“Pendragon Raven Rise” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4 Water Towers

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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


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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

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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!

“Pendragon The Rivers of Zadaa” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy



Rating: 4 Water Towers

Hobey-Ho!

Bobby, Loor (the Traveler from Zadaa and a Batu warrior), Saangi (Loor’s acolyte) and Alder (the Traveler from Denduron) match wits with Saint Dane to try to save Loor’s home territory of Zadaa.

Zadaa has been hit hard by a drought. The Rokador, who live underground and control the rivers and water, and the Batu who live on the surface, grow the food, and protect the Rokador from invaders are close to fighting. Water is scarce, food is scarce, and tensions are high.

Zadaa is at a turning point. And guess who is there to provide a little nudge in the wrong direction? You got it….Saint Dane.

After a somewhat slow, seemingly predictable, start D.J. MacHale revs up his writing engine and finishes with a flourish. We learn more about Loor and Alder and meet Saangi. We also learn more about Andy Mitchell….the mean kid on Second Earth who Mark and Courtney both despise.

As “Pendragon The Rivers of Zadaa” progresses Bobby is trained by Loor, Saangi and Alder to become a better fighter. He finds himself getting stronger and much more capable of handling himself in a physical situation.

And there is more.

Bobby finds he has powers that most normal humans do not have. As do the other Travelers. They heal very quickly from injuries and much more (you will have to read the book to find out more, I will not ruin it here). It is clear that as Bobby grows up and endures the hardships of being a Traveler he is becoming more powerful. It will be interesting to see how powerful he can become.

As Bobby matures, we also see a different side of Saint Dane. He is becoming openly vicious and has taken to laying some hurt on people himself (where in the past he always had others do his dirty work). He has a hot temper and Bobby can easily push his buttons. Of course Bobby pays for that, but, again, he heals quickly and is becoming more capable of returning the beatings.

In a disturbing turn, Saint Dane is now directly manipulating Courtney and Mark on Second Earth. In “Rivers of Zadaa” a good bit of time is spent on Second Earth as Courtney tries to recover (mentally) from mistakes she blames herself for on Eelong. As a reader, I am beginning to suspect that Saint Dane is afraid of Courtney and wants her out of the way…I may be wrong.

To keep this short, Zadaa is……oh, I forgot, no ruining the story.

But, take this with you: The adventure on Zadaa is a hair-raising "tum-tigger" of an affair along the lines of James Rollins and Matthew Reilly.

So take a deep breath and read “Pendragon The Rivers of Zadaa”. You will enjoy the ride.

Next up in the Pendragon Book Review Marathon: Quillan.

2 down, 3 more to go. See the announcement of the Marathon here.

Hobey-Ho!

“Pendragon Black Water” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy




Rating: 5 Water Towers


Hobey-Ho!

“It’s not good to eat junk food for dinner. It’s not good for your health”.

Mark and Courtney gave each other a sideways look. “I can think of a lot of things bad for your health.” Courtney said. “Burgers aren’t high on the list”.

“Pendragon Black Water” marks a turning point in the Pendragon series. The rules of Traveling have changed, Saint Dane is becoming more powerful, and the story lines have become more intense.

At the end of the last book, Saint Dane left Veelox for Eelong. Gunny followed, and, after his work was complete on Veelox, Bobby flumed his way to Eelong as well. What he found on Eelong was like nothing he ever imagined.

Eelong is both beautiful and dangerous. Flesh eating, very large, lizards roam the ground (luckily they cannot climb) eating the unaware or weak. Eelong is ruled by large cat like beings called klees and they rule over a human population of “animals” called gars.

The turning point on Eelong is now. The populations of both gars and klees are increasing and food is becoming scarce. It is also dangerous to harvest the food without getting eaten by the lizards. Gars do most of the harvesting and are sometimes a tasty treat for a hungry lizard.....yummy.

To stay away from the lizards, the klees have adapted by living high in the trees and in the trees themselves. The trees have bridges between them that act as roads. The menial labor is being completed by the gar. Rather than being grateful for the gars hard work, the klees, for the most part, treat the gars horribly and are about to pass an edict that will allow the hunting and eating of gar so that the klees can survive. The gars cannot catch a break.

And who is behind that decision? Yup…Saint Dane.

But the gar have a secret plan that will change everything. Unfortunately, that plan has been ferreted out by Saint Dane and he has a devised a counter plan that will take down Eelong…..it will take monumental and daring efforts by Bobby, Gunny, Spader, Kasha (the Traveler from Eelong), and acolytes Mark, Courtney, and Boon (the acolyte for Kasha) to try to stop Saint Dane.

Will the Travelers and acolytes do the right thing? Can they do the right thing?

