Nintendo Heroes 2 – Link and the Portal of Doom

Tracey West's Link and the Portal of Doom is a quest story for 7 year olds starring Link from the Nintendo games, on the trail of a song that can save Hyrule.

What happens

It starts small. A farmer near Kakariko Village has lost all his cuccos (the silly chickens of Hyrule). Link goes to help, with Navi, the tiny fairy who guides him, and soon spot a cucco zooming through the trees far faster than any cucco can fly.

Something is pulling it. There's a swirling dark vortex in an old stone wall, sucking in anything that comes near. Link very nearly goes in after the chicken!

A wise old owl reads the ancient writing carved under it. The portal leads to a world of danger and terror, and it will only close when the right song is played. Beside the words is a map of Hyrule marked with five musical notes.

So Link sets off to find all five parts of the tune. Each one is hiding somewhere different. There's a fairy fountain, a tree full of birds in the Lost Woods, a Goron banging out music on crystals, and more.

Of course nothing is that simple. Skeleton hands burst out of the ground at night. There's a giant spider with a skull on its back, fire bats in a cavern and a lizard warrior with a sword. Link gets knocked out, burnt and cut, and has to keep going anyway.

For a young fan of the games, this is pure joy. The Deku Shield, the Fairy Ocarina, bombs, rupees and Princess Zelda are all there. Link even haggles over a shiny new shield in the market (seventy rupees, if you're wondering). It reads a bit like watching someone play, one level at a time, with a new place and usually a new monster in each chapter.

It's also a very easy book to follow if they've never picked up a controller. Everything is explained as it comes, and the quest keeps it moving.

The fights are quick and a little scary. Link gets hurt more than once, and there's a moment when he thinks he's failed the princess. If your reader is fine with some sword fights and creepy crawlies, they'll be gripped.

It's a complete adventure in one book, so no need to have read the others.

What to read next

If they like a hero from a favourite game, try Mario and the Incredible Rescue next, from the same writer. Toad comes running with terrible news. Ghosts have carried Princess Peach off to Bowser's Keep.