Post number forty-nine is for Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi's Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles, Book Three: The Wyrm King.
Brief spoilers follow.
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This book picks up almost directly after the second book in the series. The Vargas family is heading to see a counselor, as Nick's dad and Laurie's mom are having issues. They end up deciding to separate for a while, so the boys head to a trailer in their old subdivision and the girls are at a hotel. However, on the way to the trailer they encounter a large sinkhole that has creatures crawling in it. Nick and Jules realize that this is the start of the "something worse" that the Grace twins mentioned at the end of the last book.
Those creatures are miniature dragons, which form together to form a hydra, or the Wyrm King. With the help of the Grace siblings and Noseum Jack's son, they set out to fight the hydra. There are lots of minor crises along the way, including a broken leg and a near-drowning, but in the end they manage to do what they need to.
This book was an easy read, but I don't think it was as suspenseful as it could have been. Maybe that's just because I already knew they'd have a "happy" ending or something else, but I wasn't really surprised by anything, and also wasn't really on the edge of my seat, so to speak. It was still enjoyable, and I imagine it would be even more so for the age group it was intended for, but I thought the first two books in the series were better. Oh, well.
Post number forty-eight is for Neil
Gaiman's Neverwhere, which has been on my to-read
list for the past four years at least. I enjoyed the book quite a bit
and have put the BBC production of the TV show (which was created first)
into my Blockbuster queue to watch. You know, eventually.
Brief spoilers follow.
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Neverwhere
is about a sort of dual world, London Above (i.e. the actual city of
London) and London Below, which is where the people who have "fallen
through the cracks" have gone. It's a sort of medieval world, with
baronies and fiefdoms. Richard is from London Above. He has a stable
life: a good job, a fiancée, etc. One day he stumbles upon Door, a
girl from London Below, who he finds lying bleeding on a sidewalk while
he's headed out to dinner with his fiancée. Against Jessica's wishes,
he takes Door to his apartment to care for her, and that's when his
adventure starts.
Door is being hunted by two
assassins, Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. She's special because her family
has a Talent: they can open things. She can basically open doors that
aren't there and send herself wherever she wants to go. Richard gets
pulled into the adventure against his will because, by helping Door,
he becomes one of the people who falls through the cracks.
The adventure includes a race
against the two assassins and includes a cast of colorful characters,
including rat-speakers, Hunter the bodyguard, and the marquis de Carabas.
Richard's only hope is that he can eventually return to London Above
and his real life. The angel, Islington, tells Richard that it can return
him to his previous life if he'll help Door get a key from the Black
Friars. There's a twist involved with this that the marquis finds out
about via Croup and Vandemar. Actually, there are a whole ton of twists
in this story that kept it quite entertaining and suspenseful and a
lot of fun to read. It took me longer than it should have to finish
the book because I've been balancing work and homework along with my
reading time, but is something that, if you could devote a few consecutive
hours to, you'd be able to finish quite quickly.
I've heard grand things about
Neil Gaiman and have now read four of his books, although one was a
collaboration. I like his writing and his worlds, and definitely liked
this book better than American Gods, which I felt
dragged in some places and was rather dense. This book is kind of graphic
in regards to Croup and Vandemar and some of the other characters, so
that's something you should keep in mind if you do read it. But it's
definitely a fun book. I look forward to seeing how the TV adaptation
of the plot plays out.
I have one more Gaiman book in my possession that I may finish prior to the end of this year, but have to admit that I'm not sure I agree with the idea that he's the best thing ever. He's good, but there have definitely been books that, imo, are better. (Although I will say that I loved Stardust.) *shrug* To each their own!
Post number forty-seven is for K.L. Going's The Garden of Eve, which is another of this year's Mark Twain Award Nominee books for the state of Missouri.
I enjoyed this book a lot. I've only read two of them thus far, but this one was the best.
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One note: A child at my school returned this book only days after checking it out because he said his mom told him to bring it back because it was "about dead people". So I went into it with that mindset and it may have kept me from figuring out the twist. Of course, it could have also been that the author is really good and that's why I didn't see it coming. But either way, I liked this book better than Deep and Dark and Dangerous simply because I was surprised when I actually realized what was going on.
