Book reviews and more written by AIS-R students

Book 1 of the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The sword of Summer. By Rick Riordan

This is another start to another great Rick Riordan series, though it differs in themes and tone from the Kane Chronicles (it also has a different Mythology in play). We follow Magnus Chase (a Bostonian who’s lost his mom, has two friends named Blitz and Hearth, and lives on the streets) in his regular day life just roaming around the city, his life is pretty downtrodden until he meets his Uncle Randolph. He starts talking about people on his tail, Norse mythology, and vikings and he takes Magnus to a shipwreck where Magnus then retrieves a sword out of the river (he’s the son of the norse fertility god Frey) and battles the head fire giant Surt. He dies and goes into Valhalla (place for heroic people) and his quest starts off from there. This book has a lot of characters that associate with the culture its based off of (like the gods such as Loki, Ran, Frey, Odin, Thor, etc) and some interesting mash ups (like Samirah al – Abbas the muslim valkyrie and daughter of Loki who helps Magnus on his quest, and we learn that Blitz is a fashionable dwarf and Hearth is an elf who’s learning runestone magic). We see him get a prophecy, get out of the place to find the sword of summer (known as Sumarbrander or Jack), and begins his quest to delay Ragnarok (the end of the world) by trying to re – bind Fenris (Loki’s wolf son). We see them go through many different settings (such as the world tree Yggdrasil), and bond as they learn more about each other. They meet gods, participate in competitions, do side quests, and I got to learn a lot about Norse mythology with the characters. They’re able to rebind Fenris with a stronger rope, and postpone Ragnarok (each person on the quest is congratulated by Odin, Magnus meets his Dad and develops a relationship with his cousin Annabeth, and he stays at Valhalla (for the time being). But at the end of the book we see Loki meet with Uncle Randolph and learn that he has other plans to help hasten Ragnarok. This is an amazing start to a series, it has the right amount of drama, emotion, character development, setting, and background to make it an interesting read. It also shows many different aspects of the culture its based on, and it was a fun read for me. I would recommend this book to any person who loves Rick Riordan’s and any person who loves Norse mythology.

by Akhyaar Mian

February 22, 2020

 

The Kane Survival Guide: the ultimate guide to the Kane chronicles. By Rick Riordan (creator of Percy Jackson)

This book is not a n additional book to a series, it’s basically like what the fantastic beasts books are to Harry Potter (they explain the lore, characters, and events that take place in the book’s universe). This book is just that, it explains different aspects of the Kane Chronicles. It starts off with showing us the characters of the books (the Kanes, their trainees/friends, Egyptian Gods, etc) in a new illustrated form. It explains the roles of different Egyptian Gods and how they fit into the series, and afterwards they show us the creatures/bad guys of the books (demons, Griffins, Apophis, etc). We then get into actual Egyptian history and mythology, these stories are derived from the actual ancient civilization (not the history part, the mythology) and we see how they fit in the books. We then see Brooklyn House, and Sadie and Carter’s trainees (Was, Jaz, Alysssa, Felix, Cleo, etc), and the different roles/magic you could study there, it also shows some places in the books (portals, Obelisks, etc) that are full of magic. It ends by explaining the tools used by magicians (wands, khopesh, shabti), and the times of the year where magic is at its strongest. This guide perfectly details the events that happened throughout the series while adding its own lore into it, I would recommend this to any Percy Jackson fan or  any reader who wants lore on ancient Egypt.

