The Merchant of Death

Author:  D.J. MacHale

Series: Pendragon, Book 1

Year:  2002

Publisher:  Brilliance Audio

Narrator:  William Dufris

Goodreads Summary:

Bobby Pendragon is a seemingly normal 14-year-old boy. He has a family, a home, and even Marley, his beloved dog. But there is something very special about Bobby: he is going to save the world.

And not just Earth as we know it. Bobby is slowly starting to realize that life in the cosmos isn't quite what he thought it was. And before he can object, he is swept off to an alternate dimension known as Denduron, a territory inhabited by strange beings, ruled by a magical tyrant, and plagued by dangerous revolution.

I've had this book and audiobook for ages (we're talking nearly a decade) and just haven't got to them. I was impressed with the amount of world-building and imagination that this first book has. It was loads of fun and a real roller coaster ride. One MacHale started things rolling, the action never stopped. At times, it felt like the narrator was out of breath he was talking so fast. Although I enjoyed the story a lot, I think I would have liked it more when I first bought the books a decade ago. As a matter of fact, I would have loved them as a teenager.