| Title | : | The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon, #10) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 141691420X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781416914204 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 594 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 2009 |
Every victory. Every loss. All the thrills and sadness; the hope and despair. Bobby Pendragon's heart-pounding journey through time and space has brought him to this epic moment. He and his fellow Travelers must join forces for one last desperate battle against Saint Dane. At stake is not only the tenth and final territory, but all that ever was or will be. Everywhere.
This is the war for Halla.
Every question is answered. Every truth is revealed.
The final battle has begun.
The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon, #10) Reviews
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Pendragon series: ★★★★★/5
by D.J. MacHale
1)
the Merchant of Death: ★★★★★/5
2)
the Lost city of Faar: ★★★★★/5
3)
the Never War: ★★★★(★)/5
4)
the Reality Bug: ★★★★★/5
5)
Black Water: ★★★★★/5
6)
the Rivers of Zadaa: ★★★★/5
7)
the Quillan Games: ★★★★★/5
8)
the Pilgrims of Rayne: ★★★★★/5
9)
Raven Rise: ★★★★★/5
10) the Soldiers of Halla: ★★★★★/5
Complete 5 Golden Stars
Have you ever been afraid to turn the last page & end the book because it's the end of the saga?
it happened twice (or maybe trice?) for me & this book was one of them.
I was afraid when I went through this book, knowing there's no more for this series, no more Sassy Smart Hero & his Traveler friends for the rescue versus an Awesome Mastermind Villain, always lurking around, whispering thoughts in people's ears, tempting among the shadows, plans after plans, plotting to destroy.
it was such a bittersweet feeling & once again, I ended the book crying, it was beautiful, it was emotional.
the end of an amazing series. 10 books of battles between Good & Evil; adventures, fun & life lessons.
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one Last Chance
to attack, to bring the war to the enemy
one Last Battle
to lose means to vanish, to vanquish.
Game Over with no extra lives!
one Last Fight
they should fight with all they've got,
one Last Territory
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finally the truth about the Travelers (which was surprising, emotional & unexpected!)
“Before I can face the future, I must first deal with the past.”
lots of surprises
emotional, spiritual
familiar faces & reunions
all the strong character developments, Patrick, Elli & many more & of course Bobby
Maybe it was more military, but it's the last book, before the good side will be victorious, they should fall & it's a war zone, but,
1) the whole plans they executed were exciting, captivating, smart & necessary, not just military info dump, they were battles for Halla, they should have make it right.
2) it wasn't all over the book.
this book contains battles & defenses, attacks & counter-attacks, in which losing means nonexistence, nothingness.
but not only physically, but also mentally, the battle of two way of living, thinking, two ideas, two mentality. convincing which one is right or wrong.
This book premise was kind of a Dystopia in the outer layers, outside the walls & a Utopia in the nucleus, it was unique. but there was still oppression & suppression.
& best thing is, the Fun is still there, even though the situation is deadly serious & intense. Not out of place or anything, just Bobby's descriptions of tension or how he feels leading to a funny narration. Like his sass in conversations, but not only in conversations.
It was one of the most satisfying endings between the series I loved/liked, not a disappointment, full of rush & thrills.
"that truly is the way it was meant to be."
I just wish we had an "After the War" books too (like these almost-fanfictions
Before-the-War, Travelers' stories) something like this ending epilogue for all of them. -
The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon, #10), D.J. MacHale
The Soldiers of Halla is the tenth and final book in the Pendragon Adventure series by D. J. MacHale. It concludes the battle between the Travelers and Saint Dane. The title was revealed by D. J. The Soldiers of Halla begins with the eleven Travelers, meeting in a crumbling wasteland of a city. They are immediately attacked by a helicopter, forcing them to seek refuge in the buildings. Bobby and Loor are trapped in a pit and watch as a colony of people are caught by the helicopters in a nearby building. When the helicopters leave, however, the Travelers gather back together. The first generation of Travelers quickly appear, such as Osa, Loor's mother, and Seegen, Kasha's father, and lead the other Travelers away. Bobby is met by his family again, who tell him that the wasteland was in fact the New York City zoo on Third Earth. His family leads Bobby to another place, that is filled with dark clouds and crumbling, dark matter. They confess that they know all that has transpired in Halla so far, including Bobby's murder of Alexander Naymeer on Second Earth. Moreover, they