The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This story (which according to Goodreads is the first in a series) is about an ordinary boy who has accepted his ordinary-ness, but is actually a hero waiting to, I don't know, burst out of his awkward shell. As with most archetypal heroes, Alfred grows up away from his parents; his mother died before he was a teenager and he never knew his father. He lives with his uncle at the beginning of the story, an uncle who's opportunistic nature is what sends Alfred on his journey.

I usually love stories that follow the archetype of the hero journey, and I usually love Arthurian legend, but this updating of Arthur's story didn't really draw me in. I'm still trying to figure out what it was that didn't make me jump up and down and go yay! like I do with most Arthurian stories. I'd prefer The Squire's Tale or Here Lies Arthur, or my favorite, The Mists of Avalon any day.

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