Bookworm Speaks! - Wyrmeweald: Returner's Wealth

Bookworm Speaks!

Wyrmeweald: Returner’s Wealth

by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

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Acquired: Amazon.com

Series: The Wyrmeweald Trilogy (Book 1)

Hardcover: 374 pages

Publisher: Open Road Media Teen & Tween; Reprint edition (September 3, 2013)

Language: English

Subject: Fantasy

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The Story: The wyrmeweald is a hostile place, an arid wasteland where man is both hunter and hunted, and where the dragon-like wyrmes reign supreme.

Seventeen-year-old Micah enters the wyrmeweald intent on stealing a wyrme egg to sell for a bounty. With the riches such an egg will bring—returner’s wealth—Micah can go home to a life of luxury, and win the hand of the girl he loves. But the wyrmeweald is a treacherous place, and Micah quickly finds himself in mortal danger. When a tracker named Eli rescues him, Micah is forced to prove his worth, and together he and Eli defend a rare wyrme hatchling from kith bandits intent on stealing and selling wyrme eggs.

As Micah soon discovers, this hatchling has a guardian already—the beautiful, brave, and dangerous Thrace. Micah and Thrace make the worst possible match: Micah is a would-be bandit, and Thrace is a wyrme rider-assassin, devoted protector of the wyrmeweald. Yet their chemistry is undeniable, and soon Micah and Thrace join forces to protect the rare wyrme and battle the evil forces that encroach on their native habitat. But is there anything left in the devastated wyrmeweald to be saved?

The Review: When this book started out, the text hinted that once again, the reader Bookworm thought that they were going to be taken to yet another fantasy inspired by Europe of the Middle Ages. Indeed, the opening chapters seem to lend credence to this theory. As the story progresses though, it becomes clear that this is not the case. The world that the reader is taken to seems to be more evocative of the Wild West than Medieval Europe. This immediately sets it apart from other fantasy books, particularly ones about Dragons…or Wyrmes as they are called in this world. 

Micah as a protagonist may not rock the boat right away but his innocence, heart and hidden strength immediately makes him relatable to Bookworm. The mentor aspect that Eli serves is reminiscent of Halt and Will in the Ranger’s Apprentice, although it does seem to come out of nowhere. Thankfully, aside from the sudden start, the relationship evolves in a more organic matter as the story progresses. Micah himself, grows and develops and thankfully, he does not follow the cliche of turning into a badass by the book’s ending. 

The inclusion of illustrations in this book is a definite plus for Bookworm. It may seem childish, asking for pictures to go with the story but they really do help. The images render the text a bit more grounded, believe it or not, as it gives the imagination something the build up around. Knowing what all of these strange beasts and mysterious characters look like helps spare the reader from expending more mental energy than necessary. The artwork’s distinctive style makes the text stand out and adds a certain feel that is difficult to define but definitely falls into the positive category. A sense of timelessness would be best. 

The primary audience is intended to be for Teens and Young Adults but prospective readers should take care and make sure they possess a certain maturity when broaching the grittier aspects of the story. A central theme here is that of poaching, specifically the poaching of dragons. The authors held nothing back when exposing the cruelty and waste of the practice. This is a violent book with a fair share of blood and guts. It never gets extremely gory, like something out of a slasher film but it doesn’t shy away from the fact that the Wyrmeweald is a cruel and unforgiving land. Many dark characters, both man and beast, make their home and the authors don’t shy away from showing the reader how very dark they can be. 

No book is perfect though, no matter how many rankings Bookworm may give it. The author was very skilled at building the world Bookworm is taken too but maybe Bookworm was taken in a little too deep. The authors obviously had a lot of fun building the language and slang utilized by the characters but the new words can get a little confusing at times. The inclusion of a glossary at the end would have been extremely helpful, alongside the images of the various Wyrmes that inhabit the land. Bookworm gradually became acclimated to it but it was a little confusing at the beginning. 

The most glaring flaw of the novel, however is the prologue of Micah’s journey to the wyrmeweald. It is told through a series of flashbacks, the story of Micah’s life and the tale of the “girl he loves” as mentioned in the book’s summary. In retrospect, it follows a lot of familiar tropes but they way the story is conveyed contains enough emotional depth to render it into a quite compelling tale. Unfortunately the reader is hanging. The flashbacks cease after about halfway through the text and Bookworm was left wondering about what truly compelled him to make such a hazardous quest. Bookworm wanted to know more about Micah’s lady friend and his life before coming to the land of dragons. One could make the argument, that the reader got all the information they required before getting to the main story. The reader does not truly need anymore story about Micah’s past, which admittedly is something of a sad sack, but it was told is such a compelling way that Bookworm hopes that future volumes will return to the place of Micah’s origins. 

Final Verdict: Returner’s Wealth is an engaging, original fantasy with a distinctive setting with uncomplicated but engaging characters. Truly the start of a great series and Bookworm can’t wait to see what comes next. 

Rating: Five Wyrmes out of Five

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