Spellbinders: The Not-So Chosen One by Andrew Auseon
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publishing Date: June 6, 2023
Synopsis:
“Ben may only be pretending to be the ‘Chosen One’—but I’ve definitely chosen this one as my favorite new fantasy series.” —Max Brallier, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Last Kids on Earth series
How far would you go to play the hero? One lonely seventh grader gets way more than he bargained for when he is swept into the fantasy quest of his gaming dreams in this magical illustrated series full of laughs, adventure, and twists.
Ben doesn’t feel chosen by anybody—not by his friends, who haven’t kept in touch since he moved after his parents’ divorce, or by his mom, who’s so busy he barely sees her. He spends all his time living in fantasy worlds and writing extensively planned adventure campaigns in his role-playing-game notebook. So when Niara, a character who could be right out of one of his favorite games, shows up and tells him he’s destined to save her realm (like, foretold-by-a-prophecy destined), Ben has two possible tell her the truth or play along. He’s tired of feeling left behind, so his choice is clear—game on.
One interdimensional portal later, Ben is in full hero mode. At first, adventuring in Lux seems like a dream come true, but pretending to be the Chosen One—and lying to his new friends—isn’t quite what he imagined it to be. And the more he learns about Lux and his quest, the more he realizes this is way beyond a game—and the rules seem to be changing as he goes. In fact, it might be time for him to write some new ones.
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62562908
About the Author:
Andrew Auseon is a writer of novels for young people, and a designer of video games. He holds a B.A. from Ohio University and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from the prestigious Vermont College.
He lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife, Sarah Zogby, and their two daughters.
Author Links:
Website: http://www.andrewauseon.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewauseon
Tour Schedule:
Okay so I love me an story about a chosen one and there have been many so when I saw the Blog Tour for Spellbinders The Not-So Chose One I was so intrigued.
I'm pleased to say that my intrigument was kept throughout the book and that was due to Andrew's skills as a writer. The world building and character building was off the scale and having information cards about the characters was pure genius. Yet the best thing was how Andrew threw the chosen one on it's head and questioned whether or not a prophecy was airtight and by following the story we all find out.
I also liked that the magic was not the usual wand but instead Andrew showed how words can be powerful if used in the right way.
I was loving it so much I purchased the Kindle and Audiobook which I listened to and I wanted to say that the Narrator was brilliant. I will be most certainly be carrying on with the series and can't wait to see what happens next.
For all the above reasons I am giving Spellbinders The Not So Chosen One 4 stars