Have Sword, Will Travel

Have Sword, Will Travel is about a boy and girl who go on an adventure to find out what is drying up the river near their town. Did I mention there are talking swords, dragons, and that the boy, Odo, doesn’t want to be a knight, but the girl, Eleanor, does?

There are attempts at humor, like when Odo is being dragged around by a sword with a mind of it’s own, but I never cracked even a smile. One of the main reasons this book didn’t appeal to me is that I didn’t connect with either of the characters. Eleanor is a strong female character, but she didn’t seem to care as much about her friend as about adventure, so she seemed mean. Odo came off as a wimp, and his sword, Bitzer, was obnoxious.

It has a couple of surprises, but they didn’t seem all that possible, especially if the book is supposed to take place in the Middle Ages. I think it will appeal more to girls because Eleanor is brave and another powerful character is also female, but I just didn’t like either of them much, so it was hard for me to get into the book when there are so many other good things to read!