tell him that Solara is indeed the essence of Halla and thus the ten territories. Each victory and defeat inflicted by the Travelers and Saint Dane is reflected in the overall health of Solara. All of the souls of Halla are transferred to Solara after they pass on in Halla. The exiles that were launched into the flume are the last remaining positive spirit. The rest is the negative spirit influencing Saint Dane's evil Solara. Bobby travels to several worlds, including Third Earth, where Mark had been sent, and is leading a group of other exiles and rebels of Ravinia. Eventually, after visiting other worlds, he returns to Third Earth. He learns from Nevva that the exiles are on Eelong. Saint Dane finds out that Nevva betrayed him, and kills her, not allowing her spirit to return to Solara. Bobby goes to Eelong, and reaches Black Water just before the klees (cats that are the sentient species of the jungle-like territory of Eelong) are going to attack the exiles and the gars (humans that are not quite as intelligent as the klees.) The travelers defeat them and go back to Solara. Uncle Press then proposes that they should protect the exiles as they are the only positive energy that keeps Solara running. Bobby proposes that Uncle Press's plan would only delay defeat. He thinks they should make a portal and transport the exiles to the Ravinians on Third Earth and defeat the Ravinians. The plan is successful and they take the Ravinian conclave. Bobby finds and gets into a fight with Saint Dane, and as Saint Dane uses up all of his power, he dies. As the Travelers are victorious, all of Halla is saved from a fatal disaster. After he destroys Saint Dane, Bobby and the other travelers are allowed to live the life they would have had if they weren't travelers. The readers are shown Bobby and Courtney Chetwynde in a scene mirroring their first scene in the series. However, it is shown that rather than the young teens as before, this Bobby and Courtney are much older, Bobby himself being confined to a hospital bed. They kiss as a mysterious stranger (probably Uncle Press Tilton) barges into Bobby's hospital room and gives Bobby a box containing a "story". This "story" is actually Bobby's Journals. The series ends with Courtney reading aloud the first journal.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز دوازدهم مله ژوئن سال 2015 میلادی
عنوان: پندراگن: کتاب دهم: سربازان هالا؛ نویسنده: دی.جی. مک هیل؛ مترجم: حسین شهرابی؛ مشخصات نشر: تهران، تندیس، 1393، در 622 ص، شابک: 9786001821325؛ موضوع: داستانهای ماجراجویانه از نویسندگان امریکایی سده 21 م
نُه کتاب بزرگ. نُه قلمروی خطرناک. نُه ماجرای غریب. همه به این ختم میشوند. تمام پیروزیها. تمام شکستها. تمام هیجانها و ناامیدیها و امیدها و درماندگیها و ترسها. تک تک کارهای بابی پندراگن، و تک تک لحظاتِ نفسگیرِ ماجراجوییهایش در فضا و زمان او را به این پایانِ حماسی رسانده است. او و دوستانِ مسافرش باید نیروهای خود را یک کاسه کنند و برای آخرین نبردِ دشوار خود در برابرِ سنت دین آماده شوند؛ اما همه شان میدانند که بخت چندانی در برابر او ندارند. سنت دین تمامِ هالا را تسخیر کرده و مهمتر از آن روحِ تمامِ اهالی هالا را در چنگ خود دارد. اما در این کتاب، پاسخِ همه ی پرسشهاها داده میشود. تمامِ رازها افشا میشود. در این کتاب تنها قلمروی دهم در خطر نیست، در این کتاب تنها تمامِ هالا در خطر نیست... «جایی دیگر» هم در خطر است که حضورش برای نخستین بار در این کتاب افشا میشود. نبردِ هالا آغاز میشود و از همه مهمتر: افشای رازها آغاز میشود. ا. شربیانی -
I have to say that this book was a disappointment compared to the others. It promised me all the answers and I got them...all at once. It was more like they just dumped all the answers into my lap and went "Here you go!" in the first few chapters. Then the rest of the book was just leading up to "The end." There weren't any twists or turns just a straight line to the end of the book. Which I admit is pretty boring. What had led me to love the series was the creativity of it. How you never knew how Bobby would win or what Saint Dane would do next. I had to sit down and force myself to read this book. Throughout the story D.J. justified everything Bobby did as right because he was "The chosen one." I am so sick of people being "The Chosen One" and that being the reason why everyone listens to them and why they get to be the hero. The hero/heroine should prove WHY they are the hero and have to show HOW they are brave, intelligent, or wise not just say "Well he must be right because he is The Chosen One!"
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When I first began reading the last book in Pendragon series I was skeptical. For some reason all I could think about as I was reading at was the somewhat lame excuse for a plot twist the 8th book had been. However I had loved the nineth and pretty much the rest of them too so why should this one be bad. I don't know. But like I said I was skeptical.
In the very begining all the answers are revealed. My first reaction was why is he doing it all at once...in the beginning of the book. But then I realized why. It's kind of, um, I'll say radical. It's kind of radical. It all links up and makes since but it's just...weird and takes some getting used to.
