A while back I read two different book series for teen boys. Since I don't have a lot good to say about them, I won't name them. They were, I suppose, relatively entertaining and certainly popular. So I'm not the target audience, not even close. Last week I heard about Robert Muchamore, who has published a wildly popular and multi-volume series in England. I think Simon & Schuster brought them out here but a couple of the early ones are out of print already so it didn't click in the US and it's not digital. I ordered the first one used from Amazon and it arrived on Monday. I will be honest and say I didn't expect much.
How wrong I was. This guy can really tell a rousing story. The other two series were deadly boring with all their action sequences. How's that possible? I don't know. This is the opposite. I felt caught up in the action, felt a connection to the characters and their situation. Muchamore knows what to tell the reader, just how much background or information they need. He knows the right things to say.
It's not polished, it's not elegant, it's not literary but it's believable. I understand who James Adams is and why he acts the way he does. The other series--I saw the explanations but didn't care. Those characters can live or die. Okay. What's it to me.
There's a lesson to be learned in how to draw the reader in and obviously his vast success proves that even boys who only want to play video games and watch football respond to well-crafted characters.
I haven't finished watching this video. I'm sure he has the air about him of not taking it seriously but that's probably as deceptive as his book.
No comments:
Post a Comment