>>Go back a page
Books : Raven Rise (Pendragon)
Rating: 
- Home Stretch
The Pendragon series has been a favorite of mine ever since my mom sent me the ARC of Merchant of Death my freshman year of college. I remember picking it up to kill the morning and getting sucked in from page one. Needless to say, I stayed in most of the day reading it. Expectations were high for Raven Rise, for I think the two books before this were very well done. I'm happy to say that Raven Rise went beyond my expectations.
We all knew that Bobby's actions at the end of the last book were going to royally mess up Halla, but, never did I think they would impact the whole of Halla as much as it. In Raven Rise we travel along with multiple travelers to different territories, seeing the vast changes in Halla from many different point of views.
The only problem that I had with the book, which might be a personal thing, was that there were some times where the constant narration grated on me. I wanted dialogue or some interaction between someone during some of the journal entries. That was only a minor problem, though.
Raven Rise is action packed, as always, but also has moments where it really gets to you at an emotional level, or at least, it got to me. DJ has again written a book where you could laugh and cry and throughly enjoy the entire ride.
4 stars from me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
Rating:
- Incomplete and Inconsistent
Raven Rise is the 9th part of the Pendragon saga. From book one, I have been hooked onto D.J. McHale's suspenseful and descriptive writing. However, as the plot dragged on from one territory to the next, only the hope of the signature Pendragon cliffhanger finale kept me turning the pages.
For fans of the Pendragon series, just know that Raven Rise has to be the worst book out of the series yet. Reading this book reminded me of the popular Series of the Unfortunate Events, and its disappointing ending. Like Lemony Snicket, McHale fails to answer in Raven Rise any of the mysteries introduced in the first eight books of the series. Moreover, reading Raven Rise felt like reading three separate books!
However what disappointed me the most in this book was its horrible ending. It felt like all of McHale's writing was leading him up to write one more chapter, and suddenly the book ended. Usually, Pendragon books keep me thinking beyond the storyline, but Raven Rise made me wish I never started it in the first place.
So for first-timers, know that Raven Rise is a disappointing penulimate book to an awesome series. For Pendragon lovers, prepare to be dismayed. And for D.J. McHale, I'd like to leave you with this quote:
"Part of succes is knowing when to stop."
Rating:
- Just what I wanted- Not what I expected
The last 3 to 4 chapters of this book are the best of the whole series. Honestly, this book, if you've read the past ones, is a must read.
There isn't an introduction of a whole lot of information but there are times in the book where new things are learned. You'll start to notice that some of the things said in the past book were really [really] important yet did not seem like it at all. At some points of the, the past books that is, some of the things said seem meaningless- nothing but politeness. But, reading this book- with the help of it being pointed out that this has been said before- you'll find out that wasn't so.
Read it!
Rating: - The Final Battle for Halla is On!
Bobby Pendragon has grown up. It's been such a difficult ride for the young man who didn't ask for the job of Lead Traveler. He wants to understand who he is, why he is in this seemingly endless battle with Saint Dane, and why he can't just give up. Book Nine finds Bobby enjoying his retirement. The flumes of Ibara and Veelox are buried under rocks and concrete. Saint Dane is trapped. Bobby misses his friends and fellow travelers, but he feels like he's made the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard Halla.
He must also admit that, to be honest, there were selfish reasons for staying on Ibara. He was tired of the battle. He didn't want to do this anymore. He just didn't understand who all his enemies were.
The first part of the book went just a little slower than I liked. Too many pages of Bobby being happy on Ibara, too many descriptions of Bobby finding Dado body parts to throw into the sea, of how he was building new homes and rebuilding Ibara in general. Maybe this was supposed to help build tension for later on when he realizes that everything was not as perfect as he thought (I mean, this is not a spoiler: there's still one more book to go, for goodness sake!) But for building tension? That didn't work.
On the Pendragon website I read on some of the message boards that people think this book is a "filler" book, that the author contracted to write a certain number of books and this one was sort of unnnecessary (I have to agree that dedicating pages and pages to fighting with quigs was over the top). A lot happens in this book, too much to be considered totally filler. (Still, the book could have been shorter by condensing a lot of that early stuff, or keep the book this length and advance the story a bit more. I'm afraid the final book will be too packed.)