Evie's mom has just died of cancer. Her dad moves her from Michigan to New York, where he's bought an old apple orchard that the town's people say is cursed. The trees haven't bloomed in years, and they say it's because a boy killed his sister in the orchard and her ghost haunts it, keeping things from growing. Evie's dad is a realist and doesn't believe in the supernatural. Evie's mom used to read her stories about all kinds of things when she was alive, and her and Evie were huge believers in magic and everything else. However, since her mom has died, Evie doesn't believe in much of anything.
Basically Evie is given a seed that grows a tree that only she (and one other) can see. This tree ties into the supposed "curse" on the orchard. Throw in a boy who claims to be dead, a father absorbed in his own grief, and a well-meaning old lady full of secrets, and you've got The Garden of Eve. I liked this book a lot. It had just the right amount of suspense, magic and tug-at-your-heartstrings emotion to make it a very nice read. I think this one will do quite nicely in the voting.
Post number forty-six is for the final book in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, entitled The Last Olympian. I am in serious love with this book series, so if you've not read them yet, please do yourself a favor and do so NOW. And also, don't read the rest of this post, because you don't want to spoil yourself.
Major spoilers follow!
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This book picks up with Percy and Rachel enjoying some time alone. Percy is confused about his feelings regarding Rachel and Annabeth, because he's a boy and rather stupid, although everyone else seems to know who he's going to choose in the end. They're interrupted by Blackjack and Beckendorf, the latter of which tells Percy that it's time to go to war. They end up flying to the Princess Andromeda to set up a bomb on the boat in the hopes of destroying Kronos' army. They end up getting caught thanks to an as-yet-unnamed spy, and while Percy escapes, Beckendorf is killed in the blast. When he returns to camp, they hold a meeting of the cabin heads, where the Great Prophecy is finally revealed. There's also an issue brewing between the Apollo and Ares cabins over a chariot that they picked up as a war spoil. Clarisse, Ares' daughter, finally proclaims that the sons and daughters of Ares will not particpate in any upcoming battles until the chariot is returned, and storms out.
Meanwhile, tension between Annabeth and Percy continues to brew, Grover is missing, and Kronos' army wasn't anywhere near defeated by the bomb on the boat. Percy realizes that Olympus is completely unguarded because the other Gods minus Poseidon (who is trying to defend his undersea castle from Oceanus) are battling Typhon, who has escaped from the volcano and is wreaking havoc across the US. The "last Olympian" in the title refers to Hestia, who is the Goddess of the Hearth and therefore is responsible for "keeping the home fires burning" and, in her own words, "isn't one for fighting". She tells Percy about Luke's mother, which helps him realize why Luke turned to Kronos. He also has a run-in with Hermes, Luke's father, that doesn't go all that well, either. Nico is also present throughout the book, which was nice because I really like him.
Percy ends up taking on the "curse of Achilles" by bathing in the River Styx. He finds out that Luke did the same, which is why his body is able to house Kronos. Percy's "Achilles heel" is actually the small of his back, which is the place he focused on to hold his consciousness to him. He doesn't tell anyone where this spot is, although Annabeth seems to know instictively, because she actually gets stabbed while defending Percy from Ethan Nakamura.
There are several battles that pop up while the Demigods try to defend Olympus. Several people are killed, although they're not really characters that you know a lot about. Chiron actually brings the Party Ponies onboard to help, and they help out in the final two battles. Grover is found sleeping in the Park, and they realize what Kronos' plan is: to put the mortals of New York City to sleep with the help of Morpheus. Kronos accomplishes this, which results in a lot of time spent moving mortals out of the middle of the streets, moving cars out of the way, etc., which actually helps Kronos' army because it completely opens up the roads.
During all of this, Percy continues to learn more and more about Luke, and the time he, Thalia and Annabeth spent together prior to coming to Camp Halfblood. Thalia's hunters join the battle as well as the naiads/dryads and other nature creatures, which brings their numbers up slightly but still not enough to do much damage, especially since Clarisse refuses to let the Ares cabin fight.
