The Pendragon Adventure Book 9: Raven Rise Discussion [Summer Reading Challenge]

Hey, y'all! I'm here with another summer reading challenge post! I'm continuing on with my July challenge: The Pendragon Adventure!

Series Info

Since this series is a little less well-known than the other series in my Summer Reading Challenge, I decided to discuss the premise of the series as a whole. The Pendragon Adventure is a 10 book series centered around our main character, Bobby, and his adventures through multiple dimensions (or territories, as they're called in the books). The books are told from a dual perspective. Our main perspective is of Bobby, told in first-person through journals which he sends to his best friend to keep a record of what is happening. The secondary perspective is of Bobby's best friend, Mark, and pseudo-girlfriend, Courtney, who receive the journals and go through their own problems on Earth. The majority of the books focus on a single territory each, as Bobby travels there to thwart the evil Saint Dane.

Book Summary
As always, remember not to read this if you haven't read the previous books in the series, because this summary will probably spoil you for any books that came before this one!

Bobby Pendragon believes that it is over. He has trapped both himself and Saint Dane on Veelox, seemingly stopping Saint Dane from completing his plans. But what he doesn't know is that while he's isolated on the island of Ibara, Halla is falling apart. The battle has moved to his home territory of Second Earth, and Saint Dane's Convergence seems to be underway. Is it too late to save Halla?

Overall Thoughts

Non-spoiler section!

I don't know how I feel about this book. Well, I guess I do, but I'm not sure why. And why is a pretty important factor in this situation. Although I ended up really loving The Pilgrims of Rayne even though I remembered disliking it, the same can't really be said for Raven Rise. I mentioned in my last post that I really disliked the turn that the last few books took. And after re-reading Raven Rise, I'm finding that I feel the same way. However, as I said, I'm not sure why I dislike it. I'm not sure whether I dislike it because I'm so frustrated with how calculated and well thought out Saint Dane is and how he's winning the upper hand or because I genuinely don't think that this is the way I think the series should go.

I think that's the epitome of my struggle with the last few books in this series. I have a hard time figuring out whether I don't like it because I hate that Saint Dane is getting the upper hand, or if the Convergence legitimately takes the series in a direction that was totally out of left field and doesn't fit with the rest of the series. I think it's probably a combination. I feel that although I like the book, my emotions toward it go more toward appreciation rather than liking.  Maybe I just crave the simplicity of the one territory per book plotline. As I said, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Hopefully, my thoughts are more coherent in the wrap-up.

I also worry that my opinions of this book might be slightly clouded by my opinions on The Soldiers of Halla. A very confusing and (for me) extremely memorable scene occurs at the end of Raven Rise, and it prompts this big explanation about Travelers in The Soldiers of Halla, and I distinctly remember not being satisfied with that explanation at all... and I feel like that's partially clouding my opinion of Raven Rise.

I also feel like Raven Rise is a lot choppier than any of the other books. Usually, we get a nice back and forth between Bobby's POV and Mark & Courtney's. In Raven Rise, however, we have Alder, Mark & Courtney, Patrick, and Bobby. Just when we get into one story, we're bounced to another.

As far as rating, I'm a little torn, which makes sense since I don't exactly know how I feel. I do feel that it's one of the more intricate and well-constructed Pendragon books, so I'll give it 4.25-4.5 stars because of that.  More accurate rating TBD in my wrap-up.

Spoilery Discussion!

If I were to choose one word to explain this book, I think it would be confusing. All the changes occurring with Halla because of the Convergence had me really confused. Especially the timelines. It seemed sometimes like Nevva and Saint Dane would have to be in multiple different places at once for their plans to work out. The changes to Second Earth kept me confused, as did the changes to Third Earth.

I'm also kinda getting tired of Saint Dane's plans always working out just how he wanted them. Even when Bobby thinks he's doing something that's finally going to take Saint Dane by surprise, he's playing right into Saint Dane's plans! There's no way he could plan this whole elaborate scheme so perfectly to know exactly how Bobby will react to events.

