So... on to the Pendragon series by DJ MacHale.
General story: Three normal teenagers suddenly (for one) and slowly (for the other two) find themselves to be a vital part of an interplanetary battle between evil/chaos and good/peace.
Literary value: Low. Fast-paced entertainment, with a few insights into life and humanity. A bit of character development. Mildly entertaining, mild sense of humor. That being said, I got all the way to book 5 before I decided I just couldn't read any more (I think there are 10 books in the series). Toooooo predictable, and each book was more of the same.
Pros: I enjoy seeing books that involve teens in something bigger than themselves. I think kids these days (I'm generalizing here), lack purpose and involvement in something more important than themselves. Another thing I appreciate is that the characters themselves also seem to be pretty normal, no "special abilities" or larger-than-life courage. There is also a lot of creativity in the creation of these new worlds.
I'm wondering if there are religious overtones to the book - the evil guy is called "Saint Dane" - sounds like Satan to me!
Cons: doesn't grip me (I could easily put down the books without feeling much compulsion to pick them up again), they eventually get boring, and the literary value (see above) is low. HOWEVER, some of the kids in my youth group have really enjoyed the series! What can you do... they like what they like...
Honestly, this series lost it for me on the first page. The way Bobby Pendragon talks is soooooooooo teenage-cliche, I couldn't identify with him as an actual person. I've worked with youth for ten years, and the only times I've ever heard a teenager or a kid talk like that were in bad Disney movies.
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