By Akhyaar Mian

February 19, 2020

Book 3 of the Kane Chronicles: The Serpent’s shadow. By Rick Riordan

This is the final installment to one of my favorite Rick Riordan series, and it starts with another museum heist. We see our entourage of Brooklyn house heroes (Carter, Sadie, Alyssa, Khufu, Felix, Walt, Jaz, etc) as they try and get a spell scroll (one that would destroy Apophis), but it ends up getting burned. We see how Apophis has caused wreckage since he was freed from the scarab prison, and the crew’s morals are not very high. They try finding a different solution that uses a person’s shadow as a way of destruction. We learn how the soul has five parts, the sheut or shadow can be a reboot of a soul (if its destroyed than it will be gone forever) the others have to find a way to get the serpent’s shadow and destroy him. This leads to some fun adventures of finding a way to defeat Apophis, we see how they get assistance from a crazy murderous ghost magician, get nearly killed (by monsters, a mechanical bull, and a demon captain), and tension. We see how Sadie goes through a lot regarding her romantic life, and how Carter gets closer to Zia. We see how they restore Bes ( a friend of theirs and the god of dwarves) with his shadow, go into the dust to stop a death trial to receive the magician ( his name is Sent and is the son of the pharaoh Ramses), find their uncle Amos channeling the power of Set, and rebel magicians that get swayed to the serpent’s side. We see how they get the shadow, Ra is restored through Zia, and how a big showdown against the serpent leads to an epic conclusion (they win). At the end we see how loose ties are all fixed, a new chapter in the House of Life, and the future adventures of the Kanes (there’s also an additional short story showing how Carter meets Percy Jackson and they take down a giant crocodile). This was an amazing series to read. It has a lot of mythology, action, comedy, and great tension. I would recommend this to any Percy Jackson fan who wants their fix on Egyptian mythology, or anyone who wants a good story in general.

By Akhyaar Mian

February 17, 2020

Book 2 of the Kane Chronicles: The Throne of Fire. By Rick Riordan

This is the next addition to the Kane siblings adventures, and it has even more new characters and mythology. We see that Brooklyn house’s residents ( Sadie, Carter, Khufu, Philip of Macedonia, and Amos) are now training new magicians for the fight against Apophis. Each one is studying a different path of a god (such as Walt studies path of Horus, or Alyssa is studying path of Geb, or Jaz studies healing magic), and we see that their objective in this book is to awaken Ra (the sun god) with the book of Ra (of which there are three pieces). They break into the Brooklyn museum to get the first scroll (but Jaz is knocked out, demons arrive, and Carter befriends an Egyptian Griffin, and the town is nearly set on fire), and it takes them a longer time to get the other two (one’s in St. Petersburg, and another is in an Egyptian catacomb). In this book the characters have matured, they are more in tune with their magic, and are good at teaching others. The new villains (such as Apophis and Vlad Menshikov a Russian magician that’s a traitor to the house of life) make the story more intense because if the heroes fail, chaos will engulf the world. And the setting, mythology, and emotions make it even better. New characters (such as Bes the dwarf god, Tawaret the hippo goddess, and others) also help the siblings on their way. They find the second scroll and battle Vlad (nearly kills Carter) while Bast has gone into the Duat. And we even get to see the real Zia (she’s the old lector’s head trainee, and was put to sleep because she was holding a goddess), we see how the bond/teamwork these characters have for eachother seem to help them throughout the book (like how Bes sacrifices his Ren or identity so the kids can have extra time to awaken Ra). We see how they find the last scroll in an Egyptian catacomb (full of Egyptian and Roman mummies), and get to the Duat and awaken Ra. We see how they meet their parents, the moon god, and old Ra (he’s very senile and almost child – like) in the Duat’s fourth realm. And face off against Vlad and Apophis (Desjardens, a former foe and chief Lector fights on their side and sacrifices himself), and  they keep the Serpent at bay. Finally, we see how they try and gather troops for the battle against Apophis (the Gods aren’t happy about Ra’s awakening). This might be one of my favorite series, I love mythology and adventures like these. Rick Riordan really make the characters relatable and human, and the tensions he creates are interesting. I would recommend this book to any Percy Jackson fan, and anyone who loves adventures with Egyptian mythology.

By Akhyaar Mian

February 12, 2020

Book 4 of Shipwrecked Island: Found By S.A. Bodeen.

This is the last book in the Shipwrecked island series. We last left our heroes with trying to get rid of the bad guy Fox (and his partner Miss Blackstone, and a little dog too) and trying to get Leo back home with the Progenitor. Sarah helps the other by telling Fox where his treasure is (we get to meet Cash’s grandfather, Sarge, Nacho is hiding and Yvonna is sick), and goes on many different paths with him. They visit the valley full of odd – animals, go through paths and the face – rock, and finally get to a cave where Leo is at. On the other hand, Marco had gotten medicine for his Mom, and had gotten his step – dad unfrozen. We see how they escape the clutches of a Sharkodille, and how John (the stepdad) goes to find help. We see Marco get back to camp, Give the medicine, and get to the same cave where Sarah is at (with his brother Nacho, and dog Ahab). In the cave, Leo (the alien or curator we met in the last book), is duplicating extinct animals from the progenitor (like Passenger Pigeons, Tasmanian tigers, and others). It’s a really nice moment where it leaves a message about taking care of our world’s wildlife, and in exchange for her family members Leo takes Fox, Miss Blackstone, and their dog to their new world. We see how they say a tearful goodbye, and find out the island’s volcano is erupting. They get on a hover – machine called a Skimmer, and try to get out of there. We see the Sharkodille get eaten by something, and see them reach Sarge’s boat set sail to the way home. During that they find half of the Progenitor, and two Passenger Pigeon eggs, and begin their new life as a family. This book series was recommended to me by a friend, and I’m happy I took his advice. This series is full of hilarious commentary, touching moments, sci – fi concepts, and relatable themes that make it a nice read. I would recommend this series for anyone who loves adventure, island wrecks, and sci – fi. This series was great, and I’m glad I read it.