I am always weary about portails of heaven and liberties authors take in creating their own "view" of heaven and what life is all about even if it's just a story. I don't know I just don't like doing that. For instance one of the things I was deprately hoping with book 7 of Harry Potter was the J. K. Rowling would not venture into eternal relms and would stick to this life. I was afraid what she would do honestly but I was satisfied.
I don't want to reveal any plot details abou this book but I want to say at first I was turned off. My skepticism for the book shot through the roof when the "answers" were revealed because they naturally dealt with "life, the universe, and everything". I just didn't expect them to be so....spiritual. I expected to have some grand council or something that had governing power over the universe but I'll just say that was not the case.
But then it hit me. D. J. MacHale got some things right in a figurative since. Whether he knew he was doing it or not, I'm not sure and I didn't see it until I stopped for a moment and thought about it. I saw some eternal truths from the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his idea. Truths that the mainstream christian world does not belive or even really think about. That's why I think it was on accident. It was just an extreem reminder to me of The Light of Christ and how we are all guided by the Light of Christ toward the truth.
I wanted to pull some quotes to demonstrate this but I didn't want to give anything away. All I can say is if you like fantasy and you are not afraid to get into a ten book series then do it.
Another thing. Aparently this is a "children's book". I don't know where they got that but it's a bit violent...I never thought of it as a children's book. I think that maybe it was written so that it could fit children. Meaning everyonce in a while there were moments that I could tell were suppoesed to be dramatic but they weren't becuase I had already figured it out. I think it was becuase they books are geared to a younger audiance. But maybe I should give myself some credit, maybe I'm just smart. No..that's not it. Anyway. There were a couple of moments like that, not too many though.
The last think I want to say is that I cried. I cried more reading this book than I did with any of the Harry Potter books. There is just something about good-byes that have always been a huge weakness for me. When I was a little kid I cried when Pocahontas and John Smith said good-bye. I cried watching the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when Aslan left. I cried when the fox and the hound had to split up. I'm not sure why I'm revealing this to everyone...but you get the point I think. So anyway. At the end of this book there was a big moment, you knew it was all about to end and everyone had to go. Where? You'll have to find out but I couldn't take it! It got worse and worse as each person left and there were 10 people!! Then..the last chapter...I don't want to give anything away but it was perfect. It is something I dream of for myself...and...I don't know it was just perfect. One of the characters in the book at one point made an off comment that there was no such thing as perfect and I think that's ironic with a such a perfect ending. -
Ok I don't really like writing reviews (most teenage boys don't)so I would always come up with one excuse or another to skip doing the review... But, this book was so great and well written, that I actually remember thinking, "Boy! I thought Brandon Mull did a great job on 'Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary'!" - PALES in comparison.
Excluding religious texts, "The Soldiers of Halla" was the most well written and GLORIOUS book I have ever read and it will likely be my favorite book for many many years to come. I kid you not! "The Soldiers of Halla" was such a great book that it makes books like "Eragon" look like something that you're suppose to use to blow your nose in or to be used to start a campfire.
After reading this book I'm going to have a much harder rating system on my book shelves, because other books I currently have at five stars SUCK compared to this awe inspiring book. If this book series were to become a movie series, like it was originally written for, I am confident that it will compete with classics like "Star Wars" and "Lord of the Rings" and maybe even become the best movie series of all time.
Kudos to D. J. Machale. -
Good ending but it was pretty predictable. Lots of inspirational talk by Bobby at the end which is the same old speech he says. I kind of wanted a huge ending with tons of fighting and such but it never really happened. Still a great series in the beginning but it looked like the writing dropped off by book four or five. It got to be too detailed and drawn out which made it boring. The first few books are still the best.
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Getting the bad stuff out of the way first so I can compliment DJ Machale properly...
1) As with every other Pendragon book, he once again can't get enough of cliches. It's not just a mere sprinkle...it's a shower. Nearly every paragraph that isn't dialog has at least one. Dude, find your own words.
2) Bobby Pendragon whines throughout, but if it's any consolation, he does it less here than the ninth book.
3) If it's supposed to be a journal, write like it's a journal. I've read journals. There's a certain style. But I suppose, in creativity-fever DJ Machale just goes to heck with style and charges through. Isn't that what editors are for? To weed out any deviation from the format?
4) The plural of 'journey' is 'journeys', not 'journies'. And this is only one of several spelling mistakes. I'm puuuurty sure there was an editor involved in the making of this book. DJ keeps thanking her for what a wonderful job she did.
