The Maze of Bones Part 1 Review

Book: The Maze of Bones

Series: 1^st in The 39 Clues

Author: Rick Riordan

Rating: 94%

Pages: 220

Part: 1

Back Cover Description (copying from the library’s version of the 2008 edition)

“What would happen if you discovered the your family was on

of the most powerful in human history? What if you were told that the

source of the family’s power was hidden around the world, in the form of

39 clues? What if you were given a choice – take a million dollars and

 walk away…or get the first clue? If you’re Amy and Dan Cahill,

you take the clue – and begin a very dangerous race.”

 

Part 2 will be posted soon!!!

-DarlettaD

Eragon Review part 2…finally!

“One Boy….

                One Dragon….

                                A world of adventure.”

Oh the drama! To me, this opening for the summery is cheesy and belongs on the back of a video game. The back cover summery in no way does the book justice. Honestly, I ordered this from the library, and then almost didn’t read it after glancing at the back cover! Of course, once I did actually read the first page, I was sucked in. It’s one of those books that you’ll be up till 4 AM to finish. A recommendation would be to get all three in the series out from the library so you don’t have to wait (it took me a week to get the second one…a week.)

Anyways, back to the review, it’s not exactly “overnight” that he’s thrust into battles and mayhem, in fact he actually has around a month before anything interesting happens again after Saphira (his dragon) hatches. Just another example of the inadequacy of the summery, they didn’t even bother to give the name of the dragon!! Finally, the Ra’zac (strange, evil, cloaked figures) arrive, trying to find the dragon egg, and Eragon realizes he must escape to save Saphira, especially after the Ra’zac burn his farm and kill his Uncle (his cousin was away at the time, so Roran is still alive)

 Now, there are some similarities to Lord of the Rings, the Ra’zac are similar to the Ring Wraiths(I think that’s what they’re called) and Lord of the Rings has a special language and the name Eragon is very similar to Aragorn as well, but for me, that’s where the similarities stopped. Having not read Star Wars, I cannot tell if there are similarities there.

As Eragon is about to escape, Brom (town storyteller) discovers what Eragon is up to and the he is a Dragon Rider and insists on coming with him. Now is when the action starts! Along with specific spoilers….

• Brom dies
• Eragon meets Murtagh who later turns out to be a son of Morzan(seriously evil person who is dead)
• As Brom is dying, he reveals that he was a Dragon Rider whose dragon had been killed. Brom’s dragon was named Saphira as well.
• Eragon rescues and elf (Arya) with the help of Murtagh, Arya is also the woman that Eragon was having mysterious dreams about.
• Eragon kills the Shade in the end, but suffers a serious injury as a result

 

There are many more, but those are the five main points of interest. Christopher Paolini better hurry up and finish the fourth book…I’m getting impatient!! It’s been what? 3 and half years since he finished the last one? And he said he had already written 100 pages into it!!! I mean…is the book going to be so big that if you fall asleep while reading it you’ll suffer serious injury? Oh well…

Hope you liked it! See? Shorter…by half a page!!

-DarlettaD

Update

Hi, the reason I haven’t been posting is:

A. I’ve been sick…AGAIN! Is it possible to got sick with a 12 day flu twice in a month in a half?! Actually, this current one is more like a 7 day flu…but close enough!

B. My old computer completely died two days ago, you can turn it on, but you can ony see a blackish grey screen

C. This keyboard is really uncooperative….the space doesn’t work very well nor does the “r” key. I have to pummel the letter sometimes to get it to write. Also, my e-mail in this computer isn’t working…so my lifeline to communication is gone.

And now I have to go catch up on schoolwork that I didn’t do on Monday…yay me…exactly what everyone wishes to be doing on a Saturday…

-DarlettaD

Eragon Review Part 2

I wrote this review awhile ago, and it’s probably not as good as it could be. Also, some of the info is outdated. It has moved up on my list of favorites and I’m currenly re-reading The Lord of the Rings and may have to change my opinion on that as well. I am in the process of writing an updated version, but that may take me awhile, so…I’m posting this to have a filler until I finish

