50books_poc | #4, The Legend of Tarik, Walter Dean Myers

I found The Legend of Tarik at a used bookstore less than a week after

rachelmanija recommended it here. I think I'm the fourth person on this community to read it now-- not bad for an out-of-print book! The other reviews have covered the content and style well, so I won't elaborate too much; it's a quest, Tarik is the hero, and there's loss and violence and the promise of a better future.

The fun thing is that when I brought the book home, my husband went, "Hey, I remember that book! I loved that book!" He's now re-reading it with great enthusiasm. The style actually reminded me a lot of David Gemmell's, in the scope and voice, though it's much shorter than a Gemmell book...which is fine by me.

The biographical notes indicate that Tarik the Legend was one of Myers' early books, which makes me wonder if he would have gone more in a fantasy direction if sales had been better.