And now the not-so-fun, but much cheerier parts. If there's anything to say about the author of Pendragon, it's that DJ packs a pretty interesting story. Full of suspense and everything! There were four or five times I found myself speed reading just to get to the good bits actually knowing good bits were ahead (which they were)! And that's a good thing. **Spoiler-mode-on** I wonder if he planned it all to be about Solara from the very beginning, or if he just made it up as he went along. Both ways seem probable. If he did have it in mind from the start, I'd say everything was still very rushed, considering. If he hadn't, well KUDOS, it fits!
In this book, the travelers discover that they are actually spirits of Solara created by other spirits just to combat this ultra evil Saint Dane. Why is he named that?! Solara is basically a realm of spirits that's fed by the positive spirit of mankind. In DJ Machale's words, a positive-energy gas tank.
AND, apparently the good travelers had all the same powers as the bad guy, but they just weren't allowed to use them because it would sap energy from Solara. They were also supposed to believe they weren't spirits (that's why they were sent to different territories to grow up on, with parents who are in spirit form and not their actual parents), so that THEIR spirits could fuel Solara, too. Lost you yet? Right...and Saint Dane had depleted the Solara so much, that the other spirits now have to ration. Translated into English means, travelers can fly, morph, and travel without using flumes and everything, but every time they do it, it uses up a bit of Solara's life force. Like cheats, but every time you cheat you lose health points.
Oh..and apparently the negative energy has built up so much that it formed a new Solara, which Saint Dane is the master of, and that's where he and Nevva get their power from. Though if you ask me, it would've been wiser to just use the positive Solara's energy to the max before switching gear. Saint Dane bailed out too soon, that's the problem.
Question though...if the spirits of Solara are everywhere, and they're watching everything, why the heck would anyone need to report back to Uncle Press?? Shouldn't he already know what's happened? Another question, if you morph into something, the longer you remain morphed, the more energy you sap? Or is it like, sapping one short burst when you morph into some other physical being, then sapping another short burst when you morph back into your original form? Or is it one short burst for the whole process of changing into and changing back?
I loved, loved, loved new Mark! The bad ass Mark! My new favorite character! Just loved his spirit and the non-geek he had become! I wish there was more Mark in the book. I don't know why, but the filmstrip in my head cast Matthew Bomer as Mark! Google him to find out just how uber cute he is! Oh, and he totally fits because in this book, Mark is now 23! (Something to do with time don't matter to spirits)
It was kinda awesome how DJ Machale made 'exile' into a cool word. It's suddenly so fashionable to be an exile. Everybody wants you! Some want you dead, others want you alive, but hey, everybody wants you! Yay! Side note: Mark's an exile. *gushes* AND, DJ made Nevva Winter the good girl gone bad gone good because she inadvertently saved the exiles. Three times, but the second and third time was on purpose. I always knew she had it in her! And I mean that! Plus, she had a few talks with mom, Elli (traveler who couldn't make up her mind as to whether she wanted to be old, frail and weak, or really brave and full of CHUTZPAH! I love that word, sounds Klingon), so it's all good now. Nevva is forgiven, and Elli is at peace.
Courtney was played down. A lot. I used to like Courtney more, but I prefer Mark now. She's too ... she's just ... she's trying too hard. That's what I felt anyway, but who knows, maybe it's just because she hasn't seen her old flame in a while, and because being a diplomat takes a toll on you, saps the life out a little. And you'd never guess where she was exiled to! (See? Isn't it just the new trend?)
Before we get to that, short comment on territories. Ravinia is everywhere, Cloral is basically in flames with Spader's habitat destroyed and a lot of people killed over 3 exiles (they are THAT important). No mention of Ibara, Veelox, Denduron or Quillan. I'm glad of it. DJ did the right thing in getting straight to the point and not indulging himself by sending Bobby on a pointless inter-territory hunt for exiles. It would've been if a much, MUCH thicker book if this had been in the hands of a certain female author who insists on recounting the most trivial things in detail.
Right...where was I...COURTNEY. Yes, Courtney. She's on Eelong! That territory-we-never-thought-would-amount-to-anything is the home of all the exiles now! a few thousand of em! They live with gars. Gars, humanoid. Gars don't work with Klees anymore because Ravinia mucked up. Klees, cats. Big cats. Jungle cats. Klees eat gar now. Gar and yanks (a.k.a exiles) work in harmony. Yanks create radio weapons. Radio weapons make copters malfunction, and as a bonus, deactivate DADOs. DADO robots created by Mark, mass produced by Saint Dane. Gars and Yanks also have nice whistles to tame Tangs. Tangs, big dinosaurs. Tangs eat Klees. Tangs eat klees, klees eat gars and/or yanks, gars and yanks eat home-grown mountain fruit. And the only reason why these Yanks are here, and not dead, is because Saint Dane let Nevva have a little 'experiment'. Apparently, Nevva wanted to preserve the beauty of Eelong and keep it untainted, but Saint Dane had other plans.