Spoilers!
People have been saying over and over again how very unoriginal this writing is. Never have finished the Lord of the Rings (finding one of the most boring things I’ve ever read.), and I haven’t read the Star Wars books, I really can’t tell you if this is really plagiarism. I have read the reviews that compare Star Wars to Eragon, and I admit, they do have some merit. But there are still a lot of original ideas in this book, and it is one of the better dragon books out there. And if it is just like the Lord of the Rings, I give Christopher Paolini a thumbs up for managing to make it interesting.
The story line was good, and there were a couple of laughs along the way. I was sad when Brom died, but happy when Eragon rescued Arya. Arya turned out to be my favorite character, and the most mysterious. Saphira was done well, giving her enough traits to not sound like she had the mind of a human. Overall, I would have to say that the characters were all well done.
I will say this though, the book could have a third less chapters and you wouldn’t notice the difference. Too many pages, and too much time is spent on descriptions of every little thought, action, and scenery change. And while I love long books, I will only like them if it keeps you captivated. It is also a little bit gory, with lots of wars and battles, it’s to be expected, and should delight teenage boys.
For boys I would say this is 10 and up, for girls I would say 12 and up. I liked it quite a bit, but it could have been a lot better in my opinion. Another thing that really got me was the ending. There was nothing that gave you the happy, contented feeling of just having finished a good book. Instead it was like the story line was fading into the distance, almost like an unfinished thought.
This is the type of book you can read several times, but with a very long distance between the readings. I would still place it on my top 10 favorite series list, but it would be in place #10.

-DarlettaD

Eragon, Review Part 1

Book: Eragon

Series: 1^st book in the Inheritance Cycle…or as most people call it: The Eragon Series.

Author: Christopher Paolini

Rating: 91%

Pages: 730

Part: 1

Back Cover Description (copying from my version of the 2005 paperback edition)

                “One Boy….

                                One Dragon…

                                                A world of adventure.

                When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes that he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself.

                Overnight he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of and old story-teller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

                Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands…”

There will be more of course! Part 2 is on its way!!!

-DarlettaD

I’ll try to do another post later today….

I think i said it all in the title…….

Top 10 Books of All Time(Well…Modern Times)

Top 10 Books/Series of All Time (I was bored and decided to try making this list) This is subject to change!

1. Harry Potter (No surprises there)
2. The Chronicles of Prydain (Haven’t read them in forever but they are the best)
3. *Artemis Fowl (The best criminal mastermind of all time!
4. *The Ranger’s Apprentice (See? I don’t just read fantasy!)
5. The Princess Academy (I can hear you all now saying Ick! But it is honestly one of the best books ever written)
6. *Eragon/The Inheritance Cycle (True, I haven’t read the Lord of the Rings, so I don’t know how much they copy, it’s on order from the library, and they do have the tendency to drag on…I mean come on! How many words do you need to describe running? I only need a sentence, Paolini takes two and a half pages…but still…..)
7. *Maximum Ride (Funny…action packed….romance…what more can one ask for in a series?)
8. Nicolas Flamel (I actually forgot about this series! Probably because I haven’t taken a trip to Barnes&Notebooks, yes I actually do call it that, lately and bought this series….)
9. The Mysterious Benedict Society (This series just has a unique style that no other series seems to have…it drags you in.)
10. The 39 Clues (Almost didn’t make the list until I realized that if I have four of these outrageously priced books on my shelf…then they deserve to be here.)
11. Ella Enchanted (I like this book…it’s…different, and also the only book I like by this author. I may end up putting this in the finalists eventually…but I really like it here on my list)

 

*These could possibly be removed from the list all together, it depends on how the series finishes up. Let’s just say if Holly dies from Artemis Fowl, if Halt dies from The Ranger’s Apprentice, if Arya doesn’t go for Eragon in the end, if Max goes for Dylan, those books will be thrown at the wall. The Hunger Games used to be #2 on the list before book 3, and let’s just say, that book ended any love I had for the series.

I call it The Curse of the Trilogy, and only The Mysterious Benedict Society escaped its clutches. The Hunger Games, The Midnighters, The Great Tree of Avalon , ext. all ended on a sour or not as good note…..Let’s just say I’m really glad Eragon turned into a cycle of four…

Finalists that didn’t make the list:

-The Lost Hero (I decided that just one book in the series really didn’t qualify yet…)

- Pendragon (I liked them, but I liked others more…)

-Airman (By the same author as Artemis Fowl, but it was either Artemis or Airman and Artemis wins every time)

-Here, There Be Dragons (I’ve only read the first book, and I refuse to put it on the list unless I’ve read every book of the series available…)

-The Children of the Lamp (I like these books, but for some reason, unlike other series, I have trouble reading them twice in a row…and that was what ultimately made them miss the list.)

-The Great Tree of Avalon (The Curse of the Trilogy strikes again! I liked the 3d book, but it didn’t have the same quality as the first two…)

And that’s it!

-DarlettaD

The Angel Experiment, Part 2

              *There may be blank spots in this review (I haven’t read the book in about a month and a half…and I’ve probably read about 50 other books since then. Not exaggerating!)

