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aneagleslament 's review for:
The Calling
by James Frey
Endgame is an interesting case. Chances are, you already know whether or not you’re going to buy this book and chances are you don’t even care about whether or not the story is good. This is because, to quote the back of the book
“Written into this book is a puzzle. Solve the puzzle and you will find the key to open a case of gold”
Yep, that’s right, it’s a treasure hunt! So ultimately, most people have bought the book on that basis alone and HarperCollins has probably already made its money back and then some. But the appeal of the treasure hunt will run out soon (October 2016 to be exact). At which point, all we’ll be able to base the book upon is the actual story. Which is what I’m basing it on.
The book starts off with 12 meteors raining down from the sky and causing havoc across the world. Each meteor is targeting a specific teenager or player, from 12 ancient lines of civilization. And they mean one thing: Endgame is here. And now the Players must travel around the world to find 3 keys, the prize at the end being the survival of everyone in their line. Fun
First off, while it may LOOK daunting, Endgame is a fairly quick read. A large portion of the book consists of either pictures, co-ordinates or a random quote. And throughout you will feel like are progressing really well due to the short length of the chapters, a result of the way the story is told. See, instead of following one player, the book jumps from person to person to not only show how everything is connected but to also try and make us relate to several players instead of just one. And most of the characters are very interesting and complex, going through their own struggles and reasons for fighting (and not fighting) and playing. I personally am I fan of Chiyoko and Aisling, though that last one may just be me rooting for my line (Let’s go La Tène)
Which leads me to a problem with the story. While a lot of the side plots involving other players are very interesting, it’s obvious that who we’re supposed to root for, the Sarah (The American, what a surprise). This left me wanting to see more from the other players. Hopefully Frey and Johnson-Shelton will fix this in the next 2 books (Oh yes, it’s a trilogy)
The pacing felt a bit sporadic to me, again due to the shifting focus of the narrative. The book will sometimes go from high octane action to a quiet contemplative chapter of a player far away having a grand revelation. While this could be seen as the authors giving us a breather, it ultimately took me out of it at times and I was just left going “GET BACK TO THE ACTION!”
A lot of people have compared this to The Hunger Games, with some good reason (12 groups, fight to the death, all the players being teenagers, the extreme violence) but I don’t believe they’re the same. THG focuses more on Katniss’ struggle with the regime and her trying to game it to her advantage. Endgame focuses more on just the fighting with not much political drama, though there is a tad bit of philosophy. Now whether or not that’s a positive or negative is up to you but I personally didn’t enjoy it as much
Honestly, I think I can ascertain where a lot of the problems come from. This isn’t a standalone book, this is a novelisation. The story has already been optioned by Fox for a trilogy and honestly it’s painfully obvious. The chapters aren't chapters, they're scenes. And I can’t help but feel somewhat jaded by it. I don’t want just the action, I want the development! I want the reasons why they’re doing everything!
Overall, I just ended up feeling like it had some problems with character development and pacing but it has potential as a series. Hopefully the second and third books will improve as I am interested in the world and who will win
“Written into this book is a puzzle. Solve the puzzle and you will find the key to open a case of gold”
Yep, that’s right, it’s a treasure hunt! So ultimately, most people have bought the book on that basis alone and HarperCollins has probably already made its money back and then some. But the appeal of the treasure hunt will run out soon (October 2016 to be exact). At which point, all we’ll be able to base the book upon is the actual story. Which is what I’m basing it on.
The book starts off with 12 meteors raining down from the sky and causing havoc across the world. Each meteor is targeting a specific teenager or player, from 12 ancient lines of civilization. And they mean one thing: Endgame is here. And now the Players must travel around the world to find 3 keys, the prize at the end being the survival of everyone in their line. Fun
First off, while it may LOOK daunting, Endgame is a fairly quick read. A large portion of the book consists of either pictures, co-ordinates or a random quote. And throughout you will feel like are progressing really well due to the short length of the chapters, a result of the way the story is told. See, instead of following one player, the book jumps from person to person to not only show how everything is connected but to also try and make us relate to several players instead of just one. And most of the characters are very interesting and complex, going through their own struggles and reasons for fighting (and not fighting) and playing. I personally am I fan of Chiyoko and Aisling, though that last one may just be me rooting for my line (Let’s go La Tène)
Which leads me to a problem with the story. While a lot of the side plots involving other players are very interesting, it’s obvious that who we’re supposed to root for, the Sarah (The American, what a surprise). This left me wanting to see more from the other players. Hopefully Frey and Johnson-Shelton will fix this in the next 2 books (Oh yes, it’s a trilogy)
The pacing felt a bit sporadic to me, again due to the shifting focus of the narrative. The book will sometimes go from high octane action to a quiet contemplative chapter of a player far away having a grand revelation. While this could be seen as the authors giving us a breather, it ultimately took me out of it at times and I was just left going “GET BACK TO THE ACTION!”
A lot of people have compared this to The Hunger Games, with some good reason (12 groups, fight to the death, all the players being teenagers, the extreme violence) but I don’t believe they’re the same. THG focuses more on Katniss’ struggle with the regime and her trying to game it to her advantage. Endgame focuses more on just the fighting with not much political drama, though there is a tad bit of philosophy. Now whether or not that’s a positive or negative is up to you but I personally didn’t enjoy it as much
Honestly, I think I can ascertain where a lot of the problems come from. This isn’t a standalone book, this is a novelisation. The story has already been optioned by Fox for a trilogy and honestly it’s painfully obvious. The chapters aren't chapters, they're scenes. And I can’t help but feel somewhat jaded by it. I don’t want just the action, I want the development! I want the reasons why they’re doing everything!
Overall, I just ended up feeling like it had some problems with character development and pacing but it has potential as a series. Hopefully the second and third books will improve as I am interested in the world and who will win