So there was this huge penultimate battle for Black Water, and there was a lot of valley busting and a few surprises. It was a fantastic battle sequence even though it never came close to any actual hand-to-hand combat! All the dying was done off-words and it wasn't detailed enough to let you imagine how gory it was.
The final battle was a bit of a let down, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been, and DJ did a pretty good job of piecing things together given the scale of things. The gars and yanks came all the way from Eelong to team up with Mark and his rebels and the travelers. (Oh yes, the travelers created another flume that nearly killed them all) The ultimate fight between Saint Dane and Pendragon was well, not quite as expected, but it'll do. It mostly consisted of Pendragon getting his butt handed to him on a platter until he eventually manned up and whacked Saint Dane MMA-style. Or is it just plain boxing?
The Ravinians on third earth came to their senses and realized what douches Saint Dane made of them. They hated him so much that there was a positive energy infusion in good Solara! How does that work exactly...?
Anyways, that ended Saint Dane because all the negative energy in his Solara became positive, and his spirit just winked out. Mhmm, yes...and now the poor Yanks are stuck on Third Earth, when they belong on Second Earth, but what the heck? 3000 years in a nuclear wasteland future isn't much different. On the other hand, sending them back to the past with knowledge of the future would be mucho bad, so I guess it's "tough luck, exiles."
All in all, the 10 book series is finally over and right now, all I can think of is 'Oh my good strawberries, I hope my mom thinks it was worth the few hundred bucks we spent or it's the end of collecting book series for me. And that can't ever happen because Artemis Fowl isn't complete yet! I'm sure Eoin Colfer will write more!' -
I jumped into the flumes one last time with high expectations for the Soldiers of Halla and slammed right into a brick wall of dissapointment. After reading the nine previous installments of Pendragon I had high hopes for The Soldiers of Halla - maybe a little too high. I was expecting fast paced, mind boggling adventure, but instead I got slow, repetitive explanations about the origins of the travelers and a ever frustrating search for the Exiles. It was boring. Pendragon is not supposed to be boring. The story lacked that quality of adventure that so defined the series until almost 3/4 of the way through. The final battle was fast, exciting, and nail biting. It was fun to read and the only time I didn't want to put the book down.
The actual ending was, how should I put this, hollow? To me it made it feel like Bobby's wild adventures to save Halla had been almost pointless. The ending was disappointing. The whole book, save the final battle, was dissapointing. A writer can either nail a series ending or they can blow it.
MacHale blew it. -
A ten book series journey came to an end. I am glad that it's over. It had exceeded expectations at many points, and fell short on quite a few. I don't actually like how easily the final book solved the final clash, but probably by the end author couldn't change his vision much throughout the journey!
But, the end touch was good. So it became important where the story ended rather than how. And I liked the ending point.
A great journey indeed. -
Finally, this is it. The conclusion to the Pendragon saga. As usual, we all rush to read each installment and are saddened when it is over. You just can't please everyone.
I was skeptical at the beginning because there were too many religious undertones - guardian angels, heaven, "fallen" angels, spirits, ghosts. This just isn't my cup of tea and wasn't where I expected this series to go. However, after the first few chapters, the feeling changed and I really got into the story. Bobby Pendragon and all the Travelers are together again and facing the final showdown with Saint Dane. There is a definite feel of Hitler and his theory of building utopia with the "elite" people while squashing the dregs of society. As usual, it is a long and involved telling of the events (which, of course, is wonderful).
I really enjoyed Bobby, Mark and Courtney's growth during this series. it really shows how given the chance and the need, people (even young people) can live up to that challenge and become someone great. The Travelers did a wonderful job and this book was a fine telling of the tale. -
You know what makes a great book? Authors who aren't afraid to get dirty; authors who don't hold back on tragedy. This is especially true in adventure books -- if your characters are frequently put in dangerous situations, bad things should happen. Yes, maybe they're able to get out of those bad situations and rise above it, but it shouldn't be easy for them. D.J. MacHale is one author who definitely doesn't hold back and definitely doesn't make it easy for his characters in the final battle.
I am very satisfied with the conclusion of this series. All the characters showed tremendous growth and the final battle was pretty awesome. MacHale did some careful planning with this series, because I noticed things that tied back to clues given in previous books, which was fun. This is the point I was waiting for throughout the entire series, and like I said, MacHale doesn't hold back. The stakes are high and it gets dangerous for Bobby and his friends.
The only thing I didn't like was the explanation of what makes them all Travelers and how the gates were formed. I know it's a fantasy/science fiction novel, but it was just a little too far-fetched for me. I'm not going to go into detail due to spoilers, I'll just say that I think there could be far better explanations to the one MacHale chose.
