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Review: The Colossus Rises

The Colossus Rises (Seven Wonders #1) by Peter Lerangis

I give this book a 4.

LikeIt

I read and listened to this book on my Kindle which may account for some of the comments I make below.

This is the story of Jack McKinley and some others kids who find out that they the descendants of Atlantians and are all about to die, oh but they all get superpowers before they kill over. It may not sound like it, but I liked this book. It’s very middle grade and sometimes annoying, but overall quite entertaining. When I first heard of this new series it was compared to the Percy Jackson series, but I don’t think that is a good comparison. I think this story is something a little different.

The only character I really fell in love with in this first book, I haven’t read the others yet, is Jack. Not that the other characters weren’t likable, but Jack was the only one who seemed to be in touch with reality. He seemed accessible to me beyond this world of mythology and magic in a way none of the other characters were.

While this story is very clever and full of action, is lacks sophistication and with good reason. This is a story about kids battling against the world to save their lives. These are not hormonal teens, yet, caught up in adult activities, but kids just trying to get through the day. I like that there is a real sense of innocence to this story that many middle-grade and YA stories just don’t have.

The mysteries, the history, and all the clues of this story were really cool. Some things were a discovery for me while quite a few were not. It didn’t take me long to figure out what was happening each time a new problem arose, but I will admit there were some turns I didn’t see coming.

The descriptions in this story and the world building were pretty good, but sometimes I had trouble figuring out which literal direction things were happening in. On the plus side, I thought the illustration were a nice added touch. Throughout the book there is tons of humor to lighten a mood when needed.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mythology, history, and is willing to read middle-grade fiction. The kids should really enjoy it.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Review: Inherited Danger

Inherited Danger (The Dawning of Power #2) by Brian Rathbone

I give this book a 3.

Okay

This book picks up just after the end of the first book…because it had too. Needless to say, I didn’t like the way the first book ended, but since it rolled over so evenly into the second one, I was more open-minded to continue reading the story. (I bounced back and forth between listening and reading on my Kindle.)

In this follow-up to the Call of the Herald, Catrin goes on a “Lord of the Rings” type journey in search of…I think, the understanding of her power. The style of this story seemed a bit different from the first book, but after I got used to it, it wasn’t too bad. My major complaint is that not a lot happens for a long time and then everything seemed to happen all at once.

It was nice to learn more about Catrin’s background and that of her friends, even though, outside of Benjin (can’t remember how this is spelled), the others characters seem to do very little. There are tons of new characters introduced and some of them are even still alive at the end of the book, and who knows they may appear in the next story.

The understanding of the role of Herald isn’t clarified explicitly, but I think this is a good thing. It gives the reader room to decide if the Herald is a vessel for good or evil before seeing how things will play out in the story. At this point, it could still go either way for Catrin, especially since she can’t seem to decide if she’s a strong feisty fighter or a meek lost child. Sometimes she takes hold of the situation and uses her powers boldly and other times, she makes me think of a young wizard hold out his wand with his eyes closed hoping that he’s doing something right. I want Catrin to be a stronger woman than acts like sometimes.

Also, some of the relationships in this book are too quick or underdeveloped. Catrin meets her grandmother and a few passages later, we’re on to something else.

After saying all this, I want to be clear that I did enjoy this story, just not as much as I did the first one. I’ll eventually continue the series and would recommend it to fans of epic fantasy.

See my review of The Call of the Herald here.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

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Review: Artemis Fowl

Artemis Fowl (Artemis Fowl #1) by Eoin Colfer

I give this book a 5.

LoveIt

Every now and then I’m curious to see what I’ve been missing in children’s fictions, and since, I’m very particular about my selections, I’m seldom let down. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this series.

Artemis is a young genius who also happens to be the heir to a criminal dynasty that’s going broke. So Artemis decides to save the family business in the only way he can think of, which is ripping off the fairies that no one believes really exist.

I really liked Butler and Holly. The whole story was really cute, and if you don’t over think it, the little things shouldn’t get you down. I like the idea that the bad guy in this story is a little boy, but I must admit I kept hoping someone would stop to spank him at some point. (Oh no, wonder who I offended with that statement?)

In any case, I don’t think Artemis is a bad boy. I just think he’s a product of his environment, who happens to be desperate and willing to do whatever he thinks is necessary to save his way of life. The story is full of adventure, magic, and oddly enough a little sci-fi.

I recommend this to anyone willing to give it a try.

This review has been posted to GoodReads. If you’d like to obtain a copy of this book, try this link.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords