Jake Ransom and the Skull Kings Shadow

Okay, I promise this will be more of a book review than the last one. I found this book in Target, and the cover sold me. A young boy climbing a giant mayan pyramid? Yeah you’ve got my interest. All you have to say is Mayan and I’ll sit up straight and listen. It’s a secret nerdy obsession of mine, any ancient history that is. But for some reason I’ve always had a soft spot for the Mayan.  I needed a book to listen to on the banks of Alaskan rivers, {don’t laugh Dad} so I thought this was perfect. 

Jake Ransom’s parents mysteriously disappeared while on a dig in Mesoamerica. Three years later, Jake and his sister Katy are dealing with the loss of their parents. Things get weirder when an invitation comes to attend a museum exibxit in London. But through an ancient artifact and conjoining necklaces left to them by their parents, Jake and Katy are transported to an ancient world where it seems that people from every time and place have converged. Mayans, Romans, Chinese, Africans, cave men and even dinosaurs live together in a valley, protected from the evil clutches of the Skull King. Jake and Katy have to emerge themselves in this world while they find a way to get back home. But unexpected clues lead them to their parents: did they know of this place? Are they alive? But they are running out of time to discover all their answers. The Skull King awaits on the border of the city, and what he wants most: Jake. 

There are a lot of good and bad things about this book, in my opinion. 

The Bad. James Rollins is great with his descriptions, thats the problem, he’s TOO great with his descriptions. Everything is so over described and superfluous that I was getting annoyed. I was listening to in on my iPod, so I couldn’t just skim over the descriptions like I would have in a book. It really almost killed the good plot he had going. Even a character spoke using an insane over intense description! I mean, can’t the sun just shine? Does it always have to break across the  horizon in a glorious greeting to the new day, gently illuminating the valley below, and caressing the shadows with it’s soft golden rays of hope, till they give way to the light? {HA! That was pretty good, I should be an author :) } Don’t get me wrong, vivid and beautiful descriptions are a part of any good writing, but when you get something like that every other sentence, it gets old-fast. 

He can’t say: Jake sat in his classroom, watching the minutes pass by on the clock. Instead it’s: 

The inky black arrows, frozen on the clock taunted Jake. He stared at them, as if his will alone would make them move. And when they finally inched passed, it seemed not enough. He would be stuck in this forever, and the arrows would mock him for all eternity. {I made that up, incase anyone wants to get mad at me for making fun of published writing} 

Sure, that might sound good. But every little, non important things was described that way, and I really wanted more plot. It was a good thing I didn’t have anything to do, or I would have put the book down forever. {I guess I could have got out of the boat and fished for Alaskan Salmon. But hey, I’d already caught {and released} more than my limit of fish that day. }

Okay, can you tell that bugged me? On to other things.

I was a little unsure if I like the whole multi-cultural thing at first. But I soon became okay with that. But the dinosaurs? I don’t know why, but dinos spell one thing to me: C-H-E-E-S-Y. He could have ditched the dinos, and I’d be fine. 

And lastly, The Skull King. {another personal rant here} I dislike villains for the sake of villainy.  And the Skull King was like so many other villains: Evil and scary, almost non human. Bent on evil and taking over the world. But what they lack is personality. Why do they want to take over the world? What are they going to do once they get it? What happened to this once innocent infant to make them so bad? To paraphrase something I read: A character who acts without real motivation is by definition melodramatic, doing outrageous things for the sake of the thrill it gives the reader--not because it makes sense for the character to do so

The Skull King was melodramatic. A great villain, and so much like many others before him. 

The Good. {You were hoping I’d get to that?} 

There is some great mystery here that’s keeping me up at night, awaiting the sequel. Jake’s parents, the company they work for, the world itself. I can’t wait to find out the answers. James Rollins has done a great job of working up the suspense. 

Like I said, I’m an ancient history dork. So this was really fun for me to get thrown into a world where all the worlds history lives at one place. The way they live, the “alchemy” that is their technology. It was all very exciting and interesting, and something I’d never read before. Yeah for new ideas!!! 

And his characters. Jake is smart and mature, determined to follow in his parents shoes. He makes friends in the city that are great supporters to his character. While his sister Katy brings some light heartedness and “teenage” into the story. 

I really liked this book, and I will read the next one, but I really hope that James can tone down the over dramatization, or I might just have to puke my way through it. 

