An Unexpected Apprentice by Jody Lynn Nye
One of my Christmas presents was a novel by Jody Lynn Nye called An Unexpected Apprentice. Before reading it, I read a few reviews about the book. Some were praising while others immediately dismissed it because it completely copies The Lord of the Rings.
I still wanted to give it a try because the premise of the novel sounded interesting to me. When a smallfolk girl’s family is destroyed by thraiks, she leaves her home to be the young apprentice of a wizard named Olen. During her apprentice, she must go on a quest because her entire world is in threat of being destroyed. A book exists where every living and nonliving being in the world’s rune is listed. The book unlocks the runes and by altering any rune, you can alter the being the rune is describing. When the book is stolen, the thief must be found and the book returned to a safe place.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book after reading the bad reviews. Yes, there are definitely some details that mirror Tolkien’s masterpiece, but Nye includes her own mythology and creatures that are not like anything in The Lord of the Rings. There are a few holes in the plot as well, but overall, I found the book to be a fun and entertaining read. Nye creates compelling characters and relationships, and I really enjoy the mythology that she developed for this world.
The book ends after the major climax of the story but with a sequel in mind. Not all questions are answered and the entire journey is not completed. This might bother some if you are looking for a standalone, but I am looking forward to the second part of this story.
Do you know for a fact that there is going to be a sequel? I really liked the story too, but the ending was abrupt even with a sequel in mind…I found the story at the library and if there’s a sequel I’ll buy my own copy, otherwise I’ll be mad and I won’t!