However, this was a satisfying ending. It got kind of shaky for me around book 6 (The Rivers of Zadaa), but I continued with it because I was invested in the characters by that point. Around book 8 (The Pilgrims of Rayne), I was feeling it again, and now I'm glad I stuck with it. Soldiers of Halla is a great book full of excitement, danger, adventure, friendship, and everything that I love about the Pendragon series. Honestly, I think it's the best book of the series because the stakes are raised so high and the characters really have to struggle.
I recommend this entire series to lovers of young adult adventure/fantasy. They're imaginative, exciting books that don't disappoint.
Also posted on
Purple People Readers. -
خدایا اصلن نمیدونم چی بگم
خیلی بهتر از چیزی که فکر میکردم تمومش کرد
مک هیل،دستم بهت برسه میکشمت.
این کتاب هیچ چی کم نداره
دلم واسه بابی خیلی تنگ میشه -
Sooooo. I can see why I didn’t remember much about this series. This last volume is completely forgettable.
I think it’s mostly because of that ending. Yes, the rest of the novel is a rehash, even though it’s taking place on a completely different Earth, but it’s that ending - which doesn’t know what to do with that completely different Earth, which is so noncommittal, which provides an unsatisfying, rote conclusion - that ultimately sinks the book.
That ending:
I will also note that the answers to big questions come very early on in the novel, and most of them feel unsatisfying. It’s partly because they've been built up for nine books, and it’s hard to create something that justifies that investment of time, but I think it’s also because the pacing hasn’t ramped up yet; later in the book, answers might feel like a reprieve, a chance to catch a breath, but early on it just feels like a stand in for story.
I wouldn’t say that this book undoes all its story, or destroys the series’ goodwill, though: it’s too inconsequential for that. It feels like an afterthought, strange as that might sound. -
از مزایای یک روز قطعی اینترنت اینه که میتونی کتابهای ناتمومت رو تموم کنی :))
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I'm so happy with this last book in the series. There were a lot of questions answered and mysteries solved, and somehow it all finally made sense. I loved seeing all the story threads from previous books coming together, and all the settings being revisited.
There was a big information dump near the beginning that got a little tedious, but at least all that stuff was explained finally. But other than that, the writing is (as always) funny, serious, well-paced, compelling, heart-wrenching, with a sense of urgency that keeps you reading.
I was completely riveted with the plot, the action, and the characters! I cried a few times, and I was laughing at other times. I was utterly invested in the story.
After sticking with these characters through 10 books, it was so rewarding to see them growing into these amazing people, coming into their own, and I was cheering them on, fighting their battles alongside them. They are like real people to me now.
WARNING: Spoilers Ahead....
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This book tries REALLY hard to be a finale. As in there's about 4 finale worthy climaxes in this one book. It starts to do itself disservice halfway through. Still, I did enjoy the book. It wraps up the story quite nicely.
The series as a whole has moderate issues. The romance is unsold and quite a bit too idealistic. Each book talks a LOT about previous books in the series (why the author never wrote prologues for this purpose I don't know). The philosophy is very black and white. Typical YA issues.
I was personally dissatisfied by how my favorite character, Siry, did not get enough page time (book 8 was fantastic but that's all he was really in) and my least favorite character, Courtney, got far too much.
The entire series is a 4/5. Shining moments are books 2, 7 and 8. -
The site's broken, it's not letting me put more than five stars on this review.
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Ending felt a bit.... too easily resolved
for a series that lasted 10 books -
Wow........I am so sad that I did not enjoy reading this book. I just finished this book about an hour ago and even after taking breaks for a bit and trying to think of something "positive", I still can't be help but say this book is a major letdown. Here is why ........ well unless you are Bobby/ Courtney fan then maybe there is something to look forward to.
*** Spoilers Alert***
I decided I'm not going to review the entire story chapter by chapter, rather I'm just going to point out what had disappointed me most about this book
I started reading this series in 2018, and I loved all the books that came before book 10. Don't get me wrong, this book started out really good and it started right after the ending of the Raven Rise book. All the eleven Travelers meet again and it was a bittersweet moment to know all the Travelers who had died or lost before are now back together again ! But of course, that sweet reunion was interrupted when they got attacked by some mysterious helicopter right before they all could follow Press to get their answers.
While hiding at a crumbling building, Loor and Bobby notice a mysterious brave but haggard looking stranger trying to rescue some people from the killer helicopters. After dodging the killer helicopters, the travelers regroup again only to have their first generation of Travelers appear one by one to explain about who they "really" are.
