The Viking Symbol Mystery (Hardy Boys, Book 42) Review
This book is the kind that you want to read again and again. It is about Frank and Joe who take a trip to Canada on a case because someone robbed a man of a valuable stone left by the Vikings. Carabou, a french canadian trapper was robbed of 1000.00 in cash from the sale of the stone. Will Frank and Joe find it?
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Customer Reviews
The Viking Symbol Mystery – PAL – Ridgefield, WA United States
I love all Hardy Boys Books, they are filled with lots of adventure and are very fun to read.
Viking Runes Lead to Treasure! – Lonnie E. Holder – Columbus, Indiana, United States
The front teaser to this book promises that this story will be one that thrills Franklin W. Dixon’s legion of fans. This sentence has a couple of problems. First, Franklin W. Dixon never existed. Second, this story is far from thrilling. Indeed, this story is one of the slowest moving of the Hardy Boys series.
Frank and Joe Hardy and their friends Chet Morton, Tony Prito and Biff Hooper join Frank and Joe’s famous father Fenton Hardy and his associate Sam Radley in searching for criminals around the Great Slave Lake in Canada. Mysteries abound as the friends try to learn who is robbing cabins around the lake and who has stolen a Viking rune stone that may prove that Vikings visited western Canada centuries ago, but may also be a clue to a fabulous treasure.
Unfortunately, this story seems to plod, though I am unable to point to any one reason why. I was unable to become concerned with the plight of the Hardys at any point in the novel. I think part of the reason is that the boys, their friends and their father seemed to escape from danger so readily and easily. Thus, I found it difficult to sustain any concern for any them. If the boys would have appeared to be in perilous danger and it was more difficult for them to escape, I might have more involved in the story. Instead, each time the Hardys or their friends got into any trouble, they easily got back out of trouble. I found myself wondering how quickly I could finish the book instead of being thrilled.
This story is one of the weaker stories of the first 59 books. Fans of the series will want this book to complete their collection. However, new fans should start at the beginning of the series to get a better impression of the series.
The publisher recommends the Hardy Boys series for ages 8 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. This particular book is a very good fit for the new age range. Though the Hardy Boys series contains archaic information, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are fine. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.
Hesitant Two Rating – Scott Thiel – Ontario, Canada
This book I rate a 1.6 in a sense. It was ok and worth reading, but was not all that wonderful. My biggest critique of this volume was simply this – and pardon me – but “American ignorance” And any Canadian will know what I’m talking about. First of all, before something goes to print – get your facts together and make sure its accurate. I see this with Scooby Doo, The Hardy Boys and other works of jeuvenille fiction. Americans think there are no English people in Canada!. The brothers travel to the Prairie provinces in Canada in this volume and meet up with who? PIERRE! A Frenchman. Everytime Americans come to Canada they run into French police officers, French fur traders, French lumberjacks etc. French people historically settled in Quebec, New Brunswick and to a lesser degree Nova Scotia – NOT the Prairies – which was settled by people of Ukranian ancestry. My problem with this volume is simply a lack of knowledge on behalf of the Syndicate. The book itself otherwise is medicore. RATED C-
Average – –
Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff go to northern Canada to locate an ancient Viking rune stone that was recently stolen from the man who found it. This is an average book, so there is not much to say about it really. The plot isn’t bad and there is a moderate amount of action. Most fans will probably not be overly excited about this book, but it shouldn’t bore them either.
Yanisa