4 stars: Fun to think ideas are harvested in an alternative world.
I wanted to read this book because the description of ideas being harvested and sent out into the world seems unique. Also, I like fantasy adventures and read books for all ages, including ones like this that are written for children. It has traditional fantasy beings like dwarves, elves, and trolls.
I am very selective in giving out 5-star reviews, so almost no books get them. Good books tend to get either 3 or 4 stars from me. This book was about 3 1/2 stars to me, partly because of the novelty of literally mining for ideas. As a child, I probably would have reread it, since I liked adventures, and I might have given it 4 stars, then. I would have wanted to read the rest in the series. So, I am rounding up to 4 stars.
The boys, Joey and Ben, are from our world in 1750. They soon travel to the alternate world where ideas are harvested because their help is needed. I enjoyed the mined ideas coming in sizes from “squirts” to “gushers”. I liked the variety of characters, but although I rooted for them to succeed, I did not strongly connect to any of them. It was fun when the boys perceived tidbits of ideas that didn’t make sense to them because they would be arriving after the boys’ time.
One thing that occasionally frustrated me was the use of the word “said”. Sometimes, I expected it would have been “called out” or “warned” or “muttered”, so when I reached “said” in the sentence, I wondered if it was heard by everyone who needed to hear it or whether it was heard by the person about whom it was made. This certainly isn’t a big issue, but when it makes you pause to wonder, it is a minor issue.
—Linda, Goodreads reviewer