Hero, Second Class: The Hero Complex Book 1

by: Mitchell Bonds

Published by: Marcher Lord Press

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

Hero, Second Class is one of the first novels released by Marcher Lord Press, the Christian publishing house. It is penned by Mitchell Bonds. If the idea of reading Christian fiction puts you off, relax. Hero, Second Class is a romp through the fantasy world in the tradition of Terry Pratchet. The discussion of faith takes second place to the story itself. Here is a book that has heroes who narrate their battles as they fight, villains who belong to a Brotherhood who monitor the dastardly deeds of their members.

Cyrus has always wanted to be a hero just like his father. He gets his chance and is apprenticed to the Crimson Slash, also know as Reg. As Cyrus is learning the ropes he meets a dragon and brother and sister Katheni, who are cat people. He gets involved in the battle against an arch-villain that has a grudge against his mentor and a determination to rule the world. (He is after all, a villain.) As it become clear that Voshtyr Demonkin is no ordinary arch-villain, there are also hints that Cyrus may not be an ordinary hero.

The humor in Bonds’ writing had me laughing out loud. He manages to poke fun at every convention of adventure writing. Between monologuing villains, narrating heroes, Capital Letters and Arbitrary Numbers, he tells a story of a young man who is coming to grips with a world that is a lot more complicated than he had thought. Many of the characters are deliberate caricatures, but they have enough extra foibles to make them real. The real story that takes place between the lines of the epic battle between good and evil is touching and true to life.

Hero, Second Class is a first-class book, and I will be waiting eagerly for the next installment of mayhem.

Armchair Interviews agrees–good job Mitchell Bonds (who is only 20).

Author’s Web site: http://www.MitchellBonds.com