Wren to the Rescue, along with its two sequels, was admittedly an impulse buy while I was perusing my favorite used book store (Rainy Day Paperbacks if you're curious). An entertaining little read about a young girl turned magician, Wren, and her trek through a mini-Mordor-esque landscape to save her friend from the clutches of evil.

Book Title: Wren to the Rescue
Book Author: Sherwood Smith
Book Publisher: Firebird Fantasy (Penguin)
Release Date: May 24, 2004
Retail Price: $6.99
Buy it at: Various Outlets

Wren is the FMC, following Tyron (and eventually Connor as well) through various dangers to save her kidnapped friend Tess from the evil clutches of King Andreus. The whole story starts off en media res, which is a bit disorienting for the first few pages but I adapted to and got into the writing style.

I still have trouble classifying books under "Teen," "YA," "XYZPurple," and so on. Yes, I understand it's to help readers better understand who the target reader is, which is not me at this point (at least age-wise). But this is a story I probably would have enjoyed reading back in middle or high school.

I enjoyed reading it now, but after surviving the academic world, I did have a harder time just immersing myself into the story instead of critiquing the writing style or wondering why characters act the way they did. And some of the characters actions felt questionable if I tried to dig deeper into the background of the story.

Why should all these complete strangers help out other complete strangers that are rather young to be going up against a ruler of a distant land? If you try to dive into the story for depth, you might find yourself in the shallow end of the pool.

But this plot isn't meant to be too deep to begin with. We're not reading Sophie's World or anything (that book is one of my favorites, but it gives me a headache every time I read it). The near-end conversation with the uber-powerful magic users raised the question I always tend to ask during such stories: "Why do the all-powerful magic users sit and watch as the youngins put their lives on the line for whatever quest happens to be going on at the moment?" At least they answer the question in this story, although I would have thought it a bit flippant and shallow. Then again I'm no longer a kid (at least chronologically. I may grow old, but I refuse to grow up.) and in middle school I probably wouldn't have questioned their answer.

All in all, though, this is a solid little YA fantasy, with three sequels (Although the fourth book is apparently in digital format only). Penguin has rarely disappointed me as a publisher, although I'm not too familiar with the Firebird Fantasy imprint of theirs. I'd recommend this book and series to readers who enjoy a bit of political intrigue to their hero's journey. But considering the length of the book (I finished it in a day) I have trouble justifying the $7 price tag. Especially if you get the trilogy in print format. This may be more of an eBook worthy purchase, or peruse it at your local library.

Tune in next week for a peek into the sequel, Wren's Quest. What will Wren find when she searches for answers to her own mysterious past?