“The First Commandment” by Brad Thor

Genre: Thriller

Rating: 3 Water Towers

The action picks up in “The First Commandment” where it left off in “Takedown”.

Scot Harvath is in the hospital taking care of Tracy when his boss Gary Lawlor visits with some news on the attack on Tracy. Some of the blood smeared on Scot’s door was lambs blood and it contained a radioactive substance. Scot wants to hunt down the person responsible but Gary says he can’t and after a visit to the White House…..President Rutledge says the same thing.

Scot is not to get involved. Period.

Six months before the attack on Tracy five prisoners were released from Guantanamo. These five were known terrorists and were guaranteed freedom by the U.S.A. even though “The First Commandment” of terrorism is to never deal with a terrorist. The U.S. did, and it is backfiring big time.

One of the released prisoners is on a quest to kill relatives and friends of Scot’s. After making Scot suffer all these losses…….he will kill Scot. Good luck with that….

Luckily, Scot does not listen to the President (not a good thing to do by the way) and starts hunting down those who he knows were released (and he suspects of being the killer). He was given the list of four prisoners that were released by the Troll….notice I said four. The Troll kept one person off the list for reasons you will find out when you read the book. Unfortunately, this is the killer.

As the attacks against Scot’s friends and family continue, Scot tracks down the prisoners and does away with them one by one. This puts President Rutledge in an awkward position since he promised safe passage for the prisoners to keep a terrorist attack of unimaginable horror from happening….ooops, way to go Scot. (But then again…you never deal with a terrorist.)

President Rutledge decides that Scot needs to be stopped…dead or alive.

Scot is branded a traitor, and is being chased by his old friend Rick Morrell and his band of Special Ops soldiers. The action intensifies as Scot races to find the killer before he commits the final act of revenge on Scot’s ex-girlfriend Meg Cassidy.

Although I enjoyed “The First Commandment” it is not, in my opinion, up to par for Brad Thor. The reason for letting the prisoners go is weak and trusting a known felon (the Troll) is something Scot Harvath would never let happen. There are other issues that were bothersome for me, but, maybe I’m being an overly critical engineer.

This much I can say: When the action begins in earnest, Brad Thor shines, leaving the reader ready for the next book in the series “The Last Patriot” which hit the Book Stores on July 1st.

“Pendragon Raven Rise” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 Water Towers

Hobey-Ho!

All Halla is breaking loose.

Saint Dane has taken advantage of the mixing of territories and more than one territory is in danger of falling.

Bobby has checked out as lead traveler and is helping the people of Ibara rebuild their civilization. Alder has his hands full on Denduron as the uncovering of tak has emboldened some to attack others.

On Second Earth the rise of the “Ravinians” has Second Earth near a tipping point. Mark, Courtney, and Third Earth Traveler, Patrick are on Second Earth doing the best they can against Saint Dane, Nevva and the leader of the Ravinians. The Ravinians feel that the only way to survive is to marginalize the people who are not as successful as others. Hmmmmm, I would be marginalized for sure.

The idea for the Ravinians essentially started in 1937 after Mark, in all his wisdom, gave his Traveler ring to Nevva who in turn gave it to a 7 year old dying boy, Alexander Naymeer. That boy was helped back to health by Saint Dane and eventually became the leader of this odd cult on Second Earth.

On Ibara, Bobby comes to his senses and finds out that he has been duped by Nevva and Saint Dane into thinking that he has trapped them on Veelox thus ending the battle between the Travelers and Saint Dane. Leaving Veelox (remember Ibara is an island on Veelox) Bobby joins Alder on Denduron. Once there, they discover that the Travelers indeed have more power at their disposal and help each other survive to live and fight another day on Second Earth.

Denduron is lost, Veelox was lost, Quillan is lost……Second Earth is at a tipping point, and Halla is crumbling.

“Pendragon Raven Rise” is the next to last book of the series. It is dark and foreboding. Saint Dane appears to have won and Halla is falling. The future of Earth (Third Earth) has turned from a beautiful place where people lived in harmony with nature into a ravaged scorched earth filled with suffering. Obviously, the vision of the ideal Ravinian society did not work.

There are inconsistencies in “Raven Rise” that I have not seen before. For example, why, if he was Andy Mitchell on Second Earth for many years would Saint Dane not understand the term “bite me”? Also, it seems to be a simple matter for the Travelers to go back to 1937 (First Earth) and stop Mark from giving the ring to Nevva thus stopping the rise of the Ravinians before it starts. Bobby instead chose to fight the powerful Ravinians on Second Earth. Baffling, but, maybe there is a reason to be explained in Book 10. Also, “Raven Rise” is a bit repetitive (according to Kristen).

Even though “Raven Rise” is not the best in the series, the Pendragon books taken as a whole are absolutely enthralling. I am definitely ready for the last Pendragon book to see how this is all resolved.

Spoiler (run your mouse over the next few lines to read the spoiler):

At the end of “Raven Rise” the Travelers all meet again. There is hope.

Next up: Pendragon Book 10 due in May 2009

Hobey-Ho! And so we go.

“Pendragon The Pilgrims of Rayne” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy



Rating: 5 Water Towers

Hobey-Ho!

The adventure continues with Bobby traveling to the idyllic tropical paradise of Ibara.

As he arrives, he is greeted by a swarm of killer bees….quigs….who nearly kill him. Luckily, he is rescued by fishermen and nursed back to health by Telleo a very attractive young woman with a knack for healing the sick and wounded.