We still have lots of questions: how come Saint Dane and Nevva Winter can change shape? Couldn't the other travelers conceivibly do the same? Or are Saint Dane and Nevva different somehow? How come Saint Dane knows so much more than the other travelers? Did the previous generation of travelers have those same abilities but they didn't pass the knowledge along to the final generation? Who is behind it all? And so on, and so on, and so on.
Looking forward to the final book.
Rating: - Not as good as previous books
I'm a devoted Pendragon fan, so I enjoyed this book and can't wait for Book Ten. But this segment of the series fell a little flat for me for several reasons. First, the story jumps from place to place, from character to character, which makes it hard to embrace the storyline and feel fully involved. A lot of head hopping. The turning point is on Second Earth, but much of the novel occurs elsewhere. Secondly, the action is less riveting than previous books. Too many car rides and not enough jaw-dropping surprises. Thirdly, the author repeats himself. I thought I'd scream if I had to hear about Saint Dane's grand master plan one more time, told by one character to another. The characters kept acting shocked and horrified whenever they heard about the plan, but I was yawning, because I'd already heard about plan ... several times. Fourth, many chapters are not told in Bobby's first person voice; they are written in third person narrative, and the writing style in those chapters is very clunky and choppy. That choppy writing style works fine when it's Bobby's hip voice. But not when it's supposed to be a flowing narrative. So I thought the writing style was poor, except when it was Bobby's voice. I hate writing so many criticisms about my beloved Pendragon, because I truly adore the Pendragon Series. MacHale is a creative genius with many original ideas. The fans will love this book. But I hope Book Ten improves on some of these flaws. Especially the clunky writing style.
- Home StretchThe Pendragon series has been a favorite of mine ever since my mom sent me the ARC of Merchant of Death my freshman year of college. I remember picking it up to kill the morning and getting sucked in from page one. Needless to say, I stayed in most of the day reading it. Expectations were high for Raven Rise, for I think the two books before this were very well done. I'm happy to say that Raven Rise went beyond my expectations.
We all knew that Bobby's actions at the end of the last book were going to royally mess up Halla, but, never did I think they would impact the whole of Halla as much as it. In Raven Rise we travel along with multiple travelers to different territories, seeing the vast changes in Halla from many different point of views.
The only problem that I had with the book, which might be a personal thing, was that there were some times where the constant narration grated on me. I wanted dialogue or some interaction between someone during some of the journal entries. That was only a minor problem, though.
Raven Rise is action packed, as always, but also has moments where it really gets to you at an emotional level, or at least, it got to me. DJ has again written a book where you could laugh and cry and throughly enjoy the entire ride.
4 stars from me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did
Rating:
- Incomplete and InconsistentRaven Rise is the 9th part of the Pendragon saga. From book one, I have been hooked onto D.J. McHale's suspenseful and descriptive writing. However, as the plot dragged on from one territory to the next, only the hope of the signature Pendragon cliffhanger finale kept me turning the pages.
For fans of the Pendragon series, just know that Raven Rise has to be the worst book out of the series yet. Reading this book reminded me of the popular Series of the Unfortunate Events, and its disappointing ending. Like Lemony Snicket, McHale fails to answer in Raven Rise any of the mysteries introduced in the first eight books of the series. Moreover, reading Raven Rise felt like reading three separate books!
However what disappointed me the most in this book was its horrible ending. It felt like all of McHale's writing was leading him up to write one more chapter, and suddenly the book ended. Usually, Pendragon books keep me thinking beyond the storyline, but Raven Rise made me wish I never started it in the first place.
So for first-timers, know that Raven Rise is a disappointing penulimate book to an awesome series. For Pendragon lovers, prepare to be dismayed. And for D.J. McHale, I'd like to leave you with this quote:
"Part of succes is knowing when to stop."
Rating:
- Just what I wanted- Not what I expectedThe last 3 to 4 chapters of this book are the best of the whole series. Honestly, this book, if you've read the past ones, is a must read.
