This is the story of one Wily Snare. Raised by a menacing "father" figure deep in the Carrion Tomb and working as a trapsmith for as long as he can recall, the little hobgoblet has never seen the light of day...as in the actual sun because I guess his skin was suppose to melt off if its rays ever touched him. Yeah, sounds a LOT more than unpleasant, so I don't blame him for being a fan of the underground....but what if every thing he was ever told, every thing he ever took as truth, suddenly turned into a lie?

Yes, my friends, Wily Snare is in for QUITE the surprise, when invaders turn unexpected friends, his true heritage is revealed, and he finally finds the confidence within to not simply be a grand trapsmith, but a...well, okay, I can't say that part, but trust me, it's BIG, and it's GRAND, and it's all that his little non-gobhoblet (because he's HUMAN!) heart has desired for so long.

I adored the mysterious characters that kept creeping into the story, and how their purposes were always something more than what they at first appeared. I found the combination of magic and science, or rather more specifically engineering, on display fascinating, and a good representation of how they truly blend. My heart was shocked by some reflections though I did have my suspicions as the story progressed, but it was also warmed by the family Wily found, and how his sister from some other, well, mister/creature, stood by his side steadfast as Modul in a river (he's an moss golem, in water he drinks/hydrates...fascinating creature!).

All in all, a great fit for Middle Grade Fiction readers of all ages, boys and girls, elf and golem, hobgoblet and Roamabout, alike. There is so much to love, so much to discover, so much adventure to be had that one trip through the traps within doesn't seem like nearly enough....good thing it's the first in a NEW SERIES! (Woo hoo!)


**copy received for review ( )

Literary Merit: Okay
Characterization: Not great
Recommended: Recommended
Level: Middle School

This book is pretty meh.

I picked this up at my review group for work hoping I would get a middle grade combo of Tomb Raider and fantasy creatures dabbling in puzzles and escape room like situations. Instead, this book was overly tropey, full of clichés, and very info dumpy.

The characters are also meh. Not one of them is that greatly developed, the majority of which seem a bit like copies of characters in other works, such as Harry Potter (Wily) or Guardians of the Galaxy (everyone else). The plot was pretty predictable and the way the rag tag group of misfits got out of trouble was seemingly all too easy on almost every occasion.

While usually one of my favorite parts of a fantasy is the made up terminology and slag words, in this case it was a huge deterrent. Everything that could be considered world building felt messy and like one giant info dump that was boring. Every time a new word was used, there would immediately be a paragraph explaining to what type of creature it belonged and what it meant, when half the time it was easy enough to guess what it meant. It kind of felt like the author wasn’t giving the reader a change to figure things out for themselves, which is ironic in a book that’s supposed to be about traps and puzzles.

Overall, I’m sure this will appeal to a lot of younger middle school aged children, but for me it was just okay. I liked the sense of adventure, but I wish the puzzle aspects would have been more prominent. ( )