The Illyrian Adventure

UGH. The story is fluffy, but not terrible; the characters, however, are unbearable. Vesper is an utter spoiled brat, and by the time they met with the King (the first time) I was rooting for someone - anyone - to tell her no and make it stick. Unfortunately she has the author on her side, so when she decides to do something rash or just plain stupid, or makes some mental leap to a solution, she's always right. Arrgh! The device of almost never having the narrator actually speak was rather annoying - he explains what he said, but I think he has one actual quoted line in the entire book (in which he sounds like the idiot he is). He's trying to be the adult, but (see above) his choices are always the wrong ones (and Vesper's the right show more ones). He also regularly misjudges people; anyone he thinks is a good guy is going to be a bad one, and vice versa. That's lampshaded once, but I was already too annoyed to be amused. The rest of the characters are bare sketches - Vesper and Brinnie aren't much deeper, but a little. I read the whole thing, and I won't read any more in this series. Unlike most of Alexander's stuff, there's not enough story to draw me through the annoyance of the characters. show less

A short, quick teen adventure from Alexander. Fun, but light, and not as good as the other book I've read from Alexander recently (The Rope Trick). "Illyria" is an old name for the area that now includes Croatia, where I was this spring (and which I'm still editing/uploading my photos from!), but I have to say i didn't get a very specific sense of place from the book. It's more of a fantasy-feeling country, although it's a historical adventure, not a fantasy one. Set in the 19th century, it has to do with a ridiculously self-sufficient and resourceful orphan, Vesper Holly (female and redheaded of course, I think Alexander's got a thing for them). Her new 'guardian', an elderly man who was a friend of her late father's, is quite show more overwhelmed by her, and is helpless in the wake of Vesper's headstrong notions, which involve running off to Illyria to investigate a theory of her father's, and result in both getting caught up in a political struggle between rebels and a clueless king. The interactions between Vesper and her guardian are quite funny, but the political situation is rather grotesquely simplified (and too easily fixed), considering the actual history of the region. Enjoyable, but I'm not rushing out to get the rest of this series. show less

A young heiress, Vesper Holly, takes her guardian, Brinnie, on an archaeological expedition in the hopes of validating her late father's last theses.

A very straight-laced book. Very staid and proper. The twists in the plot aren't all that twisty and nothing really surprising happens. Not much humor outside of a little self-deprecating humor at the narrator's (Brinnie's) expense. I think time hasn't done much for this book - some of the attitudes appear to be a little stereo-typed from a racial and gender perspective - although at the time, it may have been Alexander's intention to break some of the gender stereotypes by having the female lead character be a heroine in all senses of the word.

It's 1872, and adventurous Vesper Holly and her guardian set out for the tiny country of Illyria, on a quest for its legendary treasure. But once Vesper and Brinnie arrive, they are plunged into a fierce struggle between rebel forces— and someone is out to kill the two of them! If anyone can triumph over those kind of odds, it's Vesper — one of Lloyd Alexander's most intrepid (and best-selling) heroines.

Vesper Holly drags the ever-patient Brinnie to a fictional Eastern European nation during the late 1800s to find out the truth about an ancient myth that her father was investigating before he died. She brokers a peace agreement between warring ethnic tribes, outwits her arch-nemesis and recovers priceless artifacts. All in a day's work for Vesper Holly.

The premise here is a bit weak, but a nicely-told adventure story. Brinnie still annoys me, but provides a striking contrast to reckless Vesper. Probably not the best option for empowered young heroines these days, but one of the few I remember from back in my youth.

Vesper and her guardian Brinnie travel to the Eastern European country of Illyria in 1872 to continue her father's archaeological dig. However, the Illyrians are on the brink of revolution against their Zentan overlords, and someone tries to stab Vesper the day she arrives in Illyria.

This is the first swashbuckling adventure story by Lloyd Alexander featuring the intrepid Vesper and clueless Brinnie.

Lloyd Alexander is an author I have always enjoyed. This is one of his lesser known books and while it is not my favorite of his it is still quite good. His writing style is such that it definitely stands up to the test of time.