There isn't an introduction of a whole lot of information but there are times in the book where new things are learned. You'll start to notice that some of the things said in the past book were really [really] important yet did not seem like it at all. At some points of the, the past books that is, some of the things said seem meaningless- nothing but politeness. But, reading this book- with the help of it being pointed out that this has been said before- you'll find out that wasn't so.
Read it!
Rating:
- The Final Battle for Halla is On!Bobby Pendragon has grown up. It's been such a difficult ride for the young man who didn't ask for the job of Lead Traveler. He wants to understand who he is, why he is in this seemingly endless battle with Saint Dane, and why he can't just give up. Book Nine finds Bobby enjoying his retirement. The flumes of Ibara and Veelox are buried under rocks and concrete. Saint Dane is trapped. Bobby misses his friends and fellow travelers, but he feels like he's made the ultimate sacrifice to safeguard Halla.
He must also admit that, to be honest, there were selfish reasons for staying on Ibara. He was tired of the battle. He didn't want to do this anymore. He just didn't understand who all his enemies were.
The first part of the book went just a little slower than I liked. Too many pages of Bobby being happy on Ibara, too many descriptions of Bobby finding Dado body parts to throw into the sea, of how he was building new homes and rebuilding Ibara in general. Maybe this was supposed to help build tension for later on when he realizes that everything was not as perfect as he thought (I mean, this is not a spoiler: there's still one more book to go, for goodness sake!) But for building tension? That didn't work.
On the Pendragon website I read on some of the message boards that people think this book is a "filler" book, that the author contracted to write a certain number of books and this one was sort of unnnecessary (I have to agree that dedicating pages and pages to fighting with quigs was over the top). A lot happens in this book, too much to be considered totally filler. (Still, the book could have been shorter by condensing a lot of that early stuff, or keep the book this length and advance the story a bit more. I'm afraid the final book will be too packed.)
We still have lots of questions: how come Saint Dane and Nevva Winter can change shape? Couldn't the other travelers conceivibly do the same? Or are Saint Dane and Nevva different somehow? How come Saint Dane knows so much more than the other travelers? Did the previous generation of travelers have those same abilities but they didn't pass the knowledge along to the final generation? Who is behind it all? And so on, and so on, and so on.
Looking forward to the final book.
Rating:
- Not as good as previous booksI'm a devoted Pendragon fan, so I enjoyed this book and can't wait for Book Ten. But this segment of the series fell a little flat for me for several reasons. First, the story jumps from place to place, from character to character, which makes it hard to embrace the storyline and feel fully involved. A lot of head hopping. The turning point is on Second Earth, but much of the novel occurs elsewhere. Secondly, the action is less riveting than previous books. Too many car rides and not enough jaw-dropping surprises. Thirdly, the author repeats himself. I thought I'd scream if I had to hear about Saint Dane's grand master plan one more time, told by one character to another. The characters kept acting shocked and horrified whenever they heard about the plan, but I was yawning, because I'd already heard about plan ... several times. Fourth, many chapters are not told in Bobby's first person voice; they are written in third person narrative, and the writing style in those chapters is very clunky and choppy. That choppy writing style works fine when it's Bobby's hip voice. But not when it's supposed to be a flowing narrative. So I thought the writing style was poor, except when it was Bobby's voice. I hate writing so many criticisms about my beloved Pendragon, because I truly adore the Pendragon Series. MacHale is a creative genius with many original ideas. The fans will love this book. But I hope Book Ten improves on some of these flaws. Especially the clunky writing style.
welcome to the Childrens Bookshop, here you will find a great resource for Books for the whole family. Children love Books and there is no better time to introduce Books than from a few days old. We have one of the largest selections of quality children's Books, and a wide range of educational toys, puzzles, games, music and audio books. We can help select Books specifically for your baby, children or even your school or library. We offer New and Used Books giving you great savings on High Street Stores. We pack and post to the UK, France, USA & Germany.. We have also partnered with Amazon and are able to provide a very wide selection of New and Used items. Please browse our extensive collection and take advantage of our great discounts and savings offered.