Also, that scene at the end with all the Travelers showing up in this desolate wasteland... huh? I know it's explained early on in The Soldiers of Halla, but I can't remember the explanation, so right now nothing makes sense. I'm confused.

Sorry this discussion is totally incoherent, but I think I'll have my thoughts together for the last book.

Favorite Quotes

Page 116: "I'm not your friend."
"Yes, of course. I hope that by now you understand exactly where our differences lie."
"I do. I'm trying to protect the territories, and you're trying to kill everyone. I've had that one down for a while now."

Page 432: I grabbed Alder's arm and squeezed. "You're my brother. There's nobody I'd rather be here with. Actually, I'd rather not be here at all, but since I am, I'm glad you are too."

Page 446: "How many of those suits do you have? Do you like, send them to the laundry, or just toss 'em out and put on a new one when it gets all gamey?"
Saint Dane chuckled. I amused him. 
"Does it matter?" he asked.
"It was a joke, idiot." On top of everything else wrong with him, Saint Dane didn't have much of a sense of humor. Except when I amused him. Which happened a lot, I'm sorry to say.
"I'm glad to see that you're in a good mood. You should be. Our struggle has finally come to an end. Perhaps we should celebrate."
"Perhaps you should bite me."

Page 458: "There will be no more protests. No more dissension. No more violence. There will be only one voice. The voice of Ravinia. The voice of Halla. Your voice."
"There goes freedom of speech," I said.
Saint Dane didn't react.



So, there you go, that's all for this summer reading post! Have you read the Pendragon series? What do you think of the series? Let me know in the comments!

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading this! If you like my posts, don't forget to subscribe/follow, since it lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing. See y'all soon!

The Pendragon Adventure Book 8: The Pilgrims of Rayne Discussion [Summer Reading Challenge]

Hey, y'all! I'm here with another summer reading challenge post! I'm continuing on with my July challenge: The Pendragon Adventure!

Series Info

Since this series is a little less well-known than the other series in my Summer Reading Challenge, I decided to discuss the premise of the series as a whole. The Pendragon Adventure is a 10 book series centered around our main character, Bobby, and his adventures through multiple dimensions (or territories, as they're called in the books). The books are told from a dual perspective. Our main perspective is of Bobby, told in first-person through journals which he sends to his best friend to keep a record of what is happening. The secondary perspective is of Bobby's best friend, Mark, and pseudo-girlfriend, Courtney, who receive the journals and go through their own problems on Earth. The majority of the books focus on a single territory each, as Bobby travels there to thwart the evil Saint Dane.

Book Summary
As always, remember not to read this if you haven't read the previous books in the series, because this summary will probably spoil you for any books that came before this one!

Following a defeat on the territory of Quillan, Bobby follows Saint Dane to the territory of Ibara, which appears to be an island paradise. But not everything is as it seems in the town of Rayne, where secrets run rampant and the Traveler doesn't want anything to do with the battle for Halla. Meanwhile, Courtney is busy trying to find Mark, before he sets a devastating series of events into motion.

Overall Thoughts

Non-spoiler section!

I'm eating my words. All of them. I'm not sure if I've said this on any previous posts, but I've always disliked the turn this series took near the end. I distinctly remember being disappointed with books 8-10. But I also read #8 at the age of 13, #9 at 14, and #10 at 15. And I haven't re-read them. So it's been a while. Which is why I'm currently eating my words.

This is easily the most complex and intricate Pendragon book so far. Both of the plots (Bobby's and Courtney's) were extremely interesting and compelling. Rather than the little breaks in action that we get from Courtney and Mark's plot, Courtney's plot is just as full-speed-ahead as Bobby's. I remembered one of the major twists in the book, but forgot a few others, as well as forgetting some of the Courtney plot. This read-though, I was significantly more impressed than I was the first time. Honestly y'all, depending on how much I enjoy books 9 and 10, this may be my new favorite. That's how impressed I was with this read-through.

If I were to choose one word to describe this book, it would be INTENSE. There's constantly something exciting going on, whether it's on Bobby's end or Courtney's end. Speaking of ends... THAT ENDING! I remembered that something major happened near the end, but I couldn't remember what events caused it to happen. I remembered it being an accident, when it was actually very purposeful. Whoa. Very intense.

As far as rating, I'm  not going to jump and give it a full 5 stars out of 5, but I will say that it's at least 4.5- 4.75 and might be bumped up in the series post. 

Spoilery Discussion!

Before I get into everything I really enjoyed about this book, I need to get one big complaint off my chest. And it's not so much a complaint about The Pilgrims of Rayne as it is with the entire series. Every single book, Bobby does some sort of recap in his journal. We get told information that we already know from the series. Bobby is writing this journal to Mark and Courtney, who have read all the journals, and who even experienced some of the events, so explaining what Halla is or that he's a traveler is just ridiculous because they already know all that stuff. These little recaps were clearly thrown in there in case someone randomly picked up a book in the middle of the series and started reading it, but I find that stupid. The recaps don't give enough information to sufficiently inform a new reader about what's going on, and I'm not sure why you would even cater to them. By recapping, you're discouraging someone from picking up the series from the beginning. Authors should be catering to their dedicated readers, not some idiot who would start reading the 8th book in a series without reading any of the previous books. But enough of my rant.

Ok, so there were a lot of twists and turns going on in this book. Let's start with the one I remembered most vividly from my first read: the fact that Ibara was actually part of Veelox. I remember being shocked the first time I read it. Just, whoa. I hadn't seen that coming at all.

Secondly, Saint Dane's dado army. I forgot the majority of the plot of this one, except for Courtney's plot, so the dado army surprised me. I'd forgotten that he was using a dado army. But it's Saint Dane, so I shouldn't be surprised.

I also found the whole Ibara/Veelox story really interesting. Back when I first read this, I'm not even sure I knew what world-building was. And I certainly didn't know what aspects of books that I really wanted fleshed out. Oh, how times have changed. I've said it before and I'll say it again: world-building/a very fleshed out world is one of my favorite aspects in books. And that's done so well in this book. First, we see this very secretive society of Ibara- the one where the Tribunal keeps secrets from the people and people disappear for voicing opinions. Then, we discover the bigger picture and the destruction of Rubic City. Finally, and my personal favorite, we learn how everything happened through the Tribunal and everything makes sense. It's just so well crafted and I loved every second of it.

Finally (for Bobby's plot, at least), the mixing of the territories. Oh boy. I've got to hand it to Bobby- he was really clever about it. He planned it out and in theory, it was a great plan. He thought several steps ahead, and honestly, it's kinda Saint Dane-like thinking. This also brings up a bit of a "moral" dilemma about whether mixing the territories is allowable or should be avoided. I'm about to spoil some stuff about the later books, so if you haven't read past this book, skip the rest of the paragraph. *SPOILER ALERT* It's been 6 years since I read Raven Rise, and 5 since The Soldiers of Halla, but if I remember correctly, the Convergence is all about mixing the territories (hence the title "Convergence"). This is clearly why Uncle Press told Bobby not to mix the territories, because although it might help an individual territory, it's also helping Saint Dane's long-term plan. Why couldn't Bobby trust Press and not the villain?! *SPOILER ALERT OVER*

Now, on to Courtney's plot. Like I said, this was also really exciting. It wasn't quite as intense as Bobby's plot, but it's pretty intense. Courtney and Dodger's journey to stop Mark was really exciting, and the action just kept building and building, along with the confusion. I think a lot of the reason I got mad at this book the first time through was because it seemed like Mark was too easily manipulated. But honestly, if it had been my parents who died, I would've done anything to save them. So it's very understandable. Although I did get really annoyed at Mark. I could kinda understand that he might believe or want to believe that Courtney was the one who was confused and had been manipulated, but I draw the line at Mark thinking Courtney was purposely lying to him. Sure, trust this bully-suddenly-turned-nice-guy over your best friend. That makes sense.

OK, that's way longer than I intended, but I just had so much to say!

Favorite Quotes

Page 1: The future isn't what it used to be.
I love that as an opening line. Too great.