Far World

I’ve recently read a book that I would like to review. But before I do, I would like to go on a personal tangent, if that’s okay. What am I talking about? This is my blog I’m going to write all the personal tangents I want! Tee heee!

I normally don’t read books like this: Middle Grade Fantasy. I still like many YA {Young Adults} books, but Middle Grade is a bit young for me. Maybe its because, like my maturing taste in food {I hate box macaroni and hot dogs, but love my vegetables} my taste in books have matured...hmmm. That can’t be it! 

I think my reasons are two fold. 

One I HATE copy cats. Have you ever noticed that since the Twilight explosion, Vampires are everywhere? It’s as if authors and screen writers only care about tapping in to a money making market then writing their own creativity. They know that young adults are in to vamps, so they give them more vamps than they can handle. Sure, its a good “ka-ching, ka-ching” idea, but to me its uncreative and shallow. They try to steal what one woman has created, slap a different cover on it, and think they’ve done something amazing. Get an original thought, people! Admittedly, those might be hard to come by, {vampires were around long before Stephanie Meyer} but at least try! Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Twilight and Vampires as much as the next chick {Okay, I dream of Edward finding me, biting me and making me his undead wife–just kidding Brad, I love you the most.} But I refuse to watch or read anything about Vampires. I will only support those who are working hard on sharing their own creative ideas. 

The second reason hinges on the first. I’m just really sick and tired of the same old fantasy! Traditional fantasy has been around forever, {Hans Christen Anderson, The Grimm Brothers?} and it is one of the most popular genres. But it seems that everything has been done over and over again. Wizards, wands, magic, dragons, elves, fairies... When the world got “Harry Potterified” we found a book that took the same old fantasy to a new level and restored our interest. So every other fantasy author has tried to do the same thing. I have read A LOT of middle grade and YA fantasy. It feels kinda like I’m chewing the same piece of old gum. And every time I try a new piece, it tastes the same. Old, stale and hard. But I keep searching, looking for a fresh piece that will clear up my stagnant breath. And now, I’ve just given up. {okay off of the disgusting gum theory, but you get the idea.} 

So with all that in mind, coupled with the fact that, yes, maybe I have matured a little bit, I normally wouldn’t pick up a book like Far World. So, why did I? 

Well, Jeff Savage is a close, personal friend of mine. {LIAR! Okay. But why is it that when know someone who has done something remarkable, we feel remarkable?} I do know him, I took a few classes from him, and he spoke often of Far World, which he was writing at the time. 

So when I found the book in a book store, I felt compelled to pick it up. {Deep breath, if you’re still with me}

Normally when I review a book, I talk about my opinions as an adult reader; what I liked and disliked about it. But considering all the above mentions rants, I feel that wouldn’t be fair to a book that was not indented for me. So, I’d like to talk about his book as if I were recommending it to a reader from its intended audience: kids maybe 8-14 years old.

I loved the characters in Far World. Marcus, a 13 year old, wheelchair bound orphan, who lives on earth, and Kyjia, a 13 year old girl who can’t do any magic, though she lives in Far World, where magic is common place. What misfits, right? Kids love misfits, because all kids -heck even adults- feel like they don’t fit in at one point or another. It’s very relatable. 

Jeff Savage has a great sense of humor, and that really pulls the book along. He did a good job creating new creatures. Most were some that I’d never seen before, so that was a relief. I especially loved the way that he described water keep, as a city that appeared with the crashing of the waves. The back and forth between earth and Far World was entertaining, and I have to admit, I enjoyed the scenes that were on earth more than the Far World scenes. It was interesting to see for the first time, something I find completely normal.  I like how Marcus and Kyjia learned to use their ability to move back and forth to their advantage. 

The things that I didn’t like about the story was mostly shouted about above. It was more of the same. Young kids destined to save the world. A quest to find the answers and help. Evil powers that want to kill the heros and take over the world. (Don’t worry, I have more to say on that later) Does it sound familiar? 

But---Maybe that doesn’t bug you. And it probably doesn’t bother an elementary age kid who hasn’t read enough yet to know what been done before. 

So I think young kids would really like Far World, and the sequels that are coming out soon. And, Jeff is a local Author, so thats cool. If you or your child is looking for a fun new book to read, pick up Far World.