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4.23 AVERAGE
4.23 AVERAGE
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
"The pleasant paths have crumbled. Lyrian must be purchased with sacrifice. [sic] Your hope is red, like the blood of heroes, black as the bowels of the earth, and white, like a flash of orantium."
“The truth can be devastating...We use lies to take the edge off life. We dream of a better tomorrow. We hide from our regrets and inadequacies. We try to exaggerate the good and downplay the bad. We even mange to hide from the inescapable reality that sooner or later we and everyone we love is going to die.
When a decision really matters, Rachel, we have to ignore our comforting illusions. We must set aside our wishes and give heed to reality. Nobody can accept the truth while hiding from it. When a decision matters, we have to stare at the truth unflinchingly. Only then can we find peace in our choices."
Honestly? I would give almost anything for this series to be as popular as Harry Potter, or even any of Brandon Mull's other series. So few people have read Beyonders, but this book is the epitome of a perfect high-fantasy series. Beyonders is one of those series, like Eragon and Lord of the Rings, where when you read it you can tell that the author spent upwards of ten years working on it; developing the world, characters, and plot.
One great and unique thing about the characters in Beyonders is that a lot of the good guys are hardcore Slytherin. Lyrian is a world full of harsh, scared people who have learned that it's every man for himself. The characters are ambitious, determined, and will never stop fighting. One of my favorite characters, Ferrin, has a fantastic character arc from anti-villain to anti-hero. In fact, the entire cast is full of anti-heroes with their own agendas and their own loyalties and, hey, they might not like each other but they're allies.
Chasing the Prophecy has one of those plots where there's only forty pages left in the book and everything is going wrong and you don't think that it will be able to all resolve itself. It has a bittersweet ending and a bittersweet epilogue, which makes the series that much more satisfying. If you think this will be one of those lower YA series where everything ends up sunshine and rainbows, and all of your favorite characters will survive, you will be very, very disappointed. However, the amount of death never once seems callous and overdone. Each death happens for a reason and it's just cold hard reality that not everyone makes it to the end.
Not only does this series have awesome characters and a to-die-for (pun unintended) plot, but the battle scenes are just spectacular. There's piracy, smuggling, manhunts, battles where the good guys are outnumbered 50:1, clever strategy, and one of the most realistic depictions of magic I've ever read. I don't really like video games, but I would pay 50 dollars to purchase a Beyonders game in a heartbeat. One thing Brandon Mull is excellent at is his action sequences, and these books do not disappoint in that aspect. Nothing is choppy, but it's not too polished either. Just right.
Beyonders also has excellent themes of faith, sacrifice, and fighting for a good cause, but very rarely does this feel forced or superficial. It's a deep series and will leave you thinking for months after you finish it.
I would recommend this series for anyone in a reading slump or any fantasy fans. There's a reason why it's my all-time favorite series, and I promise that if you give it a chance you will not be disappointed.
"For anything worth accomplishing, we can always find reasons to doubt, just as we can also find reasons to proceed...I have chosen to side with faith and hope over doubt and despair.”
So much happens in this book that I can't break it down & I'm also not sure how so much happened
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Read: May 19, 2023
Title: Chasing the Prophacy
Series: Beyonders #3
Author: Brandon Mull
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
Review:
Title: Chasing the Prophacy
Series: Beyonders #3
Author: Brandon Mull
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Rating: 3.5/5
Review:
Likes: It was witty and moving, the death scene definitely had my eyes watering, the storyline was a bit unpredictable in places, the world building was wonderful, and the narration was decent.
Dislikes: Repetitive, too many characters, it felt like a failed attempt at an epic, came off a bit whiny.
Honestly favorite book in the series.
Quotes:
N/A
TW: Death, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Torture, dismemberment, Violence, Vomit.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
A good conclusion to the story. I do admit that I am a bit sad to see it end already, I wish we got to spend more time with the characters at the end. Also feel like there could have been more to explore and discover, albeit not much more to the overarching plot. Overall, majority of the gaps and easter eggs were well covered - if you've been able to pick up on them as the story went along, that is.
The final instalment made me feel an array of emotions. I laughed, as I did whilst reading the previous two books. I teared up and cried a little. Whilst I don't feel like the sad parts were dragged out, the foreboding elements allowed the reader to anticipate certain things - which is where I found room to shead a tear or two. Rachel as a character began to finally annoy me with her stream of doubts - that kept resurfacing even after she'd apparantly laid them to rest. The other characters helped me pull through those chapters.
I don't regret picking up this trilogy. Brandon Mull has yet to disappoint me with his books. Fablehaven is still undoubtedly better in my opinion, but I am biased towards that series. If Mull ever decides to write other stories set in Lyrian, I will definitely pick those books up. In the meantime, I'll continue reading through his already published works.
