The Blurb On The Back:

Our heroes are following a magical map on their Quest through the Netherworld.  Their old enemy Malvel has unleashed four new Beasts, including Styx, a deadly alligator!

Free the beasts

Live the adventure

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

You can order BEAST QUEST – STYX THE LURKING TERROR by Adam Blade from Amazon UK, Waterstone’s or Bookshop.org UK.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

It’s straight after BEAST QUEST – OSSIRON THE FLESHLESS KILLER.

Tom and Elenna have rescued Nolan and sent him back to Tangala.  With the help of Zarlo, the wizard trapped in a map of the Netherworld, they’re looking for the next Beast that’s under Malvel’s control – Styx, a large and deadly alligator.  But the Netherworld is an inhospitable place and as night falls, the temperature drops and the two find their supplies of food and water running low.  Worse, Zarlo’s map can’t keep track of exactly where Styx is and he is a cunning and fearsome opponent.  Fortunately they have one of the candidates – the axe wielding Katya – to help them – can they defeat Styx and get Katya back home?

The second book in the 28th series of the BEAST QUEST illustrated adventure fantasy books by Adam Blade (a pseudonym for a collection of writers) for readers aged 7+ is a pacy affair with a real sense of jeopardy.  I liked the fact that Katya had some personality and impetus, Styx was a genuinely frightening antagonist and there’s a hint that Zarlo has an agenda of his own.  Well worth a look if you have a young reader into fantasy.

I had been a little disappointed by OSSIRON THE FLESHLESS KILLER, which I thought had too much set up but this book gets straight into the action, picking up right after the previous novel.  One of the things that impressed me from the off was the fact that Tom and Elenna don’t have a lot of food or water with them and it’s not immediately clear where they can restock, which immediately creates a sense of jeopardy as does the attention to detail on the cold and the affect that has on the pair.

I also liked the fact that there are hints about Zarlo’s background more in this book and a suggestion that he may have some motives of his own, which offers up a lot of promise for the remaining 2 books in this series.  One of my big issues with the previous book was that the candidate Nolan had no page development but that is definitely not the case here where Katya is shown as being a sparky and keen to get stuck into helping Tom and Elenna.  It also helps that Styx is a much more frightening enemy, given that neither Tom nor Elenna is certain when he will pop up and he is not easy to injure.  

I still find the illustrations a bit basic and uninspired and Elenna is very much a sidekick who leaves the main heroics to Tom, which I find a shame.  As I am still new to this series, I’m not quite sure how Malvel’s control over the Beasts works and because Malvel doesn’t make much of an appearance here there was no sense of how that storyline is developing or even if it is going to come back up again given that the set up is already there.

That said, younger readers who enjoy fantasy will like this story, which does have plenty of action and derring do and I would ready more in this series on the strength of this book.