Kyle
BOOK NAME: Saga
AUTHOR: Connor Kostick
After the downfall of the world of Epic, a space probe of Saga has arrived at New Earth. It has deleted all the data of Epic and sent a virus into New Earth’s systems, causing anyone who connects to Saga to be infected with the virus and is forced to continue playing without dying. This probe has also invited the inhabitants of New Earth to enter into Saga thinking it’s a game just like Epic. There’s one problem though: Cindella Dragonslayer is immune and willing to fight.
In Saga, Ghost and her gang of Anarcho punks are running around vandalizing malls. But when they get caught and sent to jail, who do they find but Cindella Dragonslayer. Things get ugly when Cindella actually kills an innocent security guard, and talk about the Dark queen of Saga is becoming more frequent. The gang is quickly put up to the top of the most wanted list and must lie low, but not without formulating a plan. Ghost may not know who she is, but she sure can do some crazy things.
Can the people of New Earth join with Ghost and her gang to overthrow the Dark Queen, therefore demolishing the implanted virus? Will Ghost finally figure out her past? Find out this and more in Saga by Connor Kostick.
I thought that this book was marginal, and failed in comparison with the first book in the series, Epic. I found it really weird when the book took the story from the Queen’s point of view because of the way she talks. She keeps saying “we” instead of “I” as if there were more than one person in her. Also, I feel like the book strayed from its roots. I barely got to see it from Erik’s (or Cindella’s) point of view, which was upsetting to me. So much seemed to have happened between the demolition of Epic and when the story takes place and to just get snippets of it was really frustrating. Not only that, but I kept getting really tired of Ghost’s reappearing questions. Almost every chapter, she would wonder who she was. It felt really repetitive to me. It also started to get a lot darker than Epic. It’s no longer a game, and there is evil world domination going around. Usually, that makes for a great story, but it’s just how the Queen plans to wipe out world after world with Nuclear Bombs. I would definitely recommend that anyone thinking of reading this book consider stopping at the first one.
BOOK NAME: Atherton: House of Power
AUTHOR: Patrick Carman
Atherton: House of Power is the first book in a trilogy by Patrick Carmen and takes place in the mysterious three tiered world of Atherton. There is the top layer, or the Highlands, where the water for the whole world originates and the high society and leaders of the world reside. Directly below that, there is Tabletop, where eleven year old Edgar lives with the rest of the working class. This is also where the groves are, which is where Edgar works under the evil Mr. Ratikan. If he puts one toe out of line, Mr. Ratikan will end up taking away meals and increasing work as punishment. At the bottom of the world is the Flatlands, where all the horrors of the entire world reside, waiting to eat any leftovers that fall from Tabletop. While tending to the fig trees in the Groves, Edgar daydreams about what could possibly be in the Highlands. He finally decides to climb there during the night, even though it is completely forbidden. While climbing up, he discovers a mysterious book that he believes contains secrets to his past and might contain information on the origin of his world. There’s only one problem though; he can’t read. So when he finally climbs up and manages to locate somebody who can read, he has to repeat his forbidden climbing night after night. In doing this, he discovers that certain handholds are lower than the previous night; meaning that the Highlands are sinking into Tabletop. And in all this chaos, he has to worry about Mr. Ratikan’s punishments. He must travel all over this world to find a way to save all three layers, including the dreaded Flatlands.
This book is an amazing introduction to the trilogy and will keep you reading to find out how this world was created and for what purpose. It is full of action and shows how each of the inhabitants of the layers must work together to save their world. I absolutely loved the character of Edgar because he could climb like a maniac. I like climbing, am not very good at it, and definitely envy his superior skills. I would like to commend the author on creating an intriguing, complex world. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone interested in a good series who likes science fiction and fantasy.
BOOK NAME: The Maze Runner
AUTHOR: James Dashner
Thomas wakes up one day in a pitch black box, only knowing his name. The box is moving; and keeps moving for what seems like forever. But when it finally stops, he is shown a horrible world- a world within a maze. As he learns of the dangers surrounding the center, and learns that the maze may not be solvable; a girl shows up in the box- and she’s too early to be the new recruit. She carries a simple message- that she’s the last person to show up. Not only that, but both her and this maze seem oddly familiar to Thomas. Why does everything look so familiar? Is the maze really unsolvable? Find out this and a lot more in The Maze Runner.
I thought that this book was absolutely an amazing start to the trilogy! It was packed full of action and plenty of shockers. It was a very well-written book but does get a little violent at times; so I wouldn’t recommend this book for small children. However, this is a great middle-school level book. I really liked the part when Thomas gets stuck out in the maze at night. It was really interesting to see how he reacted to Minho’s actions–either copying them, or doing the absolute opposite. My favorite character is Chuck (a friend of Thomas) because I can really relate to him. In particular, I admire his attempt at humor (he often says “It’s better than living in a pile of klunk”) and I try to be funny almost all the time even though it usually doesn’t work out. Overall, this is an outstanding book by James Dashner and I would highly recommend The Maze Runner.
DogEared: Want another opinion? Read Emelie’s review!
BOOK NAME: Beyonders: Seeds of Rebellion
AUTHORS: Brandon Mull
Jason has been forcefully shoved home, trying to stay in Lyrian to stay with his friends. He manages to steal Ferrin’s (his displacer “friend”) hand and uses it to get information out of him. He tries to make it back to Lyrian, and eventually succeeds. However, things are much worse than he was lead to believe. Creatures that he didn’t even know existed are trying to hunt him down, he cannot locate his friends, and Maldor has started killing the people who hold syllables of the word. His goal is simple; find his friends, escape these mysterious creatures alive, and unite a completely neutral, but powerful, nation against Maldor. No big deal, right?
Surprisingly, I liked this book even more than the first book in the trilogy. I was pleased that it did not end suddenly like the first book. In the first book, I felt that something more should have commenced, but it just ended really abruptly. Second, Brandon Mull didn’t use the same creatures in the first book over and over. He created completely new, and even more deadly, creatures. I also really liked how well he developed the Blind King, or Galloran. He was so mysterious in the first book, but his personality really begins to develop. I will admit that I was surprised at how good of a swordsman Galloran was, and even more surprised at why. I feel the most sympathy for Nedwin. He suffered eleven years of torture in Felrook, and that is what left him to feel no pain. I can’t even begin to imagine how much pain someone would have to go through to stop feeling it. Overall, I thought that this book was amazing, and recommend it to anyone who even remotely enjoyed the first book.
BOOK NAME: Echo’s Revenge: The Ultimate Game
AUTHOR: Sean Austin
Reggie
and Jeremy only want to have a normal life, one where you can play video
games, live freely, and not be in constant fear. Their mother’s
explosive boyfriend is constantly beating them, and he goes over the
line one day; which initiates operation Thunderbolt. Reggie and
Jeremy plan to run away to their divorced Dad’s house, but things seem too easy.
They make it to the house with a surprising amount of ease.
But that’s when everything begins to go wrong. What could
possibly go wrong since they made their destination? Find out this
and an incredible amount more in Echo’s Revenge: The Ultimate Game.
I
thought that this was one really amazing book. It has every trick in
the book- suspense, character development, action, and even
some extra. I will warn the reader, however, that it is a little
spooky and dark, and has reference to slavery. In my opinion,
though, this is what makes this book so exciting. I can put myself
in the main characters shoes and really picture myself there. This
book also makes me rethink all the games I have ever played, imagining
what could happen if they turned out to be real. I would definitely
recommend this book to someone in middle school or older. I also
found the author’s website worthy of checking out (even though the book
said to avoid it).
