The legends of the medieval knights are alive and well in this hilarious, action-packed modern rendition of the scared order of the Knights of the Round Table and the mysterious and all powerful abilities of Excalibur, the sword of kings. Author Rick Yancey does an excellent job in portraying the knights in modern times, which ride cars like Ferrari’s and Jaguar’s, and are elegant and noble as ever.

The story follows Alfred Kropp, an ordinary teen coping with the loss of his mother from cancer and the disappearance of his father, living with his Uncle Farrell. Kropp struggles with being too average and boring, and not to mention big. While Alfred joins the high school football team, success is short lived, as his memory loss prevents him from remembering plays, leading to the team’s failure. Uncle Farrell soon becomes drawn to a risky get-rich-quickly scheme from a wealthy business owner which could secure the duo financially forever.
The two end up stealing the legendary Sword of Kings, Excalibur, the most powerful weapon wielded by man. The wealthy business man is revealed to be Mogart, an ex-medieval knight wanting to overthrow society, and betrays Alfred and Farrell, murdering Farrell in the process. The owner of the Excalibur is revealed to be Samson, the heir of Lancelot, who sets out to stop Mogart, but fails in the process. Alfred then sets out on an extraordinary journey to retrieve the sword, learn of its mysterious, and learn about who is he is in the process.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp does an excellent job in incorporating an ancient concept into modern times. There aren’t horses in this book. Rather, there are Ferrari’s, Jaguar’s, and Suzuki motorcycles. Without spoiling plot details, the reader will be brought into a book filled with action styled sequences, full of James Bond-like styles of combat and action movie fights. At 300 plus pages, this isn’t a hard read and the language is easy as well.

This is where this novel goes wrong however. The story isn’t hard to follow, and the general concept is good, but it’s lacking in the “wow” department, as some characters come off as boring and without expression, such as the main character Alfred Kropp. Yancey’s writing comes off as stale sometimes. The reader occasionally comes into scenes when characters exchange short conversations, and then the chapter ends. The reader sometimes expects more from the book, when it doesn’t deliver.

To the casual reader, The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp is a great book, filled with small cracks of humor, and a nice story, filled with action packed styled writing. But to the reader wanting an in-depth story will diverse characters may disappointed.