Ibara is at a turning point and the quigs verify that Saint Dane is also there. Unfortunately, Bobby knows nothing about Ibara and finds it very hard to find anything since the first thing that happens to him when he feels better is he is arrested. As he is being detained, the security guards who are taking him to the “tribunal” arrest a small time thief and bring him along as well.

Meeting the three leaders of Ibara Bobby is allowed to go free (since he has claimed amnesia due to the bee stings) but, the thief must follow him around, as a sentence for stealing. This turns out to be a fortunate turn of events since the thief is the new Traveler (albeit reluctant) from Ibara, Siry. It was Siry’s Traveler father who was killed on Quinlan.

Siry is curious about where they live and it’s history. Ibara is a mystery to everyone who lives there except the three Tribunal members. Siry is curious and enlists Bobby (who can fight) to help them seek more information. Bobby needs to learn more about Ibara and decides that this is his best chance to learn. Besides, Siry, whether he wants to admit it or not, is a Traveler.

One night the troop of misfit kids led by Siry steal a boat and head out across the ocean to find the truth. They find it, and more, as several of the members of JaKill (the name they call their misfit band of kids) are killed and they discover thousands upon thousands of dado robots massing for an invasion of Ibara…and of course, Saint Dane.


Spoiler warning: If you want to see where they are, scroll your mouse over the next few lines. If not, continue reading below.

Ibara is an island in the territory of Veelox. Veelox had fallen several centuries ago and Aja Killian set up this idyllic civilization devoid of technology for the survival of Veelox…now it is at a second turning point.

Bobby and Siry barely escape and find that Saint Dane has not only brought dados from Quinlan, but, also skimmers from Chloral. He is mixing territories with abandon.
On First Earth, Courtney and Dodger (Gunny's acolyte) try to find Mark and stop him from introducing Forge. Remember Forge is the technology that results in the dado robots….on First Earth, Courtney and Dodger battle…of course Saint Dane and now his disciple the traitor Traveler, Nevva Winter.

Fighting fire with fire, Bobby decides to do the same. With the help of Siry and Alder from Denduron, Bobby brings tak (the extremely explosive material mined from Denduron), the dado killer sticks from Quinlan, and the tunnel digging machine from Zadaa to help in the battle to save Ibara.

Does he succeed? What is success? Is Bobby just as evil as Saint Dane?

Bobby will soon learn not to trust anyone that comes into his life….the last page in “Pendragon The Pilgrims of Rayne” reveal a shocking turn of events to be continued in Book 9: Raven Rise.

This much I can tell you: The territories are falling…Saint Dane is winning and Bobby appears to be totally out of his element and overmatched even though the Travelers are ahead in the win column.

I have to say, these books cannot be put down. I walked away from two days of reading (while the family shopped in the Mall) dazed and dumbfounded. Every action Bobby takes is met with a more powerful counteraction by Saint Dane. Every time Bobby (or Courtney for that matter) think they have done the right thing, they learn that Saint Dane has turned it to his advantage. It is very frustrating….for example, mixing the territories is fine for Saint Dane but when Bobby does the same thing has left an opening for Saint Dane that may result in the fall of Halla.

In short: It is looking pretty grim for Halla….Convergence is underway.

4 down, 1 to go in the Pendragon Book Review Marathon.

Next up: “Pendragon Raven Rise”

Hobey-Ho!

“Pendragon The Quillan Games” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Water Towers

Hobey-Ho!

Imagine living in a territory where you can play arcade games all day long. These arcades are huge, with flashing lights, loud music, and challenging games. There are huge flat panel displays on the tops of every building showing super exciting competitions that you can bet on. Cool, huh?

Sure, if you don’t mind one of the penalties of losing or betting on the loser…..death.

In “Pendragon The Quillan Games” the battle between Bobby Pendragon and Saint Dane takes on an even more terrifying aspect. A challenger (Challenger Yellow) has been killed playing in the Quillan Games. Unfortunately, Challenger Yellow was a Traveler. Now, Bobby has been set-up to be the next great challenger….Challenger Red.

His life is in danger.

“The Quillan Games” divulges more information on Saint Danes’s plan for Halla. For example, we now know that the culminating event will be the “Convergence”, he is mixing territories on purpose, and a trusted Traveler has deceived Bobby and joined Saint Dane. On top of everything else, now Bobby has to fight two powerful evil demons.

Halla is starting to fall, and Bobby has all he can do to try to figure out Saint Danes’s next move.

On Second Earth, Mark and Andy Mitchell join up to design a really cool technology called Forge. This is a combination of Mark’s robotic expertise and Andy’s remarkable stretchable material. On voice command, the initial Forge prototype can change shape from a cube, to a pyramid, to a sphere. Very cool. The Forge prototype won Mark and Andy a trip to a Science Exposition in Orlando, FL.

Unfortunately, tragedy strikes and Mark disappears…..and the territories technology changed. The only people who notice the change are the Travelers (and Courtney who was in a flume at the time), since the change was made in the past, which changes the future. Arrrghhh….

OK, it is confusing. But as confusing as it is for the reader (and believe me it gets even more confusing) imagine being Bobby.

If I did not have 5 WaterTowers as my top rating, I would give “Pendragon The Quillan Games” 10 WaterTowers. The action is relentless, the deception unbelievable, the plot unpredictable, the tension palpable. D.J. MacHale has given Bobby more power, but, concurrently, has complicated (by orders of magnitude) the problems facing him.

With three more books left for me to read, it is easy to see that the rough ride is far from over. And since my daughter has recently finished Book 9: Raven Rise...I know this for a fact.

3 down in the Pendragon Book Review Marathon…..2 more to go, then the final book is due in May 2009.

Next up: Ibara.

Hobey-Ho!