Nico gets stuck down in the Underworld with Hades, Persephone and Demeter, and works on persuading Hades to come above to help the Demigods fight. Hades doesn't want to do this because of a grudge he holds against Zeus, although he does finally give in and help at the end. We also learn about Nico's mother, and the reason the Oracle is an old skeleton instead of a human being.
Rachel, whose been on a Caribbean vacation with her family, has been having visions of what's going on with Percy. She convinces her father to take them back to New York, and meets up with Percy and Annabeth, although she nearly gets killed when the helicopter pilot falls asleep due to Morpheus' spell. Annabeth ends up saving her, which is kind of awkward for Percy, who still can't figure them out. Rachel tells Percy that he's not the hero, which he doesn't really want to hear and also doesn't understand. Prometheus, meanwhile, has given Percy Pandora's Box, inside of which only remains hope. He tells Percy that if he opens it and frees hope, they'll take it to mean he's surrendered and that Kronos "will be lenient". Percy doesn't believe a word of this, however, and stashes Pandora's Box away, although it appears again at a moment of weakness.
Percy realizes that Poseidon is needed to help defeat Typhon, and he tries to get his dad to leave his underwater palace and come to New York to help the other Gods defeat him. (A funny thing happens when Percy tries to contact him; he sits on Poseidon's throne on Olympus, which nearly causes Poseidon to blast him. I really liked this scene simply because I like the dynamic between Percy and his father a lot.) Poseidon is reluctant to do so because this would ensure that his palace was completely destroyed. When Typhon finally arrives in New York, however, Poseidon keeps his word and comes above to help defeat him, which happens easily. Guess it just goes to show how powerful he really is.
Realizing that they need the Ares campers, Silena (a daughter of Aphrodite) goes back to camp to try to reason with Clarisse. She ends up taking Clarisse's armor and leading the Ares campers herself. She gets killed in the process but not before she reveals that she was the spy. Clarisse figures out what she'd done and gets there just as Silena is poisoned by the drakon. Clarisse goes livid and kills the drakon without any problem, and the Ares campers stay to fight.
Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover go up to Olympus to head off Kronos, who's gone up the elevator ahead of them and has already destroyed nearly everything when they get there. A large statue of Hera topples off a gateway, nearly crushing Annabeth, but Thalia pushes her out of the way, getting her legs pinned underneath Hera instead. They finally face Kronos, who is starting to undergo his final change: he's starting to burn away Luke's body and take his Titian form, which would ensure the end of the Gods' reign. Kronos injures Annabeth, who calls out to Luke, as Percy told her that Luke was still conscious inside of Kronos and was occasionally fighting against him. Luke manages to submerge Kronos' consciousness and reveals that he knows Kronos' "Achilles heel" and that only he can kill him. Percy hands over Annabeth's knife (which was actually given to her by Luke) and Luke stabs himself. This basically kills him on the spot, although he's alive long enough to tell Annabeth that he's going to try for rebirth so that he can try for the Isles of the Blest. Annabeth tells him he always was an overachiever. Luke tells Percy to make the Gods promise that there won't be anymore unclaimed Demigods, and then he dies.
All of the main Demigods are given accolades by the Gods and Goddesses, and Percy is even offered a chance to become a God himself, although he turns it down. Instead he tells them he wants the promise that there won't be any more unclaimed children, that the minor Gods/Goddesses will get cabins at camp, and that the pact of the Big Three is ended, since it didn't work anyway. He also wants a cabin for Hades' children. Zeus and the other Gods are reluctant to grant this but in the end so. Hermes tells Percy that it won't last, that Gods are forgetful, and Percy tells him that he believes they can change, even after 3000 years, which makes Hermes smile.
There's also a subplot involving Luke's mom, the Oracle, and Rachel, but suffice it to say that there was a curse on the Oracle that was put there by Hades, which basically said there would never be another mortal Oracle. This curse is lifted, however, and Rachel becomes the new Oracle, which makes Annabeth happy because the Oracle "can't date". Percy manages to have a stumbling conversation with Annabeth, which makes her laugh, and she kisses him, telling him that she'll never make things easy on him.