The action in “Pendragon Black Water” is nonstop, tense, and violent. This is a rollicking adventure with unexpected twists and turns that leave the reader breathless. Saint Dane is a master of manipulation and no matter what the Travelers and acolytes do……there is a heavy price to be paid.

Will Eelong be saved? Do the Travelers and acolytes survive? What are the new rules? What is “Black Water?”

As always, you will have to read “Pendragon Black Water” to find out.

After Eelong, Saint Dane heads to Zadaa.....Loor’s home territory.

Hobey-Ho!

Pendragon Book Review Marathon

Hobey-Ho

I have made a decision, based on my daughters input (she is now reading Raven Rise) and the fact that I have just finished "Pendragon Black Water" which I will post this weekend (hint: this is a whopping, rollicking "tum-tigger" 5 WaterTower book).

I will read the rest of the Pendragon series now, so I will be ready for Book 10 when it comes out.

So in the coming weeks stay tuned to this Blog as it will become a Pendragon Book Review Marathon. There will be 5 book reviews in a row...assuming I survive the stress...

I'll tell you about it starting this weekend.

Hobey-Ho

“Pendragon The Reality Bug” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Water Towers

Please visit the new location for this Blog.

Hobey-Ho!

“People don’t communicate with real people anymore, they’re too busy living inside their own heads and creating characters to act in their own personal dramas. Nothing is happening. Nothing is moving forward. Nothing is real. Veelox is dead.”

Prophecy about our own future? Possibly. Description of what happens to a world that is so engrossed in their own fantasies that reality is ignored and the world deteriorates. Definitely.

Saint Dane has outdone himself on Veelox. Aja Killian, the Traveler from Veelox, believes she has the answer to defeat Saint Dane and resents the appearance of Bobby who we find out in this edition has been designated (by whom we do not know…..Uncle Press?) the “lead Traveler”. Aja is very smart, but she is also arrogant and naive. A bad combination when you have to fight the ultimate evil.

Veelox is a world in neglect. The inhabitants spend their lives “jumping” into a fantasy world within their minds using a technology called “Lifelight”. A jumper lies down in a bed of sorts, is connected to Lifelight, is fed via electrodes attached to their skin and enters a perfect world of fantasy where all their dreams can come true. The perfect fantasy is something everyone wants and gets. It is also something Saint Dane has been planning to use to bring down his first territory. When everyone is jumping, there is no one to fight a takeover.

To fend off Saint Dane, Aja realizes that she must make the fantasy world a little less appealing so that people will jump less and return to their deserted homes and back to reality. To do this, she has developed a “reality bug”, a software program that injects just a bit of reality into every jump.

For example, in my ideal fantasy I am spending my life on the beach in Kauai. Since I am perfectly happy, I want to spend my entire “life” there and reality can take care of itself without me. But the reality bug might produce a hurricane, or I might get bitten by a thousand mosquitoes….anything to force me to spend less time in my jump and more time taking care of my home….. and reality.

Aja explains the reality bug plan to Bobby. They agree to load the reality bug and, hopefully, save Veelox. Unfortunately, Saint Dane is not only evil, but, he is patient (often setting up the path to destruction years and years in advance), and clever. Once the reality bug is introduced into Lifelight something terrible happens. The bug is far more dangerous and lethal than Aja meant for it to be (guess who had a hand in helping Aja design it?). Fantasy crosses over into reality. The reality bug feeds on the jumpers fears and grows into a monstrous killer as it is fed by millions of jumpers.

While Bobby, Loor, and Aja struggle to save Veelox, Mark and Courtney on Second Earth find out that they have been pre-ordained (Bobby’s journals are sent to them) to be acolytes (people who help the Travelers by providing clothing, food and other assistance in each territory). And Gunny has followed Saint Dane to Eelong to try and head off his attempts to bring down that territory.

“Pendragon The Reality Bug” is a tremendous book full of action, thought provoking ideas, and plot twists that will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat until the very end of the book…..and beyond. The Pendragon series has taken a sharp turn to the dark side and the rules have changed. Bobby, Mark, Courtney, Loor, Gunny, Aja and the rest of the Travelers and acolytes are in for a real battle in the books ahead. They will need to step up to the challenge or Halla will be under the rule of Saint Dane. If one territory falls, they may all fall like dominoes.

Saint Dane makes He Who Must Not Be Named look like a wimp.

Announcement: Book 9, “Pendragon Raven Rise” is due in stores May 20^th. I still have four books to complete before I will be caught up, but, my daughter is planning on reading “Raven Rise” starting that day.

Hobey-Ho!

“Pendragon The Never War” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5 Water Towers

Hobey-Ho!

