Review - Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders, Book 2) by Brandon Mull (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 512 pages
Publisher: Aladdin
Release Date: March 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1416997948
Stand Alone or Series: 2nd book in the Beyonders Trilogy
Source: Bought
Rating: 3/5 stars

This is the second book in the Beyonders trilogy. The third book will be titled Chasing the Prophecy and is scheduled for a March 2013 release. I had a lot of trouble reading this book. It is a decent story, but nowhere near the quality of Mull's Fablehaven series. I just couldn’t stay engaged with the story or the characters and this book was a struggle to get through.

Jason is itching to get back to Lyrian after being sent home at the end of the first book. When he gets there he runs around telling people that the Word did not work to destroy the evil wizard Maldor. Rachel meanwhile has meet up with a charm woman and is leaning more about how to use Words.

Seriously Jason runs around telling people the Word didn’t destroy Maldor for the first half of the book. Jason also gathers people together and journeys back to the Blind King. At this point we are over halfway through the book.

Eventually we track through the jungle, meet more Seed people, and go through a zombie infested wasteland. So there is a lot of adventuring and some fighting. I just felt like the pacing was way off and Jason didn't know his purpose or accomplish much for large portions of the book. I almost stopped reading halfway through because nothing was happening.

We do get to meet some excellent new characters. Jason is accompanied by a smuggler named Aram, who is half-giant, and we see a lot more of Ferrick and Ned (who is incredibly adept at poisons).

Rachel also learns to speak magic words and becomes a force to be reckoned with. I enjoyed Rachel's character growth and wish we had spend a lot more time hearing from her. Instead most of the book is told from Jason's POV and he just doesn't grow much or do anything all that interesting in this book.

While the book is decently written, I thought the pacing left a lot to be desired. I just found my mind wandering a lot and had a really tough time staying engaged in the story. There are so many characters in this book that we don’t get to know any of them really well, so that also makes it difficult to care about what’s happening.

Overall an okay addition to this series, but not great. I didn’t like the first book in this series a ton either. So, I guess if you were a huge fan of the first book in this series you will probably enjoy this one. I would definitely recommend reading Mull’s Fablehaven series over this one, in my opinion that is just a much more well written series. At this point I don’t think I will be reading the third book in this series.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Zombie Reading Challenge
- 150+ Books Reading Challenge

Review - A World Without Heroes (The Beyonders, Book 1) by Brandon Mull (5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Size: 464 pages
Publisher: Aladdin
Release Date: March 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1416997924

Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Beyonders Trilogy
Source: Borrowed from library
Rating: 5/5 stars

I really enjoyed Mull's Fablehaven series and was very excited to see what he would come up with next.  This series is definitely different than his Fablehaven series and is more of a classic fantasy adventure type of book.  I really enjoyed it and am excited to see where this story goes.

Jason is just trying to live out his normal life when he falls into a hippopotamus and ends up in a different world. There he meets up with another Beyonder like himself named Rachel and they are both drawn into a quest to find a mysterious word that is capable of defeating the evil overlord of the realm.

Jason and Rachel are pretty good characters; although I didn't think characterization was the strong point of this novel.  The strong points were the interesting world, the intriguing quest for syllables in a word, and the absolutely bizarre characters that Mull has thought up.  I think Jason and Rachel were the weakest characters in the book, but some of the characters surrounding them are very engaging.  For example the Seed person, Jasher, is really awesome and really added alot of action to the story.

There is humor throughout the book which keeps things light and funny.  I love adventure-quest type of books and that is very much what this book is.  The characters are given clues, have to find parts of the Word, and then get more clues to the next part.  I thought the plot was well woven and there were a number of twists and turns to keep the book surprising.  The characters grow throughout the story and you can see that they are developing into forces to be reckoned with.

Another thing about this book I absolutely loved were some of the bizarre character races and crazy obstacles.  For example a lake you can run across but if you stop moving you sink (can we say non-newtonian fluid??)  I also loved the displacers which could remove parts of their body and send them places.  Another wonderful race were the Seed people who can live many lives as long as the seed in the back of their head is replanted.  These things were creative, super interesting, and a lot of fun to read about.  The way these interesting characteristics integrated into the story were wonderful.

The book touches on interesting issues versus what is right and wrong.  Questions such as should you endure hardship for the greater good are asked and issues around personal responsibility for the whole of a race are dealt with.

Overall I really, really enjoyed this book.  There is humor and adventure here, an interesting world, very creative races, and a lot of questing going on.  I am super curious to see where this story goes and eager to read the next book in the series.  This book is not another Fablehaven, it is more of a classic fantasy adventure quest.  For some reason all the bizarre creatures and the crazy questing put me a bit in the mind of the Labyrinth movie.  Those of you who like fantasy adventures with quirky characters will really love this book.  I also recommend The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens, The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riorden, The Bartimaes Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud and The Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- Fantasy Reading Challenge
- 100+ Reading Challenge

 

Review - Keys to the Demon Prison (Fablehaven, Book 5) by Brandon Mull (5/5 stars)

This is the fifth (and final) novel in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.  A ton happens in this book and it is a wonderful conclusion to the series tying everything up nicely.

The book starts with Seth, Kendra and the other Knights of Dawn leaving on a quest to obtain the Translocator.  Things, of course, go horribly wrong and our heroes end up on a desparate quest to prevent the opening of great demon prison Zzyzx.  Some heroes perish, while new heroes join the story.  Many of the events still focus on Seth, Kendra and the Sphynx.

This book is very fast paced and a lot happens in it.  Seth and Kendra are separated for much of the book, each going on their own separate quests.   All of our old favorite characters are in this book.  Some of those favorites are sacrificed as quests are undertaken.  New characters are added, my favorite of which was Bracken...he was an awesome main character who played a major part in this story.  I wished that he had become part of the story sooner.

Mull's writing style is very readable and well paced.  He does a fabulous job summing up this series and we learn answers to all of the questions that we have been longing to have answered.  There really wasn't anything that I would change about this book.  The only thing that made me sad is that this series is over now.  In his afterword Mull makes it very clear that there will be no direct additions to this series. 

I will definitely be checking out Mull's "Candy Shop War" as well as keeping an eye on the new series he is starting in 2011.   This is one of the best series of books I have ever read and this book is a wonderful conclusion to it.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
- The Young Adult Reading Challenge
- The 100+ Book Reading Challenge

 

News - Moning Annouces Title for Book 5 in Fever Series and Release Date is set for Fablehaven Book 5

Okay so I found out some great news this morning!

First of all the title for book 5 of Karen Marie Moning's "Fever" series has been announced. It will be called "Shadowfever" and will be released some time in 2010. I have the first three books of this series at home and really want to read them. I've been keeping tabs on this series; and from what I know the fifth book is supposed to be the last in the series.

Secondly, the release date of the fifth (and final) book in Brandon Mull's Fablehaven series has been announced. "Keys to the Demon Prison" will be released on March 25th of 2010. I haven't seen the cover art or a synopsis yet. I have absolutely adored this series right from the beginning and I am very eager to see how everything plays out!

Well, that's all I have for news today. Hope you all have a great day :-)

Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary (Fablehaven, Book 4) by Brandon Mull (5/5 stars)

This is the fourth book in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull. This book was absolutely wonderful. Mull does it again, delivering a complex and dangerous plot, with humor, and non-stop action.

Kendra and Seth are back at school. Kendra has been trying to read the secret journal that she was given to figure out where the rest of the artifacts are hidden. Unfortunately she ends up getting kidnapped by the Society of the Evening Star. The rest of the family thinks she is dead. So Seth is sent to Fablehaven for his protection. The group at Fablehaven has to do what they can to recover the remaining hidden artifacts; first they must go to the Dragon Sanctuary and hope to live long enough to get the key to the next artifact.

This was a wonderful book. All of the characters are just fabulous. In addition to all of our favorites from the last book, some new and very interesting characters are added. Mull is so creative with his writing, I am never able to guess what will happen next. The plot pulls you right through the book, the action scenes are wonderful. It was awesome to learn about Seth having his own special set of powers; I liked how they compliment Kendra's in a way. It is a rare book that can keep some many creative things coming at you and such a wonderful plot going that you can never guess what will be next.