Page 209: P.S. This is from Spader, mates. Tell Pendragon that I've thought long and hard about the things he's said to me. I guess you might say I've done a little growing up here in the jungles of Eelong. Tell him I'm ready. I'm with him. And when the time comes, I'll follow him to the ends of Halla.
After that, the last one to Grolo's buys the sniggers.
Hobey-ho,
Your mate, Spader
Honestly teared up while reading that. I absolutely love Spader.

Page 328: "Who are you!" Siry screamed in anger.
I gripped him tighter, holding him back.
"Don't you know?" Saint Dane said with glee. "I'm the boogeyman."
Oh hey, Saint Dane does have a sense of humor! A really twisted one, but I wouldn't expect anything different from him.



So, there you go, that's all for this summer reading post! Have you read the Pendragon series? What do you think of the series? Let me know in the comments!

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading this! If you like my posts, don't forget to subscribe/follow, since it lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing. See y'all soon!

The Pendragon Adventure Book 4: The Reality Bug Discussion [Summer Reading Challenge]

Hey, y'all! I'm here with another summer reading challenge post! I'm continuing on with my July challenge: The Pendragon Adventure!

Series Info

Since this series is a little less well-known than the other series in my Summer Reading Challenge, I decided to discuss the premise of the series as a whole. The Pendragon Adventure is a 10 book series centered around our main character, Bobby, and his adventures through multiple dimensions (or territories, as they're called in the books). The books are told from a dual perspective. Our main perspective is of Bobby, told in first-person through journals which he sends to his best friend to keep a record of what is happening. The secondary perspective is of Bobby's best friend, Mark, and pseudo-girlfriend, Courtney, who receive the journals and go through their own problems on Earth. The majority of the books focus on a single territory each, as Bobby travels there to thwart the evil Saint Dane.

Book Summary
As always, remember not to read this if you haven't read the previous books in the series, because this summary will probably spoil you for any books that came before this one!

After a bittersweet success on First Earth, Bobby continues on to the territory of Veelox. The inhabitants of Veelox spend nearly all of their time in their individual, perfect, virtual realities. However, the outside world is not quite so perfect. Although Veelox's traveler, Aja, claims to be getting things under control, food is scarce and the land is a desolate wasteland. Bobby must uncover Saint Dane's plan and save the territory before its inhabitants destroy themselves.

Overall Thoughts

Non-spoiler section!

A lot of Pendragon fans say that this one is one of their least favorite books in the series. But I never really understood that, because it's one of my favorites! Because each book is set on a different territory, the books kinda fall into different genres. The Merchant of Death is mostly high fantasy, but The Never War is more historical fiction. The Reality Bug, however, is a mix of sci-fi and dystopian. And those two genres make me very happy.

Aja though... she really irks me. I feel like personality-wise, she's not very different from myself. We're both pretty confident in our intelligence and despise asking others for help. But those qualities don't necessarily add up to a good traveler. You have to know when to ask for help.

One thing that I really like about The Reality Bug is that you never quite know exactly what's going on. It leaves you confused a lot. And because it's crafted to confuse you, I really enjoy it.

I both love and hate the territory of Veelox. I think it's super interesting, but I would never, ever want to live there. It's kinda like with 1984. I think that the world is really interesting and well-constructed and I love learning all about it, but it would be a nightmare to live in. I love learning all about Veelox and their virtual reality, but I don't think I'd ever want to live there, even though the virtual reality is really tempting.

I also really enjoy Mark and Courtney's plot in this one. Finally, finally they get an interesting plot. I like both of them as characters, but I'm always sad when I reach the end of one of Bobby's journals because I know I'll have to read a chapter of them going  through their boring lives before getting back to the action. But this is when they actually start getting actually interesting and I loved it.

As far as rating, I'm going to give it at least a 4.5 out of 5. It might end up getting higher, but it's definitely at least a 4.5.

Spoilery Discussion!

I was so excited when Bobby went and got Loor to help him, and I loved how much sass she gave Aja. Speaking of Aja, I think she has no business being a traveler. She's a great phader but she isn't a good traveler. I can't remember whether or not she shows up later in the series, but I doubt it because she won't even leave Veelox. Compared to Loor, who is a really great traveler, Aja is useless. At least her heart is in the right place. Kinda.

