Lockwood & Co. Book Series by Jonathan Stroud

The Lockwood & Co. book series was written by Jonathan Stroud.  It was published by Little, Brown Books.

1.  The Screaming Staircase, 2013
2.  The Whispering Skull, 2014
3.  The Hollow Boy, 2015
4.  The Creeping Shadow, 2016
5.  The Empty Grave, 2017

Publisher's summary of The Screaming Staircase:

A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly.  Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see and eradicate these supernatural foes.  Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.

In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision.  After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England.  Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?

This is an upper middle-grade series.  It's not quite young adult, but it's definitely not for younger children.  At times, the books are quite creepy and scary.

The time period in which this series is set is never stated, but it appears to be an alternative modern reality.  Spirits began appearing in England approximately 60 years before.  Though never stated in the books, the onset of the spirit infestation apparently hindered the development of modern technology.  The characters have no cell phones and no computers.  Most all technology is never mentioned.  

The youth carry rapiers, which they use to fight ghosts.  Vehicles do exist and are used, both automobiles and trucks.  The books are modern but without the more modern developments of the last 30 to 40 years.  It's like the books are set during the 1970s.

This series is has quite a few typical series book tropes.  Even some of the titles are reminiscent of series books, especially The Screaming Staircase and The Whispering Skull.  Throughout the series, the skull is most commonly referred to as "skull" as if a proper noun but not capitalized, but it is also sometimes called the "talking skull."  That is reminiscent of a Three Investigators book title.

The main trio consists of three characters, a girl and two boys.  One member of the trio is overweight with the typical jibes made about his eating habits.  

And of course, the skull.  The skull is an important character, and in fact, he's my favorite character.  I love him.

The trio has a rival, who is very annoying near the beginning of the series.  The relationship changes somewhat later in the series, which is interesting.

The trio spends a lot of time investigating before attempting to dispatch the spirits.  They need background information in order to come up with a proper plan of attack.  Typically, the site of each haunting had a traumatic event occur years before, like a murder or suicide, and that event is the cause of the haunting.

The spirit problem is part of an overarching story spanning all five books.  Clues are gradually doled out as the series progresses to its conclusion.

This is an extremely good series.  I greatly enjoyed reading the books, and I felt a bit lost after I finished the last one.

The series was also adapted to Netflix and aired for one season.  I watched the Netflix show soon after I read the books. The show is good, but the books are far scarier.  

I also watched the Netflix series The Irregulars, which is another show in the same vein.  I really enjoyed The Irregulars.

The Thickety Series by J. A. White

Back in around August, I read a message thread where Keeper of the Lost Cities fans were recommending other books to read.  The Thickety series was mentioned.  I read the free excerpt of The Thickety: A Path Begins on Amazon and felt that I would probably enjoy the book.  I had to wait around 2 1/2 months before I could read it, since I was busy with my third reading and analysis of the Keeper books.

The Thickety series consists of four books.

1.  The Thickety: A Path Begins, 2014
2.  The Whispering Trees, 2015
3.  Well of Witches, 2016
4.  The Last Spell, 2017

Here is the publisher's summary of the first book:

A dark, forbidden forest.  Vicious beasts.  Deadly plants.  An evil spellbook.  Secrets.  Mysteries. Witches, both good and bad...  Welcome to the world of the Thickety.

Full of action, set in an intriguing and dangerous world, and illustrated with gorgeous and haunting line art, The Thickety: A Path Begins is a truly stunning book.

A Path Begins is the thrilling start of a middle grade fantasy series about a girl, a mysterious forest, and a book of untold magical powers.  Kara and her brother, Taff, are shunned by their village because their mother was a witch.  The villagers believe nothing is more evil than magic, except for what lurks in the nearby Thickety.

But when Kara enters the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book, a grimoire that might have belonged to her mother.  The events she then sets in motion are both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

And that is just the beginning of the story—there are three more adventures in the Thickety to explore after this first book in the series.

This is a middle-grade series.  Kara is 12 years old, and her brother, Taff, is seven.  Clearly, the publisher used the age of the characters to determine the target age for readers.

This series is too dark for some kids of middle-school age.  The books are creepy and unsettling, featuring deaths, maiming, evil witches, and a demon. 

