Sky Raiders reads a lot like a video game, and my twenty-seven year old son says video games are responsible for destroying his generation—and the one after his. So, if you agree with Computer Guru Son, you might want to skip this first book in a new series by Fablehaven author Brandon Mull. Then again, maybe a book with characters, somewhat one-dimensional characters, but still people with names and personalities, would be better than another video game. You be the judge.

The story starts off with a bang. When middle school student Cole Randolph and his friends visit a haunted house on Halloween, they’re herded into the basement to experience the spookiness. Then, someone locks the door behind them, and things get really scary. Cole manages to hide himself in a corner, but his friends are being kidnapped before his very eyes. Should he follow and try to rescue them, or stay and try to get out of the basement and get help?

The choices Cole makes lead him to a place called the Outskirts, another world, not Earth, made up of the Five Kingdoms. Will Cole be able to rescue his friends? Or will he be sold into slavery by the slave traders he meets? Can he use the magical “items” he collects along the way to bring him closer to his goal of rescuing his friends and returning to Earth? Will Cole even be able to survive in such a dangerous world as the Five Kingdoms?

Definitely video adventure game-inspired, the plot leads Cole through a series of challenges and obstacles that must be overcome for Cole to survive and perhaps make some progress toward his objectives. He makes some friends in the Outskirts and then he must decide whether to help them or leave them in order to find his Earth-friends, from whom he has become separated. I enjoyed this book well enough, but four more books in this series would be too many for me. If you or your kids enjoy video games with a backstory, adventures with magical artifacts that help the adventurer succeed, and word and logic games, this series might be a good fit. Book 2, Rogue Knight, releases on November 18, 2014.

Note: I did find an egregious English usage error (“you’re” in place of “your”) in the book which made me want to fire the copy editor. Did the publisher even hire a copy editor? Bah! Humbug!

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This book is also nominated for a Cybil Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect or determine the judging panel’s opinions.