Tigerheart

Peter David is an excellent writer, very skilled at taking existing characters and breathing new life into them.  He started with comics (Spider-Man) and moved on to the Hulk, Aquaman, and Supergirl.  Everywhere he went, the title, once lagging in sales, blew through the roof.  He had a great novel series (well, at least two out of three) on King Arthur.  

His newest novel is Tigerheart, a tribute/continuation of Peter Pan.  Since the Peter Pan franchise is closely copyright guarded, he doesn't actually use the names.  Instead of Peter Pan, you have The Boy.  Instead of Wendy, you have Gwenny (which in real life is the name of the author's daughter).  Instead of Captain Hook, you the notorious Captain Hack (who has a hatchet for a hand).  They don't live in Neverland, but instead Anyplace.

To avoid the over cheesiness of ripping off another author , he pays tribute to Peter Pan's author by offering him thanks.  Although it is difficult to get used to. 

This is not a book written for kids, but rather for adults lamenting the loss of their childhood.  It is not unsuitable for children (I'm reading it to my 9 year old now and he likes it much better than I do).  To me, though, this is not Peter David's best work (my son, reading over my shoulder disagrees, but since he has never read any of David's other works, don't take his advice).  But the reason I thought it worth mentioning here is the mythology connection.  Peter David has always shown a penchant for mythology in his writings (both comic and prose).  In this book, he explains why Peter Pan has such a mischievous nature by having Peter claim to be the grand nephew of Loki, the Norse trickster/shape shifting god of trouble.  I think it is a good fit.  It explains the happy-go-lucky, selfish nature of Pan.

Got extra time and nothing to read?  Pick this up at your local library.  It is a good reminder of an old story.  I give it 2.5 lightning bolts out of 5.  I would love to hear from anyone who read the book and see if they agree.