In an online review, a parent stated that their 10-year-old began crying during the early part of the first book, so they had to quit reading the story.

The author should have made Kara 16 years old and Taff 11.  If Kara had been 16, then the books would have been classified as young adult, which would have made them appropriate for the intended audience.

To me, Kara acts older than 12.  She just doesn't seem like a child.  By the second book, Taff acts much older than seven.  He seems more like a child of 11 or 12.

Book 3, page 155:

"I just want my friend back," Taff said, finally meeting her eyes.  "Part of me thinks you should have trusted her.  The other part of me is glad you stopped her before she did something she couldn't take back.  I'm not sure there was a right decision."

Taff just doesn't seem like a seven-year-old to me.

I prefer low fantasy, which are books set in our world but with some magic in them.  Examples are Harry Potter, Keeper of the Lost Cities, and Percy Jackson.

This series is high fantasy.  I was able to get into the books because the beginning of the first book reads like low fantasy.  It feels like our world but set 150 or more years in the past.  As the story proceeds, it becomes apparent that the setting is not our world at all. 

During the third book, Kara enters the Well of Witches, which is basically a world within a grimoire.  It is really weird, and I skimmed.  I greatly dislike trying to visualize alternate realities.  The Well of Witches isn't that weird, but it was weird enough to cause me to disengage.  It's just how I am with high fantasy.  I have no patience for it.

I enjoyed reading most of this series.  I didn't care for the Well of Witches part of the third book, and I also grew weary of the final part of the fourth book.  Those are the two parts that I skimmed.  I read everything else.

This series is very good, although for me personally, I consider it just good due to my aversion to high fantasy.

My Thoughts on My Rereading of Harry Potter

This post contains spoilers.

In March, I decided to read Harry Potter again, since I needed something different in light of current events.  I have had a distaste for Harry Potter for many years.  It is only due to the pandemic and a need to escape that I decided to read the books again.  It had been 13 years since I read any of them.

In an old blog post from 2013, I explained why I had a problem with Harry Potter.

I read the first four Harry Potter books at about the time that the fourth book was published and volumes five through seven during the following several years as each of those titles were published.  I dearly loved the first four Harry Potter books, but I was somewhat soured on the series due to some dissatisfaction with the final three books.

Part of the problem was the extreme hype surrounding the series.  I hated trying to enjoy something while news reporters who likely had no interest in the series prattled on about various plot details.  It was so annoying.

I recall joining a Yahoo! Group and reading all of the speculation surrounding one of the characters.  I was then greatly annoyed by a Rowling interview in which she effectively shot down the speculation by making a statement about not understanding how people could be drawing certain conclusions.  That effectively ruined it for me.  Sometimes authors need to keep their mouths shut.

The funny thing is... Rowling's comments from that interview were purposefully misleading.  Again, authors need to keep their mouths shut and let their books do the talking.  She ruined it for me.

Furthermore, Rowling's books became wordier and wordier with each new book, and it became apparent that little editing had been done for the last three books.  The fifth book was particularly awful in that at least one-third of the text could have been removed, thus making the book far less boring.  The epilogue at the end of the seventh book was stupid and should not have been included.  It would have been far better to have had more falling action than to have included that nonsense.

Someday I might read the Harry Potter series again, but it is going to be a long time before I consider doing so.  I have too many bad memories of not enjoying parts of the last three books.  If the books had been carefully edited, that would never have been a problem.  It's a shame, really.

I find it interesting to read my comments from 2013 and realize how much some of my opinions have changed.  The most significant one, however, has not changed at all.

I remember the first time I read Harry Potter #1.  I loved it and found it captivating.  I read the book at least two more times years later.  I also greatly enjoyed it during those readings.  When I read the book again in early March, it fell flat for me.  I found it a bit boring.  I feel like most of the book is exposition.  It just doesn't have the punch of the later books.  Also, I remembered all details of the story quite clearly, due to multiple readings, so I wasn't that interested.

I think I used to like Harry Potter #2 less than #1.  The reverse is now true.  I like #2 a lot more than #1.  While I remembered the main plot of #2, enough was hazy for me that the book kept my interest quite well.  This trend continued throughout the rest of my rereading of the set.

I like this quote from book 2 in Chapter 18, "Dobby's Reward."

