[Book Review] Trillion The Three-Headed Lion (Beast Quest, #12) by Adam Blade

The quest is almost over. But the most terrifying of Malvel's evil Beasts still stands between Tom and victory.

Tom must defeat Trillion of the Three-Headed Lion and collect the final pieces of the magical golden armor to save Aduro and the kingdom. But the task will not be easy. The evil wizard Malvel is determined for the boy to fail, and has a special plan in mind...

I'm so excited, guys! I mean, I probably shouldn't be--this book was far from great, after all--but holy shit, Beast Quest finally broke formula!

It's absolutely mind-blowing. For eleven books--damn near two entire series--every story's followed the same pattern: Beast attacks people somewhere in Avantia, Tom and Elenna meet the Beast's victims and/or find themselves in some less serious danger, Tom and Elenna confront the Beast, Tom defeats the Beast while Elenna plays damsel in distress, and then Tom and Elenna celebrate their victory before heading off to the next Beast.

But now for something completely moderately different! (And it involves one of the Beasts actually doing something useful!) The book opens with a Tagus fighting Trillion, and our protagonists continue this battle throughout the rest of the plot. I really shouldn't be so absolutely amazed by such a small change... but after eleven extremely formulaic, repetitive books, I am so pleased to see anything new.

And, even more amazingly, it didn't fizzle out at the end. Instead of the short-lived Happily Ever After that Beast Quest (the first six book series, that is) delivered, the ending of The Golden Armor expands the series' universe and sets up the plot of The Dark Realm. It's like it actually plans on taking the story somewhere new! Be still, my heart. It's a genuinely intriguing ending that breaks formula and implies that the next series might be more than just another "gotta catch kill 'em all" story; I have hope again. At this point, I didn't think that was possible.

I am seriously crossing my fingers for The Dark Realm. Please don't let me down.