Race to the End of the World

By A.L. Tait

Quinn’s older brothers may long for adventure, but he is content with his quiet life on the farm. Destiny, however, has other plans.

The king is determined to create the first map of the world and has scoured the kingdom for boys who could become mapmakers. When Quinn is chosen for the king’s training school, he’s amazed – but that is nothing compared to his shock when he is selected as one of the three mapmakers and finds himself on board a ship, competing for the big prize.

So begins Quinn’s reluctant journey deep into the unknown, with only his photographic memory and skills learned on the farm to help him. He’s on a ship captained by a slave, with a stowaway girl on board – and a mysterious sea monster that seems to be following them. Hot on their trail are the other competitors for the king’s prize, who will stop at nothing to win.

My Thoughts: Finally, we get to leave the overdone medieval fantasy setting of armies and castles and embark into the ocean! The author takes us to foreign lands where our dear Quinn must fight to survive against his rivals and race time. I’ve never read an adventure quite like Race to the End of the World.

The themes connected to me so much. The line that stuck with me the most was, “You cannot change what others do. You can only change how you react to those things.” And I thought, “That’s so true!” The story leaned heavily on luck, but it wasn’t enough to stop me from giving Race to the End of the World 4 stars. 

As I said before, I loved the theme of controlling one’s actions. I would like to add that as a Christian, I believe it takes God to change our hearts to not only be able to control our actions, but also to forgive. I wish Quinn had forgen his rivals instead of smiling at their misfortunes at the end. It’s not about what we can muster, it’s about what God changes in us to forgive even when they don’t deserve it.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★(Story: 5/5)

★ ★ ★ ★(Worldview: 4/5)