"It only put me in Gryffindor," said Harry in a defeated voice, "because I asked not to go in Slytherin..."

"Exactly," said Dumbledore, beaming once more.  "Which makes you very different from Tom Riddle.  It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."

Book 3 has always been my favorite, and it is still my favorite.  It is perfect, and I love everything about it.  I love Professor Lupin, Sirius Black, and learning about the dynamic between James Potter and his friends.  I especially adore the scene where Scabbers the rat is revealed to be Wormtail.

"Ron... haven't I been a good friend... a good pet?  You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you... you're on my side, aren't you?"

But Ron was staring at Pettigrew with the utmost revulsion.

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said.

I laugh all through that scene.  I love it.

Book 4 is where the series takes a dark turn.  The first three books do have darkness in them, but the fourth book is where the series becomes quite dark.  If these books had been around when I was a child, they would have been too intense for me.  I was quite sheltered, and the scenes with Voldemort would have given me nightmares.

Near the end of the fourth book, Voldemort returns.  Cornelius Fudge refuses to accept Voldemort's return as reality.  He smiles and implies that Harry has lost his mind.  I just want to slap him.  But even more, I was struck during this reading by how much Cornelius Fudge reminds me of the behavior of the United States government and media during February 2020, when the American people were told that Covid-19 is "just the flu," that masks only protect healthcare workers and not regular citizens, that Covid-19 is a hoax, and that we should just go out and frolic with other people rather than let fear rule our lives.

This passage is from Chapter 36, "The Parting of the Ways."

"Voldemort has returned," Dumbledore repeated.  "If you accept that fact straightaway, Fudge, and take the necessary measures, we may still be able to save the situation."

Right, just like how the CDC should not have been so inept with getting COVID-19 tests out to the states.  Testing is still a problem, even now.

In this passage is from Chapter 37, "The Beginning," Harry has just given George and Fred his prize money to help them start their joke shop.

"If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain.  I don't want it and I don't need it.  But I could do with a few laughs.  We could all do with a few laughs.  I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."

I was also reminded of current events when I read that.

I really enjoyed the fourth book on this reading, at least as much as I did before and perhaps a little more.

I recall not liking the first half of book 5 years ago (refer to my comments above from 2013).  During my original reading, I thought that the time in Sirius Black's house is too long and boring.  I thought that the Ministry of Magic fight scene near the end of the book is too excruciatingly long.  I also found Dolores Umbridge to be too deeply disturbing.  The book was too dark for me at that time.

This time, I had no problem with the part of the story in Black's house.  It flows just fine and is not boring.  Umbridge is still awful, but I knew from my previous reading that she would be deposed.  While Umbridge is sickening, I delightedly looked forward to her fall.  The Ministry of Magic fight scene isn't as bad as I recall.  It is mostly fine, but I did skim some of it.

This passage from Chapter 11, "The Sorting Hat's New Song," also reminds me of people who have thought that the pandemic is a hoax.

Anyone who thought Harry was a liar had to think that Dumbledore was too or else that Dumbledore had been hoodwinked...

They'll know we're right in the end, thought Harry miserably...

Unfortunately, many people still think the pandemic is a hoax.

Also from Chapter 12, "Professor Umbridge," Umbridge declares, "The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark Wizard."

Sometime after book 4 was published, I joined a Yahoo! group that was devoted solely to discussion of which side Snape was on.  I checked that group often, reading the new messages each day.  I was enthralled.  I was utterly fascinated with Snape.  I just knew that he was somehow torn between the two sides.  I knew it. 

At some point after I devoted so much time to reading the discussions about Snape, J.K. Rowling made a statement that caused me to lose much of my interest in the series.  I don't know whether this statement was in an article or in a filmed interview.  I also don't remember the exact words.  All I can do is paraphrase what I recall hearing over 15 years ago.

J.K. Rowling said something like this:  "I am shocked that people think Snape is good.  He is clearly evil!"  I'm sure those aren't the actual words, but that is the meaning of whatever she said.  It was like a punch in the gut.  Why bother reading the rest of the books?

This serves as an example of when an author should not say anything at all.  Snape is a conflicted character.  He is a bully and just a horrible person to be around.  It is revealed in the final book that Snape indeed was playing both sides and that he was helping Harry, even though he treated Harry in the worst way possible.

Sigh.

Rowling deliberately misled fans when she should have not said anything at all.  Her statement about Snape truly did spoil my reading of the final books in the series when I first read them in the 2000s.  My enjoyment of books 6 and 7 was not what it should have been when I first read them years ago.  I was quite nettled when I reached the Snape reveal in book 7 and saw how Rowling had misled us.  Grrr.  It just spoiled the whole thing for me.

That's why I went 13 years before reading the books again.  I have been annoyed about Rowling's Snape quote this entire time.

On this reading, I found book 6 to be excessively dark, but I still enjoyed it more than I did years ago.  This time, I loved book 7.  I absolutely adored it.  That is, except for the epilogue, which I hated years ago and still don't like.  I opted to skim it this time.

I have a few thoughts on the characters.  I don't care that much for Harry's parents, particularly James.  In the flashbacks, James is so mean to Snape, and it's not clear that there was any real justification for it.  I feel that Rowling does not adequately show James' growth as a character.  I accept that James is supposed to be a really good person, but we aren't shown that at all.

I have never understood the Ron and Hermione relationship in the books.  It comes out of nowhere halfway through the series and never feels real to me.  I recently watched all eight films (for the first time ever) after rereading the books, and the movies show the development of the relationship far better than the books do.

My favorite book is #3 followed by #7, 2, 5, 6, 4, and then #1 in last place.  #6 and #4 are very close.  The reason I put #4 near the end and after #6 is that I don't care much for the romance aspect of that book.  It has always seemed forced to me.

Regarding the movies, #1 is my least favorite movie.  #4 is also in next-to-last place.  I don't know that I have a favorite movie.  All of the rest are around the same and quite enjoyable to watch, even though the movies leave out a large amount of what happens in the books.

In closing, my opinion of Harry Potter improved on this reading and my feelings returned to what they were before Rowling's unfortunate statement about Snape.  I am still irked about that, but I can overlook it.

The Story Thieves Series By James Riley

The Story Thieves series consists of the following books written by James Riley.

1.  Story Thieves, 2015
2.  The Stolen Chapters, 2016
3.  Secret Origins, 2017
4.  Pick the Plot, 2017
5.  Worlds Apart, 2018

It should be noted that the Story Thieves series is published by Simon and Schuster.  I find it odd, annoying, and infuriating that the rest of Simon and Schuster's juvenile series output is higher quality than the current output of the Nancy Drew franchise.

On January 13, I was in a bookstore, scanning the shelves to see if I could find another interesting modern series to try.  The first book in the Story Thieves series caught my eye, and I pulled it off the shelf.  The first sentence of the summary reads, "Life is boring when you live in the real world instead of starring in your own book series."  OMG.  What a dream!  Imagine being the star of your own book series!

If you have read the updates on my Facebook page, you know that my page is currently set as being a "book series" after Facebook arbitrarily changed it to that.  I ran with the idea of actually being a book series since several years back, an eBay seller made note of my extremely common name and generic city name and how I sounded like the title character in a juvenile series.  My first volume would be titled Jennifer White of Midwest City.  It's perfect, and it's the truth!

In Story Thieves, Owen learns that his friend, Bethany, is half-fictional.  Bethany's father is a fictional character who has been missing for years.  He presumably went back into a book, and Bethany spends her time jumping in and out of books as she tries to locate him.  Owen insists that Bethany jump the two of them into his favorite series, the Kiel Gnomenfoot series.  Spending some time in a Kiel Gnomenfoot book proves to be disastrous when fictional characters invade the real world in droves.

On page 8, Owen has to help clean up the library.

As usual, it was a mess, like a hurricane had plowed into a nuclear bomb right around the Rick Riordan books.  Owen sighed and dug in, pulling a few interesting books aside as he noticed them.  That was the only good part about cleanup—he'd sometimes find things that looked like a good read.

On page 236, Owen decides that he isn't enjoying being a part of the Kiel Gnomenfoot story like he thought he would.

Hopefully the book was almost done, because this was not turning out to be as much fun as he'd originally thought.  There was much less awesome magic and science, and way too much almost dying.  Had the books always been this dangerous?

On page 322, a fictional character resents the fact that people read about him in books.  Bethany explains to him why people read.

"I don't know if authors watch what you do on some kind of television in their brain, or make the stories up purely from their imaginations.  But we don't read about you because we're bored, or just to amuse ourselves.  We read about you to be with you, to walk in someone else's shoes, to experience another life.  Some of those lives are hard, and others are easy, but we're with you every step of the way.  We read about people in impossible situations because we're dealing with horrible things ourselves, in our lives. And you going through your story helps us with ours, no matter how yours ends. Though I do think we both like a happy ending, don't we?"

The rest of the series focuses on Owen and Bethany trying to halt the terrible events that were set in motion by the jump into the Kiel Gnomenfoot series.

In the second book, The Stolen Chapters, Owen becomes aware that a book has been written about his recent adventures, which of course is the first book in this series, Story Thieves.  The first book is pictured on the front cover of The Stolen Chapters.  Owen now worries constantly about whether everything he says and does is ending up in a book.  "And then the worst thing in the world occurred to him.  'Wait!  What about the bathroom?  They don't read about you going to the bathroom, do they?' "  Owen then goes on to remark, "Maybe that's why they never show people going to the bathroom in books?"

This made me laugh, since we do read about Nancy Drew going to the bathroom in the Nancy Drew Diaries series.  That aside, books do not typically depict people going to the bathroom.  Simon and Schuster, please take note of that and consider omitting the bathroom scenes from future Nancy Drew books.  Thanks in advance for your consideration.

Each book in the Story Thieves series is based on a specific genre.  The second book is based on Sherlock Holmes, and Holmes is mentioned throughout the book.  The third book features comic books.  The fourth book, Pick the Plot, is based on Choose Your Own Adventure.  I was skeptical about Pick the Plot, since I was concerned that I could end up missing information depending upon which options were chosen.  I ended up greatly enjoying the book.  I took great pleasure in choosing every option, some of which ended up getting Owen killed.  My favorite is the one where the reader makes Owen hit himself in the face repeatedly.

Interestingly, at one point in Pick the Plot, the reader has the option to go to the distant past or into the future.  My concern about missing information was legitimate.  Since I chose both options, I am aware that some information is only given in one of the options, so readers do need to bookmark the page which has both options and do need to read both choices.

I did not enjoy the third or fifth books in the series, both of which are heavily based on comic books.  I'm not into the superhero thing, so I did not care for that aspect.  Actually, my main problem was not so much the comic book setting but that the stories became quite convoluted and confusing.  I couldn't keep up with much of what was happening, so I struggled with the books.  Since I was confused, I had trouble caring about what I was reading and was bored.

My opinion of this series is mixed.  The first, second, and fourth books are brilliant.  I love them and wouldn't mind reading them again someday.  I only somewhat enjoyed the third and fifth books.  Many readers really like the third and fifth books, so my opinion has to do with my personal preference.

I have read in multiple reviews that this series has been embraced by children, particularly boys, who are reluctant readers.  I highly recommend this series as one that might encourage children to read.  The books are a lot of fun.

Tales from Lovecraft Middle School Series

When I visit local book stores, I sometimes glance at the newer books for children, but I seldom pay attention to them.  I saw a few of the Tales from Lovecraft Middle School books on the shelf last month, and for some reason, they caught my eye.  Something about the design of the spines held my attention long enough to cause me to pull the first book off the shelf.  I think it's because the design must have reminded me somewhat of classic series books.

I opened the first book to the first page where I read, "Robert Arthur was surrounded by strangers."  Wait, what?  Robert Arthur wrote the Three Investigators series.  How very odd for his name to be the name of the protagonist in a modern series.  I learned later that the author of these books read the Three Investigators series as a child and named his protagonist after the Three Investigators author, Robert Arthur.

I didn't buy the books that day, but I couldn't get them out of my mind.  I just knew that I would like them, kind of like how I knew I would like reading the Rick Brant series when I had never given it a second thought.  One week later, I went back and purchased the Lovecraft Middle School books.

Four books have been published in the series. 

1.  Professor Gargoyle, 2012
2.  The Slither Sisters, 2013
3.  Teacher's Pest, 2013
4.  Substitute Creature, 2013

The books were written by Jason Rekulak under the alias Charles Gilmer.  The books have lenticular covers, which allows the cover to change between two images.

Robert Arthur is 12 years old and a student at Lovecraft Middle School.  Lovecraft Middle School is a brand-new middle school made entirely from recycled materials, and that is the problem.  Many of the recycled materials came from the Tillinghast Mansion, which has caused the school to be haunted, or perhaps "possessed" is a better word.

These books are loosely similar to the Harry Potter, Fablehaven, Percy Jackson, and other related books, although more simplistic and much shorter.  They are light, quick reads.  These are very good books that could get children, particularly boys, introduced to reading.  They aren't difficult to read or unwieldy, and they are quite engaging.

The title of the series is a nod to H. P. Lovecraft, known for horror fiction.  The alias author's name, Charles Gilmer, is another reference to Lovecraft.  I have never read the works of Lovecraft, but I understand that many names used in these books come from Lovecraft's stories.  As already mentioned, the protagonist is Robert Arthur, which is a nod to the Three Investigators series, which the author read as a child.  In the second book, we learn that Robert's favorite subject is language arts and that he enjoys writing.

The Brixton Brothers series is a modern series that pays homage to vintage juvenile series books, particularly the Hardy Boys.  Those books are light, fun reading.  This series, Tales from Lovecraft Middle School, is similar in that it is also light, fun reading, but instead it pays homage to the fantasy and horror genre.  Like the Brixton Brothers series, Tales from Lovecraft Middle School has delightful moments that will make the reader laugh with glee.

Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, and the Problem of Too Much Hype

This post was written months ago and was never finished nor published.  In reading over it tonight, I have decided that it is good enough to publish in the form in which I left it.  My thoughts are a bit more scattered than what I normally publish, but I think the content is still worthwhile.
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After I finished reading the latest book in the Tapestry series, I began to think about the different modern series that I have read and what I think of them.

I read the first four Harry Potter books at about the time that the fourth book was published and volumes five through seven during the following several years as each of those titles were published.  I dearly loved the first four Harry Potter books, but I was somewhat soured on the series due to some dissatisfaction with the final three books.

Part of the problem was the extreme hype surrounding the series.  I hated trying to enjoy something while news reporters who likely had no interest in the series prattled on about various plot details.  It was so annoying.

I recall joining a Yahoo! Group and reading all of the speculation surrounding one of the characters.  I was then greatly annoyed by a Rowling interview in which she effectively shot down the speculation by making a statement about not understanding how people could be drawing certain conclusions.  That effectively ruined it for me.  Sometimes authors need to keep their mouths shut.

The funny thing is... Rowling's comments from that interview were purposefully misleading.  Again, authors need to keep their mouths shut and let their books do the talking.  She ruined it for me.

Furthermore, Rowling's books became wordier and wordier with each new book, and it became apparent that little editing had been done for the last three books.  The fifth book was particularly awful in that at least one-third of the text could have been removed, thus making the book far less boring.  The epilogue at the end of the seventh book was stupid and should not have been included.  It would have been far better to have had more falling action than to have included that nonsense. 

Someday I might read the Harry Potter series again, but it is going to be a long time before I consider doing so.  I have too many bad memories of not enjoying parts of the last three books.  If the books had been carefully edited, that would never have been a problem.  It's a shame, really.

A few years ago, I read the Percy Jackson series.  I remember that I was fully satisfied with the ending of that series, which is better than how Rowling ended her series.  Yes, I will keep going back to that. How a series ends is just as important as the journey.  The series does not have to end happily, but the ending has to be satisfying.  Rowling's series did not end in a satisfying fashion.

I read the Nicholas Flamel series.  I dearly loved reading those books, although the ending was not quite as good as it should have been.  The biggest threats to the twins' survival were killed off way too quickly and easily.  And then the book abruptly ended.  I was left somewhat dissatisfied, but I was not nearly as annoyed as when I finished Harry Potter.

I have read the Hunger Games trilogy.  This is another series that suffered from the hype.  The first book is wonderful.  The second book is nearly as good as the first book.  The third and final book is quite confusing at times, and the lack of proper editing really shows, just like with Harry Potter.  When authors create something that gets hyped, editing is sloppy for the later books, thus creating an inferior final product.

Near the end of the third Hunger Games book, a major character is killed.  The author, for some reason, thought it would be best to mention the character only by a vague passage referring back to an event from an earlier book.  It took me quite a few pages to figure out who had died, and then I was surprised and confused.  I felt like I had somehow missed reading a page or two of text.  I went back and read through the event another one or two times and still was confused.  I could tell by reading the reviews that I was not the only one who didn't get it.  Editing, people... sure, the author is a big-shot after a series gets mega-popular, but the books need editing.

When I finished the Hunger Games trilogy, I was left with a similar letdown feeling to what I felt when I finished Harry Potter.  It should not have to be like this.

Fablehaven is a truly magical and special series which should appeal to the same audience as Harry Potter.  The series has a pretty good following, although not anywhere near the level of Harry Potter.  Even so, the series did take a step down with the fourth and fifth books.  The main problem is that both books have endless fighting and action that never seems to end and are very repetitive.  I am reminded of J.K. Rowling's Ministry of Magic fight scene from her fifth Harry Potter book.  Oh, the horror...

Despite the endless fighting, the Fablehaven series has a very satisfying ending, which of course is more than I can say for Harry Potter.

This brings me back to the Tapestry series, which is what got me to thinking about the rest of these books.  The Tapestry series has such a low number of reviews on Amazon that it is apparent that most people have never heard of it.  Tapestry would appeal to the very same people who enjoyed Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Fablehaven.

The Tapestry series is not yet finished, so I have no idea whether the series will fall flat as others have done.  What I do know is that each book has been better than the last.  The first book is the weakest of the four books, and the series has gotten better and better with each book.    

Reviews of May's New Releases

In May, I had three books to read which were either a continuation of or the conclusion to series that I have been reading.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

This book is the second book in the Divergent trilogy. Divergent was stunning; this book less so. I enjoyed Insurgent a great deal but not nearly as much as Divergent. Divergent is full of discovery as Tris explores her new faction and develops relationships with the other initiates. During Insurgent, Tris is catapulted from one faction to another, which makes the book seem disjointed.

The book is full of fighting. The ending disappointed me because it is too eerily similar to another series. I won't state which series since that mention would be a major spoiler, but seeing the similarity makes me less interested in reading the final book. I feel like I have been there before. Despite that disappointment, I will be reading the third book in the trilogy and expect to enjoy it.

The Enchantress by Michael Scott

This was the sixth and final book in The Secrets of Nicholas Flamel series. The Nicholas Flamel series consists of six books that take place over approximately two weeks. These books are incredibly detailed and have a ton of information about every mythical creature from every ancient religion. The books are vastly informative about those myths.

By either the second or third book in the series, the reader realizes that the conclusion to the series is going to involve time travel. The time travel happens as expected, but I was left with lingering feelings of one character's path not making sense. I can't really explain this without getting into spoilers. I look forward to reading discussions about this in the Flamel website forums.

I felt that the conclusion of this book could have had more explanation. The bulk of the book involved fighting, and those scenes could have been significantly shortened.

Despite my problem with the time travel aspect and the unnecessary fighting in this book, I greatly enjoyed the entire Nicholas Flamel series and highly recommend it.

The Serpent's Shadow by Rick Riordan

The Serpent's Shadow is the third and final book in the Kane Chronicles series. Before beginning this book, I opted not to refresh my memory by reading parts of the second book. I did not enjoy the second book as much as I did the first book, and I had no desire to revisit the second book. This did cause me to have no idea who some of the characters in the third book are, and quite frankly, I did not care.

During the entire first half of this book, I felt like I had already read the same story twice in the first two books of the Kane Chronicles series. I found it a bit boring. At slightly more than halfway into the book, I began to enjoy the story a lot more. I then became more bored again towards the end since the final battle seemed to be a retread of previous final battles.

The Kane Chronicles series is not nearly as good as the Percy Jackson series, although I did enjoy it to some degree.

Nicholas Flamel Series #5: The Warlock

This book was just released in late May. This review continues no spoilers and no plot information. After having read five books, I now consider the story to be as epic as Harry Potter, thus the importance of mentioning no plot details.

Right after I read the second Kane Chronicles book, I read the fourth installment in the Nicholas Flamel series, The Magician. I devoured the book in 24 hours. As with the previous book, I am eager to read the sixth and final story, The Enchantress, yet I will have to wait another year.

The Nicholas Flamel series includes a large number of historical figures as well as gods from all major mythologies. The series can be a bit confusing, particularly during the first couple of books. Each book in the series is more entertaining than the previous title, and the story continues to build.

Reading gets easier the further along one is in the series, since by books four and five, the reader is thoroughly familiar with the premise as well as the majority of the characters.

I thought the fourth book was outstanding, and the fifth book is just as good. At this point in the series, the reader is beginning to get an idea of how some of the plot will play out, but many questions remain. The fifth book ends with a major revelation in the final few sentences. The book ends abruptly with that cliffhanger, so the reader is left wanting more. That is what a really good story does.

I wanted to know about others' theories, so I searched for online discussions of the book. I found the Flamel's Secret forum, which is a site endorsed by the author, Michael Scott. I highly recommend this forum for fans of the series. Michael Scott is an active participant. He also posts a few messages in some of the fan discussions.

When I read some of the older threads, a certain theory was discussed. This theory shocked me, and I wondered if it would prove to be true. I wanted to find a certain passage in the fifth book in which a certain character was described. This is where I am fortunate that I decided to purchase the Kindle version for my iPad instead of the hardcover version.

I searched for a certain word and found the passage within a minute or so from the list of results. If I had purchased the hardcover, I probably would have spent at least 15 minutes trying to find the passage. Electronic texts have the distinct advantage of being searchable. How splendid!

I also am so intrigued by the series that I am now reading all five books again. Michael Scott has stated that all details are important to the plot and that nothing is coincidental. He has placed clues all through the books. Even a mundane detail such as a character's eye color is important! I am currently up to the third book in my second reading, and I have spotted many clues to future events.

I highly recommend this series. At this point in the progression, fans have just as many questions about the role of certain characters as Harry Potter fans did about those characters. The anticipation and speculation is most of the fun!

The Nicholas Flamel Series

Jack recommended this series to me awhile back. I decided to buy the books and read the first three earlier this year. The fourth book, The Necromancer, was published at the end of May. I promptly began reading it as soon as I finished the Linda Carlton series.

I enjoyed The Necromancer the most of the four books. With the Flamel series, I feel like the books are getting better and better. This is exactly as it should be. As the Harry Potter series neared its end, the books did not seem to be as good as the earlier ones. I was disappointed with the last three Harry Potter books.

I am in a quandary as to how to explain what the Nicholas Flamel series is about without spoiling too much of the plot. Here goes...

Sophie and Josh Newman are 15 1/2 year old twins who are spending the summer in San Francisco while their parents are off on an archaeological dig. Josh works in an antiquarian book store, and Sophie works in a coffee shop.

One day a man named John Dee arrives at the book store and confronts the owner, Nick Fleming. Both men use magic, which Josh witnesses, and the book store is destroyed. Nick's wife, Perry, is kidnapped. Josh and Sophie's world is turned upside down, and they end up on the run with Nick Fleming.

The Newman twins soon learn that Nick Fleming is the historical figure, Nicholas Flamel, who has become immortal through a spell found in the Codex. John Dee, who is also immortal, stole the Codex from Flamel, but the last two pages were accidentally ripped from the book during the fight.

Flamel informs the twins that they are the legendary twins of silver and gold auras, and that John Dee will have realized this fact and will now be hunting them. The legendary twins have the power to save or destroy the world.

John Dee wants to bring the Dark Elder Gods back to the earth and restore it as it was in ancient times. If this happens, then humans will cease to exist. So, what we have is a battle of good versus evil with the twins thrown in the middle.

In these books, all of the mythological figures from past religions are real and exist in various Shadowrealms. Some of them live in the human world alongside humans. Not only that, but quite a few historical figures, such as Joan of Arc, have attained immortality and are introduced to the story along the way.

At times, the information overload is a bit much, and the reader has trouble absorbing all that occurs. This becomes easier for the reader as the series progresses.

Both Sophie and Josh are not certain whether they can completely trust the Flamels, and John Dee plays into this by manipulating Josh. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that Sophie may lose Josh to the forces of evil and may end up fighting on the opposite side as her twin.

Each book has ended in a cliffhanger, and the fourth book has a doozy of one. I wish I could read the next book right now, but I'm going to have to wait a year. This is a very interesting series.