Continuing with my impromptu Young Adults reading week, I offer you Tom, by Dave Freer. While not sold exclusively as young adult, and certainly eminently readable by all ages, Tom is going to be appealing to teen boys (and girls who don't want a romance as the central plot all the time).
I've been a fan of Freer's humor since the first book of his I read, Rats, Bats, and Vats. At the time it reminded me strongly of my father's sense of humor. With Tom, I was struck by something else. Since the loss of the great Sir Pterry last year, humorous satiric fantasy seemed to be gone... but Dave Freer has ably stepped into some very big boots. I doubt this is what he was trying to do, but the humor, the gentle poking at not only fantasy tropes, but society at large, it all fits beautifully. Tom will hit the right note with any fan of Pratchett, and I am hoping there is more like it coming soon.
The book centers around a young, starving feral tomcat who is lured by fish into becoming a famulus of a magician. Lower than an apprentice, he first has to cope with learning to walk on two legs, his only consolation that he hasn't lost his tail. Cooking and cleaning come first, but finally he begins to learn some magic on the sly. Adventures surrounding this, and the politics of the kingdom. ensue. A lost Princess (or is she lost?), the Wickedest Witch (a redhead, natch), and the everpresent Raven all add to the cast and antics. Nothing is quite as it seems, and I assure you, sound out some of the 'spells' for extra chortles as you read.
Through all of this, Tom keeps his special cat-ness, and it's this that ultimately makes him good (for values of good!) at magic. Tom is a quick read, mostly because you won't be able to put it down. Pacing is excellent, taking us from event to event without lagging, which may surprise you when some of the action centers around how to clean a magician's tower (when the tower is magic and keeps changing shape, that does add a layer of challenge). The climax is well foreshadowed, in that I knew more-or-less what was happening but there were still surprises. It's a delightful read, as I said, for young and old. I'm going to be handing it to my son when the paper edition comes out. The First Reader says it was quite good, it wasn't literature (which he says like a bad word) it was a pleasant light read.
The end leaves room for a sequel while wrapping up the main threads of the story nicely. Dave is a master craftsman when it comes to storytelling, and Tom really shows that off.