As I perused S&S's books, one book stood out. It was one of the volumes in the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. It had great artwork, and I decided to start there. It took me a entire month to read through the set. The books are long, similar in length to the Harry Potter books. There are 9 books (so far) plus a novella. This series has consumed my life for the last month, much like what the All the Young Dudes Harry Potter fanfic did to me back in November.
To be honest, the Keeper series has captivated me more than anything I have read in years.
I love, love, LOVE this series. It is everything. And it's not over. Shannon Messenger is still writing the story, the saga, the most incredible coming-of-age tale of Sophie Foster.
Do I have your attention?
Sophie Foster is 12 years old and a senior in high school in San Diego. Sophie has a photographic memory, and she is unpopular in school, since she is far more intelligent than all of the other students.
Sophie can hear the thoughts of everyone else, so she keeps earbuds in her ears and plays loud music on her iPod, even during her classes, to try to muffle the noise. This hasn't made her popular with her teachers, either. Sophie is particularly distressed as she endures hearing her parents' thoughts while they wish she were normal like her sister.
One day Sophie learns that she is an elf and that all elves have special powers. This explains Sophie's photographic memory and telepathy. Sophie is taken to the Lost Cities and is enrolled in Foxfire Academy, the elven school.
The elven world, the Lost Cities, is ruled by the Council, which has 12 Councillors. Sophie soon learns that she was created through Project Moonlark, which was envisioned by the rebel group, the Black Swan. Sophie is unsure whether the Black Swan is good or evil. Later, Sophie learns about another rebel group, the Neverseen.
Fun fact: The elven boys are all in love with Sophie, and she has no idea. Sophie is so used to being hated by everyone that she fails to notice how much the elves admire her. She's completely oblivious as she fends off attacks by the rebels. Dex, Fitz, and Keefe all adore her. While Sophie makes mistakes due to her not understanding the elven world, she is also held in an exalted status by everyone. Everyone thinks she is completely awesome.
So you see, not all books have to have characters that are so flawed that everyone laughs at them. That has nothing to do with relatability. Some series book fans keep trying to excuse S&S by saying that Nancy Drew needs to be relatable. No, she doesn't. I'll step back off my soapbox.
This series is fantasy, which I like under certain circumstances which are met by this series. I dislike fantasy that is set in strange worlds that I have trouble visualizing. I do like fantasy that is set in our world in an alternate society unknown to regular humans or in another world that is similar to ours. That basic premise fits Harry Potter, the Narnia books, and the books written by Brandon Mull and Rick Riordan, among others.
If you like Harry Potter or series like Fablehaven and Beyonders, please try the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. This series is not to be missed. I am so glad that I decided to look at S&S's offerings. Thank goodness I did.
1. Keeper of the Lost Cities, 2012
2. Exile, 2013
3. Everblaze, 2014
4. Neverseen, 2015
5. Lodestar, 2016
6. Nightfall, 2017
7. Flashback, 2018
8. Legacy, 2019
8.5. Unlocked, 2020
9. Stellarlune, 2022
Book #8.5 is mostly an encyclopedia for the series. However, it is vital that the novella from #8.5 be read prior to beginning #9. Important plot developments occur in the novella.
An event occurs in one of the early books that I just didn't buy. I felt that the author left out too many details, and that usually means that information is being purposefully withheld so as to mislead the reader. As I read further, I couldn't get past that scene. I kept wondering if I was right that what was believed to have happened did not actually happen.
As I continued reading, I searched the previous books for clues. I noticed anagrams involving many of the names. After a certain secret was revealed, I picked up on an important anagram that pointed to that secret. I kept thinking of the one scene that bothered me, and I searched the books for a certain name, hoping to find the full name so that I could try to find an anagram. I felt like I had seen the full name, but strangely, I was having trouble locating it through Kindle's book search function.
I wanted to see if this character's full name could be rearranged to make an anagram connecting with one or two other characters. Remember, I mentioned that a certain character has three or four identities. If I could draw a connection, then it would prove that I was right about the scene with missing details.
I finally found the full name that I needed. I immediately pulled one character name out of it, and I felt that this was not a coincidence. I was left with a group of letters that seemed to have no meaning, but I suspected that something was there.
