Best friends Eleanor and Odo live in a small village near a river that has recently run almost dry. Eleanor, who longs to be a knight like her late mother, is dismayed when it’s Odo who finds a magical sword in the muck of the riverbed. The sword, which announces itself as “Hildebrand Shining Foebiter and Scourge of … something or other,” doesn’t fully remember how it ended up there, or much about its past for that matter, but it does know its purpose. Since Odo awakened it when he accidentally dripped blood on the steel, the sword promptly knights Odo, while Eleanor must settle for being a squire. Odo, a cautious homebody, is a reluctant adventurer while Eleanor longs for heroics and eagerly sets out with Odo and Hildebrande to determine what’s blocking the river up in the mountains. They suspect it’s the great dragon, Quenwulf, which means a likely battle in order for the waters to flow freely again. An adventure full of action and humor, intrigue, and silliness features three engaging main characters (not the least of which is the sword) on a life- changing (sword-changing?) journey for them all. (Ages 8-11)

In this “fast-paced, tongue-in-cheek adventure” from New York Times–bestselling authors, best friends journey with a magical sword to save their kingdom (Publishers Weekly).

It is strange enough that Odo and Eleanor have stumbled upon a sword in a dried-up river outside their village. It is even stranger that Odo is able to remove it from where it’s buried. And it’s remarkably strange when the sword starts to talk. Odo and Eleanor have unearthed Biter, a famous fighter from earlier times. By finding Biter, Odo instantly becomes a knight—a role he is exquisitely unsuited for. Eleanor, however, would make a perfect knight—but she’s not the one with the sword. Finding Biter is only the start—boy, girl, and sword must soon go on a quest to save their kingdom from threats in both human and dragon form, in this new fantasy triumph from Garth Nix and Sean Williams.