That reminds me. Please tell me there's someone else out there who ships Bobby with Loor and not Courtney. Please? I get that Courtney was that girl he crushed on forever and she's totally beautiful and stuff, but... LOOR. She's loyal and strong and smart and just super awesome. Courtney is kinda... whiny. Especially in this book. I'm not saying that I dislike Bobby and Courtney as a couple. I like them. I just like Loor and Bobby better. Because LOOR.

Anyway, back to the actual book. Saint Dane was pretty absent in this book until the end, which I liked, because it gave Bobby a chance to work things out on his own without Saint Dane constantly trying to stop him. Saint Dane knew he'd won. This time, his plan was pretty much Bobby-proof. I really don't think that Bobby could've done anything to save Veelox. And honestly, I like that it wasn't a happy ending. So far, Bobby has managed to pull everything off, and when he defeats the Reality Bug with only 20ish pages left, you think he's done it again, but then Saint Dane pulls it out at the last second and it sucks. But at least for once, it wasn't predictable. And Saint Dane's win and the rules changing allows the books to get even more crazy and interesting. Again, I don't get why this is one of Pendragon fans' least favorites in the series. I think it's great.

Another reason why it's my favorite is, like I said, that Courtney and Mark actually get an important plot! I can't remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure that now that they're acolytes, they're going to continue having more interesting plots, which is great because like I said above, their stories tend to be a low point for me in the story.

I really like the sequences where they're inside Lifelight. Regardless of whether it's perfect or whether there are imperfections, I think it's a really interesting invention and like to see what everyone comes up with.

Overall, I just really like this book. It's always been one of my favorites in the series, and this re-read reminded me why I like it so much!

Favorite Quotes

Page 165: Loor looked right into my eyes and gave a little smile. That didn't happen often. Loor wasn't the smiley type. But when she did, it made my heart melt. It wasn't until I saw her again, here on her home territory of Zadaa, that I realized how much I had missed her.

Page 173: Loor pumped her legs and drove the guy backward, through the room and out of the portal. She finished him off by flipping him over her back into the waterfall, sending him plummeting into the fast-moving river.
I looked up at the Rokador guy who was operating the water controls. He didn't stop working, but gave me a nervous glance.
"You should see her when she's mad," I said to the scared guy. 
I thought the poor dude was going to faint. I hurried out of the room, jumping over the bodies of the groaning guards, and joined Loor on the ledge behind the waterfall. 
"Finished playing?" I asked. She gave me a sly wink and we were off. 

Page 174: Aja gave Loor an up and down once-over. She then said, "Is Loor a man's name or a woman's name?"
Ouch.
Loor answered,"It is the name of a legendary hero on Zadaa. A woman."
"Really?" Aja said. "What did she do that was so heroic?"
"She killed her enemies and ate them."
Aja's eyes opened in shock. She turned forward and clutched the wheel of the vehicle nervously. Loor looked at me and winked. She was kidding. Great. That's all I needed. 

Page 350: Loor and I had been through some hairy adventures but we were now connecting on a whole new level. I think they call it "normal." I always had a ton of respect for her. Now I felt as if I had found a friend. 

Page 352:"Thank you for coming to Veelox," I said. 
"Gratitude is unnecessary," she declared. "I am a Traveler."
"But I threw you into a pretty nasty situation without a whole lot of warning and... you are an amazing person, Loor."
I wanted to hug her, but she wasn't the sentimental type. So I was surprised when she reached forward and touched my cheek. It was a tender gesture. Something I never thought she was capable of.
"I feel the same about you, Pendragon," she said sincerely. "I am glad you are our leader... and my friend."



So, there you go, that's all for this summer reading post! Have you read the Pendragon series? What do you think of the series? Let me know in the comments!

I've also created a Facebook page for my blog, so if you want to check that out and like it, you can click HERE. I'll try to keep that pretty up-to-date with new posts and such.

Thanks for reading this! If you like my posts, don't forget to subscribe/follow, since it lets me know that you're enjoying what I'm doing. See y'all soon!