Now here is where you're either extremely disappointed .....shocked .....or accepting. I was the latter, I could understand and accept the concept of who the travelers are and the workings of Solara and Halla. It made sense to me, but if I must complain, it had to be the part where they don't have a physical body and they are actually ancient spirits. I don't know why but I always hope the travelers were more like aliens, advance creatures hybrid of their own territories. Because after knowing about it....I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to all of them after they finished their mission.
Things that brought down the rating for this book:-
1. The author spilled everything about the workings of travelers, Solara and Halla all in the first few chapters. While I was dying to know about it, I also felt quite overwhelmed with the "information dumping". While I was finally grateful for the revelation, I did not appreciate how it was explained, to the travellers .....it was so "Master Oogway". I felt like the author dragged out the explanation by making Bobby and other travelers asking Press the same repetitive questions.
2. Here was where the chemistry between the travelers just ended and went cold for me. I was expecting more teamwork between them, working together not going on separate mission again. I would have accepted if they had split into groups and work together but nope. Some travelers were hardly ever mentioned. The book sadly sided wayyyyy too much with Mark and Courtney.
3. Mark and Courtney are kick arse characters and I love em both but to be completely honest, I felt like I wanted more of all 10 travelers together compare to them. Sorry to say they did plenty in the last few books, this was suppose to be all the 10 travelers time to shine ! I don't know, but the constant rotation of Bobby's visit to Mark and Courtney was nearly half or more than quarter of the book. While I love this two character a lot, I still did not want them to outshine the actual travelers's "adventure" in this book. This is about them dammit!!
4. Wth is up with Spader, Alder and Loor's characters. I consider the trio as Bobby's closest traveler friends yet in this book, everything about that friendship was so abrupt and if there was any old time moments, ir was snuffed out quickly, Spader was kick arse in Coral but it was just for a brief moment. Then Loor was completely out of character, in all 9 books, Loor is not someone who would gave up so easily and sulk defeated !! I was pissed at how she was portrayed in this book. WTH! And poor Alder hardly had any "screen" time in this book. In fact non of the other traveler beside Kasha and Elli had any "screen" time. This book lacked serious traveler chemistry. If they were ever in this book, it was very brief or was busy being ordered around by Bobby. That was what had disappointed me the most about the book, the lack of traveler unity and showmanship. I was hoping they were the center of this book, each of them shinning and proofing why there are the chosen!! Did we get that? Nope.... Everyone one of them was flat and one dimensional characters.
5. Am I the only one who think the whole Eelong part of the book was effin dragged out long ? The whole thing with Bobby jumping from one world to another and getting nothing out of it and then we had to read through another round of his repeat trips.....Am I the only one who felt like that ? I admit the book was starting to get boring...
6. The vibe I got from reading this book is that the Dados was way more powerful and feared because they as in Bobby and his team was all prepared for battle against them more than they did with Saint Dane. Sadly to say Saint Dane was a secondary character in this book. He was there in the beginning but after that he kind of was not the main topic of discussion. LOL
7. Omg the final battle between Bobby and Saint Dane was awesome. I liked the concept of them swapping between dimensions while fighting but it ended so bloody quickly. Saint Dane used up all his power ? Already ? Because I felt like it drained him wayyy to quickly for it to end like that. I didn't like how he didn't just die laughing smugly or with "dignity". Instead he was reduce to crying .....ugh. I don't agree that Saint Dane spirit drain him that quickly considering there are still other Ravinas active in other worlds. I was hoping Saint Dane was still strong and Bobby needed all the traveler with him to fight him. I was kind of hoping for a sailor moon final battle scene. That would have been epic ! if it had happened that way.
8. Wth is up with the ending ? You know what, I admit it I am not a huge fan of Bobby/Courtney relationship. They are awesome as friends but as couples nahh. You know what crushed me ? The fact that Bobby and Loor didn't even share a final hug or kiss or confess anything between each other. Even though Bobby kept mentioning "his feeling for Loor runs deep" WTF is that, really??? Through out this series, Bobby was smitten by Loor from the first time he met her and she was in his thoughts and isn't swayed by Telleo's romantic advances, but what did we get in this book ? Nothing !!! In fact they hardly had any time together. While the author was fucking pushing this intimate cosy moment between Bobby and Courtney in Black Water and plenty of it after that. This Bobby, as in the Bobby the Lead Traveller, He has "deep feelings for Loor" So this Bobby should have more moments like this with Loor. If the author had given us that .....I would't have minded the "could have been" story between Bobby/Courtney at the end of the book. Because that Bobby has never met Loor and he still liked Courtney from school. But no.....that's not what we got did we ? Did anyone remember how deep and in love Bobby was with Loor? Did you remember how he kept saying "My Loor" after she was stabbed in book six? Where was all that?????
