"PENDRAGON: The Soldiers of Halla" review

Sorry I took so long. I finished reading this book on May 13, but I've been busy ever since. I've also had the chance to read a few other books: Nightmare's Edge, the conclusion to the Echoes from the Edge trilogy; Lunatic and Elyon, the last two Lost Books; the first couple of the popular Ranger's Apprentice books; and something a little more special-- Dragon's Heart, the long-awaited fourth novel of the Pit Dragon Trilogy (yes, I know) by Jane Yolen.

But first, PENDRAGON: The Soldiers of Halla.

This has been a year for series finales. I haven't even reviewed all of the ones I've read. But this one is perhaps the most important for me. The tenth book in the fantastic PENDRAGON series by D. J. MacHale. 600 pages long. And massive amounts of loose ends to tie up.

I'll say this first: The loose ends are all tied up. All of them. And it's not in the way you'd expect. And the book is amazing.

PENDRAGON has become epic in scope, and some of the style has changed from the early books. This one is DEFINATELY not a stand-alone. But the action is still cool. The jokes are still funny. The mysteries are still intriguing. And the characters are still interesting people to be around (albeit not the same people we met in The Merchant of Death).

I can't really say much about this book without giving anything away. I mean, everything I could talk about, you already know. It's the final battle for Halla. Bobby Pendragon and the Travelers against Saint Dane in a final clash of wills (and fists). So, despite the fact that I could talk about the series all day, I'm only going to say two things.

This is the way it was meant to be.

Hobey ho.

And so we go.

My rating: 10/10. Excellent in every way.

Series rating: 10/10

Coming Soon: Lunatic and Elyon

"STAR TREK" review

Okay, first of all, I'm not a Trekkie in any sense of the word. I've never even seen a whole TV episode of the series. I've seen the original 6 movies a couple of times, tops. So I know very little of the mythology behind Star Trek, J. J. Abrams' latest fims (only his second!). But I saw it with some Trekkies, and they enjoyed a bunch of clever nods to the series. I enjoyed it, too.

I'm not going to reveal the plot, because I really, REALLY hate it when people spoil movies for me. I can't even talk about the best parts, because they, too, tie into the movie's plot. I'll just say that the story is smart, fast, and compelling. The acting is top notch. The actors fill the shoes of their predecessors nicely, giving the spirit of those who came before without giving the exact performance of them. The special effects are breathtaking. The music is superb. And the action will knock your socks off.

The end of the film makes you want a sequel, and one is coming, hopefully by 2011. Just go see it. You WILL enjoy it. Boldly see what millions of other people are seeing, because they're right. It's one of the year's best movies.

My rating: 9.5/10

Coming Soon: PENDRAGON: The Soldiers of Halla

"The Last Olympian" review

I've now read Rick Riordan's series to the end. I discovered it not long after it came out, so I've been following it for about four years. Percy Jackson and the Olympians has become many people's answer for what to read after Harry Potter. They really share no similarities, save for the strength of the writing and the creativity of the story. So now, the final chapter: The Last Olympian.

Perseus "Percy" Jackson is about to turn sixteen, and the prophecy about him is on the cusp of becoming true. As he writes, "The end of the world started when a pegasus landed on the hood of my car." Did I mention I love the writing here? Percy is on a vacation with Rachel Elizabeth Dare (for those of you who've read Duma Key, she's RED), and she seems to have a huge crush on him. Percy's torn between two well-fleshed-out girls, but he really doesn't have time to concentrate. After all, he's got to save the world -- and Olympus -- in a mere 400 pages.

From here, the book whizzes along, leaving readers no time to catch their breath. The pages fly as if they were on the back of Blackjack the pegasus. Revelations abound. We see more of Luke's past, as well as Annabeth's. We find out what may be the only hope for the world. And yes, we find out who the Last Olympian really is.

Rick Riordan has a great talent for writing books that appeal to everyone, and Percy Jackson strikes a chord with everyone in at least one place. Characters die or endure horrible tragedy. Prophecies are made and fulfilled. The Oracle gets a replacement. And the demigods make a last stand that leaves no one untouched.

It's a worthy end to a fantastic series. And the best part? Riordan says there will be more.

My rating: 10/10.

Series rating: 10/10.

Coming Soon: Star Trek review.

Book reviews 4/20

Wow, I just realized yesterday's post was my 100th post! That's kind of cool to think about.

Okay, now that that's done, on to business...

Deadlock: The second John Hutchinson novel by Robert Liparulo is even better than the first. Putting the beloved characters in a scenario connected to, but wildly different than Deadfall, Hutch goes to meet with Brendan Page, who he has been researching for the past year and who was behind the frightening events that occurred in Canada. Page wants Hutch to stop following him, so he sends Hutch a message-- kidnapping his son, Logan.