                  Now, first of all, the message at the beginning was a little over dramatic…but than again…I’m overly dramatic as well, but this seemed to be a little overkill. “You’re life could depend on it!” But still, that’s not the point of the book, and it does drag you in. Yes she is part bird, she has wings. As do her “flock.” The part on the back about her “figuring out what she really thinks about Fang” didn’t make much sense except for that one part at the end when she kisses him…otherwise he’s just her right wing man. I love the cookie part, “must have cookies.”

                   Now, this book is very funny, in some places it seems like the author is trying a little to hard to be funny, but I laughed throughout the whole book, which is rare for me unless I happen to be reading Calvin and Hobbes. Now, to get your attention at the beginning, half wolf-mutants called Erasers attack and kidnap the youngest member, Angel. Angel has been taken to the School, a horrible place where they experiment on people like her.

                   Now, Angel is my fav character, she’s so……deceptively sweet! And when she was kidnapped I was like: “Well, there’s going to be a rescue missing-RIGHT?! Yes! There is! And just as her name- Maximum Ride (gotta love that name)-promises, it’s a very Maximum Ride from beginning to end!  There are mutant fights, and mutant/human fights, and Max/Angel fights!  They manage to get Angel back halfway through without too much trouble…sure they get captured first, but they break their way out again pretty fast. Have I mentioned I love Angel? Honestly, my favorite part of the book is when Angel cons a woman into buying her a $49 stuffed bear!

                 My other favorite part of the book is when Max saves a girl for getting beat up, but gets shot in the process, and then asks the girls mother for help. The girl’s, Ella’s, mother is a vet and her name is Dr. Martinez helps Max and discovers in the process that Max has wings. But instead of immediately trying to turn Max into some kind of public display, she helps her and is really nice, definitely hope we see her in more books!

                   The chapters from Angel’s point of view at the beginning are heart breaking…but I do have to say one thing, James Patterson can’t do third person well, at least not with these characters. Now, did I mention that these are spoiler (can you tell I like italics?) reviews? I don’t know about any of you guys, but I have to know about books before reading them, and I end up trawling through hundreds of sites trying to find exact details, which, sadly, there are very few of. So here it is SPOILER SECTION (Warning! Put hand over screen, scroll down quickly, or whatever it is you non-spoiler people do):

• Jeb (Their protector, saved them from the School, taught them how to fight, went missing and is presumed dead by the flock.) is alive! And, he’s on the bad side this time. So Max wants revenge…big time.
• Angel discovers she can control minds.
• Jeb’s son, Ari, has been turned into an Eraser and wants to eat Max as lunch and the rest of the Flock as a snacks and side dishes.
• Max gets a voice that helps her make decisions. But not before she gets debilitating headaches that are the Voice settling in….apparently, they’re a little cryptic about that part.
• They find another group of mutants whom they set free and who take off for parts unknown.
• Find info on their parents, but most of it’s in code.
• Angel gets a mutant dog named Total!
• It’s all good in the end! No one important dies and they’re flying off into the sunset! Yay!

 

And that’s the book, yes that was long…I’m working on being shorter. Cut me some slack, this was my first review in….well, ever! Enjoy the book

-DarlettaD

Recently Decided to Actually WRITE on My Blog

I posted once….and didn’t return. Now making a concious effort to have at least one post a week, because i’ve got this whole list here of books I need to review…I also like suggestions! I read anything from Pride and Prejudice to Harry Potter to anything you have in mind! I like books that don’t have much popularity, and I’m more interested in the 10-16 age range…and by the way, the below post is from today…not Oct.12.

-DarlettaD

Part 1, Review of the Angel Experiment

 

Book: The Angel Experiment

Series: 1^st book in Maximum Ride Series

Author: James Patterson

Rating: 95%

Pages: 422

Part: 1

Back Cover Description (copying from my version of the paperback from the 2007 edition)

                “Do not put this book down. I’m dead serious- your life could depend on it. I’m risking everything by telling you – but you need to know.

                                -Max

Her full name is Maximum Ride.

She’s 98% human, 2% bird. And the girl can fly.

Max’s Missions:

• Protect the rest of her gang- Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel- from a pack of half-wolf, half-human mutants with a taste for flying humans.
• Rescue Angel from a crew of wack-job scientists.
• Infiltrate a secret facility to track down their missing parents.
• Figure out what she really thinks about Fang.
• Get revenge on the one person she thought she could trust.
• Discover the best chocolate-chip cookie in New York City.
• Save the whole world, for crying out loud.

Not necessarily in that order, or course. “

There will be more! Part 2 is my summary of the book and more detailed ratings!