And that ending totally killed me !! Why would you give us that ? I really do not want to see their "could have been" story come to life. I don't care !! If you going to give that kind of epilogue then don't mention Mark like he is some unimportant background character. I was pissed as fuck when I read that, No... why was Bobby the only one who got that chance while the others went back to Solara? (Oh did they?) I now wish other travelers had their own "could have been" lives where Loor and Bokka also had a happy married life with 100 kids LOL !!. Ugh !!!
Another thing is that after Saint Dane is defeated, Mark and Courtney is stuck where they are. The last time they were in second Earth and First Earth is the very last time they ever saw their loved ones and anything familiar. That is sad, while I wasn't expecting the universe to go on a reset mode I had actually hoped that they would have gotten something back.... Anything. I wished the author had given us other travelers aftermath moments and final "proper" goodbyes to their own worlds and people they loved. If they all had given that chance and left it would be satisfying. But instead we get this cringy what could have been story *rolls eyes*
I liked the fighting scenes and the epic battle to Ravinian conclave. I loved reading about Mark's personality changes and his epic escape scene when Bobby ran into him for the first time after he was sucked into the flume. I loved Courtney's leadership in Black Water. I love Spader's brief moment in Coral and Zadaa. Nevva Winters, I was glad you come to realize your mistakes. Without you there is no way the Solara would have made it. I'm glad she stood up against Saint Dane. I'm happy with her story. I love the Ellie's story here too.
There are definitely some really good things I liked with this book but overall I was disappointed :( That's sad because I really liked this series alot !! I liked all the characters in this book and It was upsetting that I did not enjoy the ending all that much :( Come on....to be honest after Mark and Courtney had taken bigger role in this series I had a tang bit feeling that the other travelers was made into a background secondary characters. Don't get me wrong I love Mark and Courtney but honestly they had more "screen time" compare to the actual travelers. This book could have done better and gave us the epic battle..... It missed that mark alright!
*Every time I look at the Pendragon series books sitting on my shelf, I feel a pang of disappointment* -
Well, fuck me sideways. I need to write a proper review for this tomorrow. Ughh
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I loved the series up until the end. I really did. It was imaginative, and I loved all the moral ambiguities. Is it worth it to contaminate the cultures of different worlds in order to save them? It reminds me of some the arguments about colonialism and Western interference in other cultures. It seemed to me that Saint Dane had a lot of hidden motives that might make him more sympathetic once they were relieved.
And then with this book, all moral ambiguity was lost in favor of a pat narrative with clear-cut answers and sharply divided good and evil. It even brought back a magical Uncle Press to explain everything to Bobby. The whole point of killing off the mentor figure is so that the hero will have to figure things out on his own. I thought Bobby was going to unravel the mystery of Halla with his own wits and experience. Not so. Sparkly deus ex mentor figure comes in to tell us The Meaning Behind It All.
Also, I don't see how the ending is a real resolution. It's not as if Saint Dane's disappearance will suddenly magically turn all the territories back to normal. Ravinia's still alive and well in all the other territories, and Third Earth is still a blasted wreck.
I'm sorry. You don't set up such fascinating mysteries and subplots, and then sweep them away with a wave of the authorial hand. This is a children's series, but children don't need clear-cut good and evil. They can handle moral ambiguities. (See the works of
K.A. Applegate, which were all about shades of gray, very well-written, and a commercial success.) -
Reared 2016
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I literally remembered absolutely nothing from this book. Not one thing. So this was definitely more of a first read for me even though I know I devoured it the second it came out way back in 2009.
I don't even have coherent words. I loved it. So much was explained, finally. Epic battles, the return of all of our old friends, a battle of epic proportions between good and evil. Couldn't have asked for more.
I will shout from the rooftops about this series until the end of time or when everyone reads it. Whichever comes first.
P.S. I would just like to state that the last chapter of this absolutely destroyed me, but in the best way possible. -
Even though it feels like Machale kinda dragging it sometimes, it doesn't stop me from turning pages after pages of the books. Most of the time, the suspense was so overwhelming I forgot to breath. It was intense, funny and somewhat sobering because at the end of the day the series is all about humanity. The good and the bad.
I was a tad disappointed with the ending, just like I did with Harry Potter. Truth is, I'm a big fan of Loor and I expect more romance between her and Bobby but Machale had other ideas. iSad. -
I cried for the ending of my childhood! I read and reread books 1-8 because I didn't want to begin the last 2 books for fear of the ending! I didn't want the journey of Bobby, Courtney, Mark and the travelers to end at all! The whole series grabbed my imagination and ran with it! This last book in the saga has me crying, laughing, at the edge of my seat and so many other emotions! Not just this book but the whole series I cannot wait to read again and again!
