Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want to Save the World facts for kids

Blart: The Boy Who Didn't Want To Save The World is a fictional comedy novel by Dominic Barker. It was published in 2006, by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in Great Britain. It tells the tale of Blart, a young boy on a pig farm, who refuses to save the world. The book is largely a light-hearted parody of the fantasy genre. However, the plot and humour both become darker as the book progresses. It won the 2007 Stockton Children's Book of the Year Award.

Plot summary

Blart is a young and quite unattractive boy, who lives on a small pig farm with his grandfather. All he cares about is himself and pigs. One day, Capablanca, a very proud and powerful wizard, arrives on Blart's grandfather's doorstep. He tells Blart that he is destined to save the world, by destroying the great Zoltab. Still, selfishly, Blart refuses. But, by force, Blart is swept up from his home and sent on a perilous quest around the land, fighting the forces of evil. He meets many strange characters, some even stranger than him! And it all leads up to one final confrontation with the evil Zoltab and his most powerful minions...

Characters

Main characters

• Capablanca : A powerful wizard, who lets no one else forget it with his constant bragging, Capablanca is the one who finds and forcibly takes Blart on his quest. His eyes shine crystal-blue when he uses his magic. He has little patience for Blart, but many threats to turn him into things seem to set him right!
• Beowulf : Beowulf accompanies Blart and Capablanca on their quest. He wields a large sword, and is constantly trying to prove himself worthy of knighthood by saving damsels in distress and other activities which pretty much ends him up in trouble, killing Princess Lois' pet dragon being one of them. He constantly tells Blart he will cleave him into two (sometimes extending to the others). Unfortunately for the others, singing is both his hobby and greatest failure. He is ignorant and tends to sulk a lot, but he is a great warrior and a great benefit to Blart's quest.
• Pig the Horse : The unfortunately named Pig is a flying horse. The party captured the horse, and Capablanca rode the horse off a cliff to force it to learn to fly, nearly getting the party "splattered on rocks" to aid the company on their quest. Unfortunately, Blart is given the honour of naming it...
• Princess Lois : The loud and obnoxious princess of Illyria out matches Blart in rudeness. She has flaming red hair and is rather aggressive by nature. One of her favourite actions happens to be slamming doors, and she is adamant about never marrying. Her only friends are the dragons of Illyria, one of which Beowulf unfortunately kills. She joins the company to see the world. Blart shows feelings towards her, her rudeness channelling this.
• Tungsten' : A dwarf warrior from beneath the ground, Tungsten also becomes a member of the company. A brave warrior wielding a mallet, his only wish is for iron to become the most valuable metal of all. Then, his tribe would rule the silver and gold mines as well. He is the Ambassador of the Iron Mines.
• Zoltab : One of the seven lords of the earth, he betrayed the others to take over the world. He was eventually locked away in the Great Tunnel of Despair after his eventual defeat, but the cult of Zoltab plot to free the evil lord. Being yet another unwelcome suitor for Princess Lois, having children was supposedly to extend the Zoltab bloodline. However, he fails both conquer of the world and marriage when he gets splattered with the blood of Blart's brother.
• Famine, Disease, Pestilence and Death : These four warriors are The Four Horsemen of Zoltab. Each spreads the effects of its name across the lands. They all wield separate weapons, each horrible in their own way. Famine is described as tall and gaunt with skin stretched tautly over his bones, showing his unquestionable lack of nutrition, and wields a spear. Disease is covered in sores and boils with yellow pus flowing from scabs on his face. Black bile also flows from his nose, and carries a mace. Pestilence is surrounded by a swarm of wasps and mosquitoes, each with their own poisonous stings, and is armed with a trident and a net. Death, the most deadly and powerful is naught but a skeleton on a horse and grins evilly while wielding a great sword. Apparently, touching Death's sword and bone results in instant death.
• The Master : The Master is Zoltab's number two. Both he and Zoltab are almost equally powerful and strike fear into people's hearts. The Master hides a terrible secret...

Sequels

A sequel entitled Blart II: The Boy Who was Wanted Dead or Alive - Or Both was released in the United States and the UK in 2007, and a third volume entitled Blart III: The Boy Who Set Sail on a Questionable Quest was published in 2008.