This ARC was a family effort. The 8yo was very excited to continue this series. The story keeps his attention enough that he read the review copy twice before the release date when we ordered a physical copy of the book.

This series got my son into wanting to read every day. He loves playing Minecraft and the similarities between the actual game and the books keep him hooked. He was very excited to hear that a new book was finally coming out. The book starts where the previous book left off but also gives summaries of the previous six books in case you forgot what happened in them. The story itself was entertaining and I must say this book has definitely improved on the illustrations compared to the earlier books. It was a bit different but we both liked the art more in this book compared to previous books. Overall I thought this was a good addition to the series.

My son loved a new installment in his favorite series. He said it picked up well from well it had left off previously. He also thought the illustrations were really well done.

Amazing exposition and world building book. Slightly underwhelming compared to the other books. I loved the development of Emerald. Not many things happened in this book however. I thought Lola was not even there. Also few plot-holes with Pebble. I also liked the Kolbert redesign, but didn't like Stump and Elric's redesign.

It was very good and pretty interesting, but in my opinion 200 pages is not a lot after almost six years of waiting, otherwise it was pretty good.

ARC Copy...Well Minecraft fans alike will be happy to know it will another fun adventure with the crew and I must say the art-illustrations has vastly improved or at least it has gotten a lot more colourful and extensive.

Runt seems like he knows everything that he could possibly need in order to vanquish illagers, villagers, and pillagers, but it's not enough! Along with Emerald, Ophelia, Stump, and Max he's heading off to the magical academy, where students receive training before they head off to save the kingdom, after meeting with the king and being assigned a job. The trip to the school is a long one, but luckily the group's bedrolls have a warming spell on them for when they are camping under the stars. There's a nice map of the kingdom, and the group finally arrives at Dawnsbloom, which is a good thing, because they run out of food. Eventually, they get to Dawnsbloom, which is very different from their village. At the school, Runt meets with an advisor who tells him he only has an MP of 3, but has some good skills. She also gives him some coins for the quest that he went on, which is a huge improvement from when he was a noob and had a single carrot. The dorm has a questboard, and Runt is super excited to be able to go on fairly safe quests in order to gain training, but he can't go quite yet. In true boarding school fashion, there is even a human who is very mean to him, Bayard. Runt often struggles to stay awake in class or answer questions, and gets very tired of always being with Emerald, especially when Stump and Breeze are away. When things start to go wrong in the kingdom, Runt learns about the evil wizard Herobrine, or the Eyeless One, who is causing destruction. He and Emerald learn that Otherworlders can be effective against him, and go in search of Mike and Steve, who are from Earth. They find Mike, but Steve has gone missing from the ruins under the city, most likely teleported far past the void by demons. Not only that, but Herobrine has a very evil plan involving monsters and experience points. Runt isn't able to solve that problem, but meets Elodi, the daughter of the King, and continues on with his education. It looks like his time at Greater Aetheria Academy isn't over yet, and I hope that we will see more adventures.
Strengths: My readers who want Minecraft books usually want stories that read like playing the game. Given how much food is discussed, and how many times Runt and his friends talk about different skill levels or items they have to acquire, I'm going to guess that this will fill the bill. It is fun that Runt gets out of the village and learns information about the world around him. The school is very ornate, and has all of the elements that magical academies usually have, so fans of that type of story will appreciate the Greater Aetheria Academy. The art seems a bit different from the other books, and this is another full color, heavily illustrated novel with Geronimo Stilton type font that is larger when words and phrases are emphasized.
Weaknesses: Runt still hasn't learned to think things through, so is goaded into doing silly things by Bayard the Bully. As much as he would like to be able to pick from the Questboard and increase him MP level, he doesn't seem to concentrate very well and use more discretion in his actions. I guess this makes him the quintessential middle schooler!
What I really think: I was sorry to hear that Cube Kid had experienced writer's block, but am glad to see him back. While these books are not my personal favorite (since I've never played Minecraft), my students enjoy them, and I'd rather have them reading the books than playing video games. They'll be glad to hear about this new volume. I always buy these in prebind, because they get a lot of use.

This was a fun book for my nephew and I to read together! He's beginning to read bigger books but the illustrations and description cards throughout the book kept his attention and helped immerse us in the story.

We loved that the story began with a recap of what happened during the first six books since we hadn't read all the books before. It was a perfect way to start the story, so we could dive in without being lost. The layout of the book was whimsical and felt like a witty diary as we followed along with Runt and his friends.

My kids absolutely loved this series and were so excited for a chance to be able to read another in the series! My 10 year old son flew through it in a day and my 8 year old daughter took her time and finished within a week. For kids who struggle to want to get off video games this is a great way to encourage them to spend some extra time reading. It also gives them ideas of scenarios to try and create/play out in game. Win win for everyone!

Review from my 9yo son:

Amazing. I love this series and have read all the books over and over. I really liked the story-line and can't wait for the next book. This series has a lot of plot twists, and I'm always excited about getting the next one.

Review from 12yo daughter:

This book is absolutely amazing. I'm very excited about the books to come in this series. I found the plot really exciting. The art in this book is very pretty in comparison to the last six volumes, and the story was definitely funnier to me.