Going from one nail-biting sitation to another, Deadlock explores the human psyche when in danger, getting to the core of the characters in no time and fashioning them into people we either love or hate with a passion. And that's without revealing all the uber-cool, but also uber-creepy things that Page puts his soldiers through. Let me put it this way: the tech-savvy who loved the gadget in Deadfall will feel right at home here. It was impossible to put down, and gave me a reason to read five hundred pages in a day.

My rating: 10/10

BoneMan's Daughters: Ted Dekker's latest is a chilling ride that is perhaps his best to date. I know I said that with Adam and Sinner, but he just keeps raising his own personal stakes higher and higher and HIGHER until the reader goes insane.

Who is BoneMan? A ruthless killer? Or the perfect father, looking for the perfect daughter? He's tried six times. None of the candidates stood up to the test. So he broke all their bones without ever breaking the skin. His newest target: Bethany Evans. But this doesn't sit well with Bethany's father, Ryan Evans, just back from a horrifying experience in Iraq, who will stop at nothing to get his daughter back. With the FBI on his trail, he means that literally.

This one's gooooooooood. I mean, Dekker constantly outdoes himself. And the twist, which could have almost been a cliche, is deftly handled by Dekker. But be warned: this is one you'll want to read with the light on.

My rating: 10/10

The Bones of Makaidos: This is it. The last Oracles of Fire book. Which means this is the last time to ever see your favorite characters from Dragons in Our Midst. I'm not going to say much about it, because you need to experience it for yourself, only that it's the best book I've read this year, and the best series finale I've read since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You will laugh. You will cry. You will cheer. You will cry. And you will put the book down, as I did, knowing that you have enjoyed a rare treat from an author who has had more than his fair share of ups and downs. But I will always have a special place in my heart for Billy and Bonnie, right next to Aidan Thomas from The Door Within and Cat from Isle of Swords.

My rating: 10/10

Book reviews 4/19

PENDRAGON Prequel 3: The third and final installment of the Travelers series, also written by Walter Sorrels, delivers more of the same, except with Loor, Siry Remudi, and Patric Mac on the territories of Zadaa, Ibara, and Third Earth, respectively. As always, the disjointed volume shows Uncle Press recruiting, Travelers becoming Travelers, and Saint Dane putting his nose where it doesn't belong. It's got some good moments, and I'm not sorry I read it. But the stories are too short, even shorter than before, and it hardly gives the plot and the characters enough time to breathe. This seems like a disservice to D. J. MacHale.

My rating: 7.5/10

The Gatekeepers 4: Necropolis: Anthony Horowitz's latest Gatekeepers book (the penultimate one!) does exactly what a book in its position should do. And that's actually not a bad thing, because he does it well. Necropolis, set mostly in Hong Kong, brings the characters ever closer to the final battle with the Old Ones, and there are some truly great suspenseful and horrific moments, as well as some pulse-pounding action beats. Wow, that was a weird sentence! Suffice it to say, I reccommend this, along with Horowitz's other work, very highly. If you haven't started this series, then now's the time to do so. But be warned: Necropolis ends with a killer cliffhanger that will leave you waiting with bated breath for the last book. Before that, he still has to give us Alex Rider 8: Crocodile Tears.

My rating: 8.5/10

Pillage: Obert Skye's recent standalone novel is one that has received significantly less publicity than his charming Leven Thumps series. This puzzled me-- until I read the book itself. Unlike Leven, Beck Phillips is a protagonist I hardly cared about, and the book is too thin to contain a story that tries so hard to be huge. I mean, there's a lot of backstory, revelations, and fantasy that's crammed into a 250 page book (and that's with a fairly large font!). Perhaps Skye is just less skilled at writing first person narratives. Not that the writing's bad, it's just not the same Skye we know and love from Leven Thumps. That said, Pillage was good for a quick read, but it should have been contained in a book twice its length (I know, I don't normally think a book is too SHORT, but the story needs more room. It just does.) Look for it at your local library, perhaps, or in the bargain racks at the bookstore. All books make their way there, eventually, unless they're written by J. K. Rowling.

My rating: 6.5/10

Something you HAVE to see.

Okay, I bet most of you have seen this already, but if you haven't, then you won't regret it. It's fantastic.

Obviously the whole "blog moving" thing was just an April Fool's Day joke. Even though it's taken me half a month to make another post. But I have been reading (and writing, too, but that's beside the point). There are three I especially want to review, and I plan on doing that soon: Deadlock, BoneMan's Daughters, and The Bones of Makaidos. So I guess this is more of an update about an update than an actual update. Sorry.

Blog Moving

As of today, The Writer's Notebook is over. My new blog is here.