Title: Escape from Wolfhaven Castle
Author: Kate Forsyth
Series: The Impossible Quest #1
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Adventure, Australian authors, Easy reading, Medieval fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Year: 2014
5th sentence, 74th page: Elanor screamed.

Tell your lord to beware, the wolves smell danger in the wind…

Wolfhaven Castle has been attacked, and only four escape capture… Tom, trained to scrub pots, not fight; Elanor, the lord’s daughter; Sebastian, a knight in training; and Quinn, the witch’s apprentice.

Somehow, if they are to save their people, these unlikely heroes must find four magical beasts from legend. But first, they have to make it out of the castle alive…

This is a beautifully easy, fun and light-hearted book. With enough of an adventure-based storyline to make you reluctant to put it down. At least as an adult. I’m sure if this was around when I was a child, I would be far more involved in the storyline and think it was a more intense literary experience than I do as a more widely read adult.

I like the four young adults in this story – they’re on the cusp of adulthood and finding their own way. But there is already a sense of comradery and togetherness that works from the very outset. Each of the four is given their own gifts (literally and metaphorically) and although there is just an inkling in the first of The Impossible Quest, there are hints that these are going to develop in so many ways.

This is a pretty typical young adult, coming of age adventure story. Which is why it’s so lovely. Forsyth has an amazing way with words and this helps to spin a vivid and intriguing storyline. Partner this with that beloved simplicity of the genre and the idea that both fate and courage play a part… and Escape from Wolfhaven Castle is a great introduction to a new world and an epic quest.

Image source: Booktopia