The third book in the D.J. MacHale series is a rousing adventure second to none. Yes, second to none and tied with one (I’ll let you guess….ahhh…….HP).

A real tum-tigger.

Bobby and Spader travel to Veelox where we meet Traveler, Aja Killian. Or rather, her floating holographic head informing Bobby and Spader that Saint Dane had been there but promptly turned around and headed for “First Earth”. (Saint Dane knew Aja was looking and would tell Bobby and Spader…he is an evil son of a gun with a diabolical plan to destroy Halla).

Upon arriving on “First Earth” Bobby and Spader find out that the “First Earth” flume location is the same as on “Second Earth”. The difference is that the subway station is busy with commuters, instead of deserted, and the year is 1937.

Mark and Courtney are reading Bobby's latest journal 60 plus years after it was written. It turns out, Bobby lost his ring as he arrived on "First Earth" and the only way he could get the journals to Courtney and Mark was to place them in a safe deposit box in the local Stony Brook Bank with instructions for the Bank to notify Courtney and Mark on a certain day 60 years hence.

Time travel is complicated.

Immediately upon arriving on “First Earth”, two gangsters with submachine guns try to kill Bobby and Spader. Luckily the “First Earth” Traveler, Vincent Van Dyke (Gunny), is there to help them escape. Gunny is close to 60 years old and has only recently learned (from Uncle Press) that he is a traveler. He is the Captain of the Bell Hops at the very swank Manhattan Tower Hotel in Mid-town Manhattan. Gunny takes Bobby and Spader to the hotel and sets them up with a room and jobs so they have time to find out what Saint Dane is up to on “First Earth”.

Needless to say, they find out, and the action begins.

The action in this edition centers on the Hindenburg disaster. It turns out that the Hindenburg is a key turning point in the history of Earth.

Maximilian Rose is a notorious, very rich, gangster living in the Manhattan Hotel. His ex-partner and now rival is not rich and has a plan to destroy Rose. Since Rose is about to acquire great riches from Germany on the Hindenburg, the plan to destroy Rose involves destroying the Hindenburg. Unfortunately, behind everything the gangsters decide is.......Saint Dane.

Gunny, Bobby, and Spader work together (well, sort of) to figure out the plans of both gangsters and decide on the correct course of action to try to defeat Saint Dane on “First Earth”. Do they save the Hindenburg or let it crash? Whatever decision they make there is a lot at stake. If they fail, “Second Earth” and “Third Earth” will fall along with "First Earth". With one roll of the dice Saint Dane can topple three territories. A great deal for him. A bad deal for the travelers.

Do Gunny, Bobby, and Spader succeed? Does the Hindenburg crash? Does Bobby get his ring back? Does Spader revert to his crazy desire to kill Saint Dane at any cost? How does Gunny help?

D.J. MacHale has finished eight of ten of the Pendragon series. Two more to go…..so if you are missing Harry Potter and friends, tune into Bobby Pendragon and friends. You will not be disappointed.

Believe me, on the evil scale Saint Dane beats He Who Must Not Be Named by a country mile.

Hobey-Ho!

“Pendragon The Lost City of Faar” by D.J. MacHale

Genre: Children’s Fantasy

Rating: 4 Water Towers

Hobey-ho!

Pendragon: The Lost City of Faar is the second book in the Pendragon series. My daughter told me I would enjoy the books more and more as I read them (she has finished the latest, number eight, out of a planned ten). She was right. I was instantly enthralled and now consider myself a Bobby Pendragon fan much as I was (and still am) a Harry Potter fan.

After a short visit to their home territory of Second Earth, Uncle Press and Bobby Pendragon say goodbye to Loor (who returns to her home territory of Zadaa) and flume to the territory of Cloral in search of the evil Saint Dane (who, if you remember, is trying to take over Halla by causing the territories of Halla to fall like dominos, the Travelers goal is to save Halla from Saint Dane).

Bobby is getting more used to the flume rides and enjoyed this one much more than he had in Book One. Uncle Press had given him some advance warning (“Remember the Cannonball?”), so Bobby was somewhat prepared for the end of the flume ride when he shot out into water. A few seconds later, a very enthusiastic Uncle Press arrived with a beautiful dive into the water. Cloral is, we find out, Uncle Press’s favorite territory, and I must say, I also like it. Cloral is a tropical paradise completely covered by water. The cities of Cloral are humongous and float.