The final instalment made me feel an array of emotions. I laughed, as I did whilst reading the previous two books. I teared up and cried a little. Whilst I don't feel like the sad parts were dragged out, the foreboding elements allowed the reader to anticipate certain things - which is where I found room to shead a tear or two. Rachel as a character began to finally annoy me with her stream of doubts - that kept resurfacing even after she'd apparantly laid them to rest. The other characters helped me pull through those chapters.
I don't regret picking up this trilogy. Brandon Mull has yet to disappoint me with his books. Fablehaven is still undoubtedly better in my opinion, but I am biased towards that series. If Mull ever decides to write other stories set in Lyrian, I will definitely pick those books up. In the meantime, I'll continue reading through his already published works.
adventurous
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I loved it! Fantastic fantasy, a wonderful world by an author clearly aware of the genre, and happy to breeze past the tropes. It felt like a perfect cut between hard and soft magic, a hard and soft world: everything you know is need-to-know; every card ever turned over remains in play, as it were. As ever with Brandon Mull, the characters were strong, but approachable-- more here than in many others, in my opinion. Rachel had power, but a rational amount that she gained one step at a time. Jason, as it happened.... didn't, which I think is fascinating. His appeal was that he did what he could at the right time, which I think is an excellent way to express the specific genre of kids' fantasy: of course the righteous side comes out on the upside, but the main character would be hard to call a chosen one. I'm glad he got a nice end though, even if
It's a hard sell for me to give a Brandon Mull book less than four stars, so I won't. That said, I do have a note (for all it's worth; he's had 9 years to correct it and did, before I said anything). I think the cast is a bit overblown. Somewhere in the second book, we started adding people to the party like mad. Drinlings, Amar Kabal, and various helpers from stages past and present started to get a bit hard to track (but especially the Drinlings). I think seeing virtually all of them again at the end,, but also generally, inflated the problem. But even disregarding all that, there were just a few too many to track, and it did feel a bit like many of them were there . When, for instance, because I didn't know who he was. Same with Nicholas from the first book, the various lieutenants of the war party. I generally roll my eyes when a familiar character is reintroduced, to the effect of "[Character], who helped us back in book 1." Yet here, given the circumstances, I might have preferred it.
I had various other minor thoughts on the unconventionality of the world and story as it relates to the general genre, but in the end I think that hid some of the appeal. I think this book certainly feels like a spiritual... ancestor? to The Five Kingdoms series, which makes sense, given the content. If I'm honest, it feels a little like Mull started asking "what if Lyrian was different?" enough times that it constituted a perhaps stronger, more defined series. But I loved this one nonetheless.
Would recommend to anyone who liked books like Eragon, and would be interested to see non-Tolkien races take the place of those more conventional. Mull has an excellent imagination, and an exquisite awareness of the worlds and genres in which he creates, but doesn't let it stop him. As always, I'd recommend this, and all his books, as a quick and very enjoyable read to readers of any age, especially 20-somethings who find the genre dedicated to them on the thin side, and want something that doesn't need to be grim (but still has the option, if it likes) to be good.
Spoiler
he didn't get with Corinne.... yet.It's a hard sell for me to give a Brandon Mull book less than four stars, so I won't. That said, I do have a note (for all it's worth; he's had 9 years to correct it and did, before I said anything). I think the cast is a bit overblown. Somewhere in the second book, we started adding people to the party like mad. Drinlings, Amar Kabal, and various helpers from stages past and present started to get a bit hard to track (but especially the Drinlings). I think seeing virtually all of them again at the end,
Spoiler
re: the whole revolt and counterrevolution in TrensicourtSpoiler
just to die, more or lessSpoiler
"Heg" appeared in the Fuming Wastes, it automatically seemed suspiciousI had various other minor thoughts on the unconventionality of the world and story as it relates to the general genre, but in the end I think that hid some of the appeal. I think this book certainly feels like a spiritual... ancestor? to The Five Kingdoms series, which makes sense, given the content. If I'm honest, it feels a little like Mull started asking "what if Lyrian was different?" enough times that it constituted a perhaps stronger, more defined series. But I loved this one nonetheless.
Would recommend to anyone who liked books like Eragon, and would be interested to see non-Tolkien races take the place of those more conventional. Mull has an excellent imagination, and an exquisite awareness of the worlds and genres in which he creates, but doesn't let it stop him. As always, I'd recommend this, and all his books, as a quick and very enjoyable read to readers of any age, especially 20-somethings who find the genre dedicated to them on the thin side, and want something that doesn't need to be grim (but still has the option, if it likes) to be good.
Really enjoyed this book. I'm surprised that I hadn't ever heard of this series.