A review by bizzybee429
Seeds of Rebellion by Brandon Mull

5.0

"You mean to defy me," [Maldor] said flatly, the comment unsolicited. [sic]

"After all the futile suffering, after all the fruitless effort, after the countless disgraced followers, you persist in returning to your folly. I can see through you, Galloran. You are mine. I will watch your every move."

"Then you will watch me dismantle your empire piece by piece," Galloran said. "When you see anything, it will be the cowardly criminals you employ perishing by my blade. Come for me if you can. I will be waiting."

Whew. This series, y'all. This series. I can't even put into words the degree of love I have for these books. They are just so perfect, from the covers to the characters to the world-building to the themes.

I don't think I have ever read a single book series that deals with the subject of heroism more subtly and beautifully than Beyonders. A lot of times books with "reluctant heroes" read more like anti-war propaganda than a novel about rebellion. I'm definitely not advocating for war, but most of the time when I read stories like that I want to ask the author to turn it down a bit on the I'm a hero and that means I have to kill people but I feel really bad even though they're EVIL and it's a good thing that my friends are here with me!!!!! shtick. In Beyonders, we get heroes and the evil emperor and the good versus evil fight without the narrative popping in with a reminder every five minutes that these guys are heroes. And I like it. It makes the story flow better and the characters more likable.

SPEAKING OF CHARACTERS, my favorite character in Beyonders has got to be Ferrin. He is trying so hard in this book to go from being a horrible person to one of the good guys and you really feel for him in his struggles. He has to deal with the fact that all the people around him don't really trust him, and he knows that he doesn't deserve to be trusted. And it breaks my heart every fricking time I read these fricking books. He is trying to be honest and have integrity, but he struggles. He puts it candidly:

"'I'm accustomed to this kind of atmosphere. Right now it's time for me to lie low... An unwelcome guest should avoid flaunting his presence.'

'I'm trusting you more and more,' Jason said, feeling bad for him.

'Which feels stranger than suspicion,' Ferrin said... 'I could rationalize your acceptance as ignorance. I've never had a true friend, Jason. I've used others, I've been used. But a principled person has never knowingly accepted me...I can't stop noticing how I might take advantage of information...Part of me muses how difficult it would be for the seedmen to pass judgment on me and my people if they were extinct. Part of me wants to exploit a million different flaws I've noticed in their attitudes and defenses. Part of me want to show you and Galloran that you were fools to trust me, that I don't need your sympathy or protection... The safest course of action for your young rebellion would be to toss me off the tallest cliff you can find.'"

I'm love him. Ferrrin deserves the world.

Honestly, I just love all the characters in any Brandon Mull book ever -- he really has a knack for creating main, secondary, and tertiary, and even background characters that are flawed and three dimensional??? How does he do it? I literally. Even if a character is present for under a chapter I can still remember their name and description?? With most books it's doubtful I'll even remember the main characters' names.

The battle scenes in Beyonders are some of the best I've ever read as well. They read perfectly -- I can see it in my mind, it's not too polished, it's not too choppy, and the characters' skill ranges are varied and accurate to their presented ability.

I also like how the magic is written into Beyonders. In most fantasy book series' with magic, the characters discover their powers and then boom, two chapters later they're perfect at wielding them and they're just awesome and as good as the bad guy who has been training for hundreds of years. Amazing. However, when Rachel discovers her affinity for magic literally all she can do at first is light a candle with her mind. But even that is considered amazing, as one of the other characters, Drake, only learned to light a candle after years of dedication and meditating. Rachel's pretty much a beast, and it's fun to see her powers grow as she goes from lighting a candle, to lighting a fire, to burning ten zombies at once, to lighting a table on fire and tossing it around the room like a professional arsonist. It's also nice to read because the magic actually takes a toll out on the people who wield it, and you have to build up your stamina and power. If you try a command that's too ambitious for you and fail, then you have a serious risk of death or permanent injury. There's actually consequences for your actions. Imagine that.

Also!! The magic is cool because it's literally a language!! That is so cool!! I geek the heck out over the world-building in these books but you know what? They deserve it. This is one of those series, like Eragon and Lord of the Rings, where you can tell that the author has literally spent YEARS creating this world and it pays off so much!

Another really cool character that we meet in Seeds of Rebellion is Farfalee. She's a bad-a who has lived for thousands of years and can speak pretty much any language and also shoot you in the eye with a bow and arrow from a hundred yards away without flinching. I want to be her best friend.

Please read Beyonders