And then they live happily ever after. <3
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I liked how the author tied up the loose ends, and I liked how it ended. I'm glad Annabeth and Percy got together and am glad Luke died a hero. I also liked the glimpses we got to see of the Gods/Goddesses, even the minor ones and the Titans, and most of all I loved Percy. He's such a fabulous narrator: I really REALLY am going to miss his voice.
One interesting thing to note is that in the author's notes, it mentions that this is the last book in the first Camp Halfblood series. So perhaps we'll get to meet some new Demigods, perhaps ones who will be responsible for the Great Prophecy that Rachel gives at the end? Let's hope that it's not so far in the future that Percy, Annabeth and the others won't make an appearance, though. I'd really hate to not ever see them again.
Post forty-five is for the fourth 39 Clues book, entitled Beyond the Grave. This one was written by Jude Watson.
Minor spoilers follow, just fyi.
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This book picks up with Dan, Amy and Nellie in Egypt. They have dislodged the Cabras, sending them the wrong direction at the end of the last book, and are on the lookout for the next clue. They end up trusting some people they shouldn't actually trust, get caught by Alastair Oh's uncle (and then escape), go searching through various pyramids/ancient runes, and in the end find the clue, thanks to Grace, their deceased Grandmother whose death started this entire hunt in the first place.
Throughout this book, Dan and Amy are bickering, which is slightly obnoxious (there's a line from Amy's thoughts that says something along the lines of, "They were starting to act like Cahills"). Namely, Dan is angry because Amy wants to keep all memories of Grace to herself, instead of sharing them with him. She also at one point loses the guidebook that Grace had left for them (which is taken by Irina and thrown away) and her and Dan get into an argument because she hadn't even let him read it, which was stupid as he's the one with the photographic memory. They're also wondering if Grace only did all the things with them that she'd done, like taken them to museums/on trips/etc., because she was trying to prepare the for the search for the clues and not out of love. They later realize that that wasn't the case at all: Grace loved them above all else, and while she was trying to prepare them for what was ahead, her greatest pleasure was spending time with them.
In the end of the book they nearly have a run-in with the mysterious "Madrigals", and according to the summary of the next book on Amazon, they get to meet them face-to-face. I'm pretty interested in this, as I want to know more about them and I want to find out what it is that makes all the other branches of the family so scared of them. Of course, I don't actually own the fifth book yet, but that is easily rectified. First, however, I should probably do my homework assignment that's due next Friday. :D
*blows away dust*
Um, long time no read? It's been a long time since my last update, mostly because this summer I was too busy reading my textbook for my class to read anything else. But that's been rectified with tonight's entry, which is one of this year's Mark Twain Award Nominees for the state of Missouri. I want to eventually read them all, and decided to start with one by an author I've already read a book by and enjoyed. That book is Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn. Brief spoilers follow.
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This book picks up with thirteen-year-old Ali, who lives with her parents. She finds an old photograph that's had a portion of it torn out. All that remains in the picture are her mom and her aunt as young girls at the family cabin in Maine. Her aunt shows up and wants Ali to come with her and her daughter Emma to the cabin for the summer, as Dulcie is a painter and she wants someone to watch Emma while she's working. And thus begins the adventure.
Ali's mom, Claire, doesn't want Ali to go. She doesn't want to talk about the cabin, or the old photo that Ali found, and resists mightily until Ali's father steps in and Ali is finally allowed to go. While at the cabin, Emma and Ali meet a mysterious girl named Sissy, who tells them about something that happened the year the torn photograph was taken that ended with a ten-year-old girl's death. Ali and Emma find themselves in a real live ghost story that turns into a bit of a nightmare before it's all resolved.
I liked the book, although I figured out the "twist" fairly early on. This is probably because it was written for upper elementary kids, or it could have just been the plot itself. It was still suspenseful and intriguing, though, which made it a fast and enjoyable read. I think the kids will really like this book, and will be interested to see how the others stack up against it; I may have just read this year's Mark Twain winner.
