, Complex Flawed Character Fans, Human Rights Story Fans, Fans of Stories That Make You Think, Christian Fiction Fans, Adult Readers (though approachable to most teens)

 

Cog by Greg Van Eekhout, ill. by Beatrice Blue

Cog is an android who is working hard to build his cognitive intelligence. But when an attempt to do so ends rather badly, he wakes up to find himself far from his home and from Gina who cared for him. He's now in the uniMIND headquarters and when he finds out they want to remove his brain to find something called the X-module, Cog decides he doesn't like the sound of that. He wants to find Gina so he escapes with four other robots. They set out on a cross-country journey but uniMIND is hot on their trail.

Beyond being a fun adventure story with a group of very entertaining robots the book actually explores the issues of free will vs mind control/slavery in such a way it never feels like that's an agenda but the book will definitely leave readers with things to think about.

Target Readers:

Science Fiction Fans, Robot Story Fans, Adventure Story Fans, Humor Fans, Stand Alone Story Fans, Quest Story Fans, Fans of Stories That Make You Think, Quick Read Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

Cytonic (Skyward, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

To escape Superiority forces chasing her, Spensa jumps into the nowhere. She could easily escape home, but she also feels that the answer to how to defeat the delvers can be found if she stays. So this time she stays there with M-Bot in the cleaning drone accompanying her, and finds that there are actually people and places in the nowhere, along with the delvers. Soon she is running from space pirates and exploring the strange fragments of the nowhere, on a quest to find the answer to the delvers. But the nowhere has dangers beyond pirates and delvers. It is all too easy to entirely lose your memories of all you know and love, even your own name the longer you are in the nowhere. Can Spensa hold onto who she is and why she's here long enough to fulfill her quest?

Obviously, this is book 3 in the Skyward series and you should really read books 1 & 2 to fully understand what brought Spensa to this point, why she’s concerned about the delvers, where home is, and why the Superiority was chasing her.

Target Readers:

Science Fiction Fans, Adventure Fans, Space Exploration Story Fans, Pirate Story Fans, Pilot Main Character Fans, Underdog Story Fans, Young Adult & Adult Readers

 

Escape to the Above (Snared, #1) by Adam Jay Epstein

Wily Snare has been in charge of the design and upkeep of the traps in the dungeon guarding the treasure of the Wizard Stalag. Wily is very good at his job and prides himself on all the would-be thieves his traps have helped find more profitable work in Stalag's mines. But when a new group of adventurers manage to not only get farther than any other previous group, but also best the wizard and claim the treasure, Wily's world is rocked. Not only that, but they demand Wily goes with them on their next adventure. The world above is scary and entirely foreign to Wily. Wizard Stalag has warned him that sunlight will burn his skin and that life above is terrible. But the champions insist he comes with them, and Wily has no clue how this trip about will change his life.

Imaginative world building, memorable characters, and a kingdom caught in turmoil needing some unexpected heroes make this the start of an exciting fantasy adventure trilogy.

Target Readers:

Fantasy Fans, Adventure Fans, Imaginative World Building Fans, Complete Series Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone (Kingdoms and Empires, #1) by Jaclyn Moriarty

When Bronte Mettlestone gets the news that her parents have been killed by pirates she's more surprised than upset. She's never seen them since they dropped her off as a baby in the lobby of her Aunt Isabelle's. Aunt Isabelle and her Butler have raised her since then to the ripe old age of 10. Her life has been pretty tame compared to her adventuring parents, but all of that is about to change. Her parents’ will stipulates that she is supposed to visit all of her father's other 10 sisters in their various homes hither and yon, and deliver gifts to each one. The will tells her how to travel, how long to stay in each place, when to give each gift, and even recommends places to dine. It is most unusual, but what is even more odd is that she is to do it all alone AND the will is surrounded by fairy cross stitch which means if she doesn't do even one small thing the will tells her she must do, her home town of Gainsleigh will be struck by disasters. No pressure.

As Bronte goes on her journey there's an overarching mystery that slowly comes to light and really propels the climax

Target Readers:

Fantasy Fans, Early 1900s with Magic Setting Fans, Adventure Fans, Visiting Family Story Fans, Mystery Fans, Middle Grade Readers

 

Nurk: The Strange, Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew by Ursula Vernon

Nurk is a shrew with adventure in his blood. At least, he thinks there might be. His grandmother is/was a great adventurer (and no one seems to know if she's still alive or not). Inspired by her journal (well, at least what he can make out of it...adventurers have atrocious handwriting it seems), and a piece of mail asking for help, Nurk fashions himself an adventure-worthy vessel and sets out to return the piece of mail and perhaps help out whoever was asking for help (the mail was seriously water-logged and only half legible).

This is such a cozy little adventure. If you're looking for quick read with a captivating adventure, a great cast, a lovable underdog hero, some hilarious commentaries on bad handwriting, and nothing too stressful, snatch this up.

Target Readers:

Animal Fans, Fantasy Fans, Sailing Adventure Fans, Humor Fans, Cozy Low-Stress Story Fans, Quick Read Fans, Stand Alone Story Fans, Middle Grade Readers (though short enough strong lower grade readers would find it approachable)