Author: D.J. MacHaleGoodreads Rating: 4.15
Pages: 560
Reviewed By: Amy
When Bobby Pendragon first arrives on the tropical world of Ibara, he finds paradise. There is beauty all around and the people of Ibara are blissfully happy. It's not long before Bobby discovers, however, that they are also blissfully...oblivious.
The leaders of Ibara are keeping a devastating secret from their people, one that gives Saint Dane all the opportunity he needs to launch his final assault on Halla.
While Bobby struggles to learn the truth in time to thwart Saint Dane, Courtney Chetwynde desperately searches for Mark Diamond. On the heels of a shocking tragedy, Mark has disappeared. Worse, he seems to be under Saint Dane's influence. It's up to Courtney to find Mark and stop him from making a grave mistake that could change the future of all existence.
Wow.... That is a nice, simple way to sum up this head-spinner of a book. I started reading Pendragon when I was younger (in late middle school) and had diverged from it, ending with this book, until now (the 9th book wasn't out yet and you know the attention span of a middle schooler... I moved on and forgot to come back). So this is my second time reading through this book and am excited to say I loved it just as much as the first time. There were parts I couldn't remember that through me for a loop when I read them again, but the feels were still there.
I love all the twists and turns that MacHale puts in the books. It makes it almost impossible to guess what will happen next. Just when you think you know what Bobby is planning to do, he does something else. Just when you think you know someone, BAM they aren't who they appear. One thing I loved about this book (in relation to the surprises) was it connected to the other books. Now I know you are thinking "Well, duh, it's a series, it should refer back to the other books" but bear with me. I'm going to say this as vaguely as possible so as not to give away any spoilers, but what you knew about the other territories and the occurrences there, aren't what you think. This book will really make you see how clever Saint Dane is and how carefully he planned out the fall of Halla right from the very beginning.
It is interesting to see Bobby grow through, not just the whole series (there's a nice little flashback where Bobby revisits his memories of his first adventures as a Traveler) but through even this whole book. I won't say much outside of the fact that Bobby does a lot of soul searching in this book, especially with some, shall we say, questionable methods that he employs.
I will end this review on a positive note (since I can't really say anything I didn't like with the book). I had the utterly fantastic opportunity to talk with D.J. MacHale at BEA this year (where he was kind enough to autograph this book for me) where he told me the last three books are a trilogy of sorts. By the time I wiped the tears from my eyes and my adrenaline faded when I reached the end of the book, I saw what he meant. The ending sets up everything, showing you that the game has changed. Throw out everything you thought you knew because I have a feeling we haven't seen anything yet. Hobey-Ho let's GO!
The Courts Decision:
I am extremely jealous that you got to meet MacHale. I started this series when was older MG. I stopped at the Quillan Games not because I didn`t like the series but because I didn`t want to know the ending. This is the only series I have ever done this with. Your review makes me want to go read the next book even though I am now eighteen.
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