I kept rearranging the letters, sometimes pulling out a word that then led to a dead end. Finally, I pulled out a certain word that specifically described a second character. Oh! I now had the name of one character, a specific word that pointed directly to a second character, and then some more letters left over. I pulled out the word "and." I looked at the five remaining letters, and then I saw it. That other word had significance as well.
I had the name of the first character, a specific word describing a second character, plus the word "and" followed by a specific word describing a third character.
I was astonished. There was no way these words were a random coincidence. I couldn't believe that I had solved an anagram by myself and that it had meaning. It told me that what I suspected was true! I was on such a high the rest of the day. I was so excited!
I was perplexed when I finished reading the series and got online to find no mention of this anagram. Seriously, am I expected to believe that I have solved an anagram that hasn't already been posted everywhere online? I don't get it. I am proud of myself, though. It took me between 15 and 30 minutes to solve the anagram.
I'm now reading the series again, as I detailed in my previous post. While I am completely convinced that I'm right, I want to gather more evidence. This is for my own personal satisfaction and well-being, since I'm going to have to wait one or more years to find out for sure.
Before I close, I want to mention that the books are written in a modern fashion. At times, they have short sentences and modern punctuation styles used for emphasis.
The books are very, very exciting at times, and at other times, they slow down. This is usually the case with books that are very long. They do have slow spots. These books tend to have extremely lengthy discussions that go on and on. This is realistic, since in real life we do discuss our problems at great length. I did enjoy the conversations, but I also got anxious at times because I wanted to find more clues about my theory.
I will be hashing out my theory in a series of future posts. These posts will be marked as spoilers so that you can avoid them unless you've already read the series.
I highly recommend this series. Please give it a try if you have enjoyed other similar fantasy books.
Book #8.5 is mostly an encyclopedia for the series. However, it is vital that the novella from #8.5 be read prior to beginning #9. Important plot developments occur in the novella.
As I continued reading, I searched the previous books for clues. I noticed anagrams involving many of the names. After a certain secret was revealed, I picked up on an important anagram that pointed to that secret. I kept thinking of the one scene that bothered me, and I searched the books for a certain name, hoping to find the full name so that I could try to find an anagram. I felt like I had seen the full name, but strangely, I was having trouble locating it through Kindle's book search function.
I wanted to see if this character's full name could be rearranged to make an anagram connecting with one or two other characters. Remember, I mentioned that a certain character has three or four identities. If I could draw a connection, then it would prove that I was right about the scene with missing details.
I finally found the full name that I needed. I immediately pulled one character name out of it, and I felt that this was not a coincidence. I was left with a group of letters that seemed to have no meaning, but I suspected that something was there.
I kept rearranging the letters, sometimes pulling out a word that then led to a dead end. Finally, I pulled out a certain word that specifically described a second character. Oh! I now had the name of one character, a specific word that pointed directly to a second character, and then some more letters left over. I pulled out the word "and." I looked at the five remaining letters, and then I saw it. That other word had significance as well.
I had the name of the first character, a specific word describing a second character, plus the word "and" followed by a specific word describing a third character.
I was perplexed when I finished reading the series and got online to find no mention of this anagram. Seriously, am I expected to believe that I have solved an anagram that hasn't already been posted everywhere online? I don't get it. I am proud of myself, though. It took me between 15 and 30 minutes to solve the anagram.
I'm now reading the series again, as I detailed in my previous post. While I am completely convinced that I'm right, I want to gather more evidence. This is for my own personal satisfaction and well-being, since I'm going to have to wait one or more years to find out for sure.
Before I close, I want to mention that the books are written in a modern fashion. At times, they have short sentences and modern punctuation styles used for emphasis.
The books are very, very exciting at times, and at other times, they slow down. This is usually the case with books that are very long. They do have slow spots. These books tend to have extremely lengthy discussions that go on and on. This is realistic, since in real life we do discuss our problems at great length. I did enjoy the conversations, but I also got anxious at times because I wanted to find more clues about my theory.
I will be hashing out my theory in a series of future posts. These posts will be marked as spoilers so that you can avoid them unless you've already read the series.
I highly recommend this series. Please give it a try if you have enjoyed other similar fantasy books.
No comments:
Post a Comment