On Second Earth, Mark and Courtney continue to await and read Bobby’s journals. On one particular instance in the Boy’s bathroom on the third floor of Stony Brook Junior High, a custodian surprised them while they were reading. Fleeing his wrath, Mark and Courtney, as they find out much later, left behind one page of the latest journal. Later that night, they go dumpster diving in search of the missing page but could not find it. The next day, Mark goes to school early and asks the custodian where it might be. Mr. Dorrico (the custodian) tells him he has a rule to leave schoolwork where he found it in case the person who lost it goes back to find it. Mark rushes to the third floor boy’s bathroom and to his dismay finds bully Andy Mitchell reading the page. To make matters worse, Andy now wants to read ALL the journals and as bad luck may have it, witnesses the arrival of a new journal. Mark is devastated, but, decides to handle the situation on his own and not tell Courtney.

On Cloral, Uncle Press and Bobby meet up with Spader, a fun loving very capable, aquaneer on the floating city of Grallion. Spader saves Uncle Press and Bobby from the Cloral version of the evil quigs…very large sharks.

After several weeks on Grallion (a farming community responsible for growing food for Cloral) the floating city of Magorran was to rendezvous with Grallion and Spader was to meet with his father who lived and worked on Magorran.

Unfortunately, Magorran does not stop where it is supposed to and rams into Grallion causing major damage to both cities. After boarding Magorran, Uncle Press, Bobby, Spader, and other aquaneers from Grallion find that everyone on Magorian, including Spader’s father, were dead.

Saint Dane is the main suspect.

To wrap up the rest of the story without ruining the plot is difficult. But, very quickly, Faar is a fabled city on Cloral much the same as Atlantis is here on Second Earth. Spader’s father (the Traveler from Cloral) left Spader a map detailing the location of Faar.

Uncle Press now understands that the turning point on Cloral hinges on Faar, and that Saint Dane needs to be stopped before he finds it. In the ensuing battles, Cloral is forever changed as are Bobby Pendragon and new Cloral Traveler the young Spader.

Now that Harry Potter has completed its run, I now have a new fantasy series (thanks to my daughters urging to read Pendragon) to look forward to reading every month or two. As I mentioned above D. J. MacHale has finished eight of a scheduled ten Pendragon books, so I have plenty to read. I am definitely looking forward to it!

Hobey-ho!

+++

Check out what I found on YouTube. There are more including whole movies being made based on Pendragon.

“Pendragon, The Merchant of Death” by D. J. MacHale

Genre: Kids Fantasy

Rating: 3.5 Water Towers

“I hope you are reading this Mark. Heck, I hope anybody’ s reading this because the only thing that’s keeping me from going totally off my nut right now is getting all this down on paper…..”

So starts the adventure of Bobby Pendragon.

At age 14, Bobby Pendragon is living the normal life of a teenage boy. He is on the Basketball team, has a good friend, Mark, and has just kissed (tongue and all) the most beautiful girl in school, Courtney Chetwynde. Bobby’s Uncle Press interrupted the kiss thus severely embarrassing both Bobby and Courtney, who, much to Bobby’s chagrin, decided to leave.

Instead of letting Bobby go to the championship basketball game, Uncle Press tells Bobby he needs him to help him, but does not give him any details. The two take a motorcycle ride into Mid-Town Manhattan (New York City) and enter a deserted subway station. There Bobby and Uncle Press encounter the evil Saint Dane, and Bobby has to run for his life. While Uncle Press keeps Saint Dane busy, Bobby runs to find the special special door Uncle Press told him about. If he finds it and if he gets past the monster "quigs", he is to mutter the word “Denduron”.

Bobby barely makes it to, and through, the door then says the word “Denduron”. Upon uttering that word, Bobby is transported in a flume to the Denduron territory that is in a different dimension than where he came from: Second Earth. Uncle Press shows up shortly thereafter.

At Denduron, Uncle Press and Bobby (and other travelers, Osa, her daughter Loor, and Alder a traveler from Denduron) are to help the Milago people in their revolution against their oppressors, the Bedoowan.

The Milago are forced to work in horrible conditions in the mines so that the Bedoowan have a steady supply of the precious stone “glaze” that the Bedoowan then sell for a healthy profit. The Milago are slaves and are murdered at the whim of a powerful Bedoowan, who happens to be Saint Dane in disguise. Yup, he is an evil dude.

The book unfolds as a Journal written by Bobby and read by Mark and Courtney. The night after Bobby disappeared with Uncle Press, a visitor came to Mark’s bedroom and gave him a ring. This ring turns into a portal for Bobby to put the Journal into for Mark to retrieve. Very cool.

“Pendragon, The Merchant of Death” is an action filled fantasy with very interesting characters and situations. Although it was a bit slow for me to warm up to, by the end of the book, I had become a fan. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Side Note: My daughter wanted me to read this, and I reluctantly agreed (I mean come on, I’m an old guy and this is a kids book). The argument that “Harry Potter” is also for kids got me to try it and , additionally, D.J MacHale and my daughter have emailed each other for the past 5 or 6 years. He is truly a nice person.