This is also a very emotion evoking book. There is humor, at times I was cheering for the characters, at times I was almost in tears at some of the horrible betrayals that happened in this book. It was just riveting.

Needless to say I am absolutely dying to read the next book. This is definitely a keeper series. I think if you enjoyed Harry Potter or Percy and the Olympians; you will really enjoy this series. I actually think everyone should read this series, it just keeps getting better and better!

Grip of the Shadow Plague (Fablehaven, Book3) by Brandon Mull (5/5 stars)

The third book in the Fablehaven series was just as wonderful as the second book. I really love this series, I cannot believe how action packed they are and how creative.

In this book Kendra is summoned to join the Knights of the Dawn; she ends up on an expedition to recover another artifact from a secret preserve. Seth is angry at being left behind, until he ends up embroiled in adventures of his own. Somehow creatures at Fablehaven are turning dark and evil, even creatures that have never had an evil form. The Shadow Plague is spreading at an alarming rate and Seth needs to figure out what is going on before Fablehaven is completely destroyed.

Things are more dire and desperate than ever in this book. The new characters introduced in this book are wonderful additions (don't worry all the wonderful characters from the last book are still there too!). The addition of Gavin as a dragon tamer and a possible love interest for Kendra was wonderful; he is a great character with really interesting abilities. The plot gets even more complicated as the levels of deceit within the Knights of the Dawn are realized. There is so much at stake in this book and things get so desperate; I had a really tough time putting this book down! There were points where this book almost had me in tears I was so concerned for everyone and points where I was grinning wildly in relief. As with the previous book, Mull lightens things up occasionally with a biting sense of humor.

It was nice that Seth started to develop some special abilities of his own. Although Kendra still takes center stage for much of the book with her abilities as Fairykind. Overall I was really impressed. Mull continues to develop wonderful plot lines, intriguing characters, and gives his world greater and greater depth. Younger kids might get scared at some parts of this book, as things get very dire in this book. Still, I think most children and adults will really enjoy this series. I can't wait to see what book four brings!

Rise of the Evening Star (Fablehaven, Book 2) (5/5 stars)

This is the second book in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull, and it was wonderful! This book was non-stop action from the beginning to the end, it was creative and interesting and a great read. Super hard to put down.

In this book Kendra is back in school and is shocked when a horrible goblin joins her class. All of her friends think that the "new kid" is a super cute boy. With the help of a dubious man, Kendra and Seth try to drive the goblin away. Only to find the Society of the Evening Star is rising and that, Kendra especially, is in more danger than ever. After school is out they end up heading back to their Grandpa's house on Fablehaven. Someone is trying to steal the secret artifact there and Kendra's grandparents have a great new cast of interesting characters to help them in their battle.

This was just a wonderful book. From the first chapter it is packed with danger and action. The new characters awaiting Seth and Kendra in Fablehaven are great additions to the story. The plot itself was interesting and masterfully written. I had a lot of trouble putting this book down. Creatures and characters from the first book join into the action in this book too. There was also a lot of humor, which lightened up some of the darker scenes. This book might be a bit scary for really young children, but overall I think most kids would enjoy it.

I was also pleased that the main story was nicely wrapped up; while the overall plot continues to deepen and thicken. By the end of the book I just couldn't wait to find out what would happen next; as the Society of the Evening Star gets more bold in their attempts to collect and control all of the secret artifacts.

Fablehaven (Fablehaven, Book 1) by Brandon Mull (4/5 stars)

This is the first out of five books in this series; I have been wanting to read this series for a while. Overall I liked this book; it took a little while to get things set up but then things really took off. This book reminded me a lot of the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Kendra and Seth find themselves stranded at their grandparents' strange house after their parents get sent on a cruise. At first they think it is going to be a boring couple weeks. That is until they drink some strange milk and find themselves in the midst of fairy creatures.

This was a very creative and interesting story. All the characters are very engaging; making this a hard to put down book. It did take a while to set up the story, that made the beginning of the book drag a little bit, but once things started getting interesting they got *really* interesting. It is a book that might be a little scary for very young children but other than that it is very all-age appropriate.

I can't wait to see what Mull comes up with for the next book!