Beast Quest 13 – Torgor the Minotaur

Adam Blade's Torgor the Minotaur is a Beast Quest adventure for 7 year olds in which Tom steps through a magic gate into the evil wizard's own kingdom.

What happens

Tom and his friend Elenna have been fighting Beasts for a while now, with Storm the horse and Silver the wolf at their side. This book is the start of a brand new quest. The good wizard Aduro tells them that Malvel has six more evil Beasts hidden in Gorgonia.

Gorgonia is a horrible place (in the best way). The sky is red, the moon is purple and the marsh smells disgusting. The trees reach down and grab at you. And the villagers take one sniff of Tom and Elenna and chase them out of the market!

Tom has just lost his golden armour too, which feels very unfair. He's had to hand back the powers it gave him. Or has he? There's a nice moment when he realises he can still see for miles without the helmet.

Then Tagus, a good horse-man Beast they know, comes charging through the gate after them. Something is dragging him deeper into Gorgonia. They find him with his leg caught in a cruel trap, chained to a tree. The trap has one word scratched on it. Torgor.

Torgor is a minotaur taller than the trees, with a golden axe and twisted horns. The battle is big and loud and full of close calls. Tom has to think his way through it, not just swing a sword.

These books are brilliant for getting a young reader through a whole book on their own. There are only ten short chapters, and most of them end with a push to read the next.

Worth knowing before you hand it over

The prologue is quite dark. A boy hiding in the forest points the minotaur towards two rebels to save himself, and he knows he's sent them to their deaths. We don't see what happens to them. There's also more blood than usual, from Tagus's trapped leg and Tom's cut hands.

If your reader likes a proper monster with a bit of an edge, they'll lap it up. If they're a worrier, you might read the prologue together.

What to read next

As it's well into Tom's adventures, a new reader might like to start at the beginning. That's Ferno the Fire Dragon, where Tom is still a blacksmith's boy practising sword moves on a sack of hay.