by Akhyaar Mian

February 5, 2020

Book 3 of Shipwrecked Island: Trapped. By S.A. Bodeen

This book is the third installment in the Shipwrecked Island series. We start off in a strange spaceship, where Marco and Sarah have found the curator (guy who captures species for ship, and kept their friend Cash in here), and he looks like a normal kid. They find out a lot about why the island is like this, this curator (now goes by Leo) is actually as young as them and the frozen specimens are there so he can get his ship back into space. We find out how his world has been destroyed, Grandfather killed, and that he looks more fish-like (the crazy animals like the Rhinocorn exist on the island because they tried to use only half of the Progenitor: a duplication machine to make other specimens). We see how they bargain with him to get the other half back (which is from their wrecked ship’s hull) for Marco’s little brother Nacho (they’ll come back for Sarah’s father John later). We see how they find Cash, tell her that she was right, and find out that Yvonna (Marco’s mom, and Sarah’s stepmom) is pregnant. We see some bonding time between the people, and how they get to trust Leo. But, soon a trawler (a type of fishing boat) comes into view (this is the one that evil people took over from Cash’s grandfather, Sarge) and they have to hide the treasure away. We see Marco and Leo put it deep into the ship, free John, and try to get to the entrance of the ship. Meanwhile, Sarah tries to stall one of the bad guys (Fox) from taking Cash and her sick stepmother by saying there’s a face rock on the island. Now he wants her to show him where it is, and now she needs to stall him till the boy’s come back. An interesting third edition to the series Bodeen has made, it’s full of character development, a good plot, and many sci-fi elements to it. I would recommend this series who love adventure books, and unusual situations. I can’t wait to see what happened next.

by Akhyaar Mian

January 31, 2020

The Silmarillion. By J. R. R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)

This book may be one of the most complex books I’ve ever read. It’s a double prequel to the Lord of the Rings series, and is basically the backstory/history of Middle Earth. It’s split into three parts: The Silmarillion, Akallabeth, and Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age (the latter are shorter than the first one). The Silmarillion is basically a creation myth with folk tales and backstory to the elements of Middle Earth. It begin Eru Illúvatar (this  world’s version of God) making the Ainur (high beings) and others for a great symphony of life (there are lots of deities here like Ulmo, lord of the water). We see how Eru makes men and elves as well, but we see  one Valar (Melkor) wants to make his own music and strays from the symphony (in this others like Sauron join him). We see how Eru made Middle Earth, we see the geography of it (like the rivers, mountains and such), and how Melkor (named later as Morgoroth) corrupt beings to make them his own (through most of this he either battles, flees, is captured, and eventually banished to another world). We follow the elves as certain individuals and tribes form, and how (because of Morgoth) some stray from Eru. We see how Dwarves, and Ents play a part in this, the battles and wars Elves had to face with the evil army, and love stories that lead to lineages. This First age ends with the banishment of Morgoth, and it’s peaceful for a while (until Sauron comes). Sauron had been a servant to Morgoth, and now he’s the main dark lord. Akallabeth talks about the fall of the kingdom’s Númenor, and we see Sauron divert a kingdom of people away from the right path. This is also the part where we see how the Ringwraiths (black riders) came to be, the rings of power (including the One ring), and how it ends when Sauron loses his ring in battle. The Third age is basically connecting it to the times of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, we see how Sauron seems to return, the Istari (wizards including Gandalf and Saruman), and Aragorn’s lineage. It basically ends like the books, and the rest of the book is the index and backstory on Middle earthen language. This book amazed me as a reader (and writer), because there’s so much depth to it. You can imagine you’re in the place by just reading the words, see the characters inner thoughts, and how the story plays out. A good read for any Tolkien fan.

By Akhyaar Mian

January 17, 2020

The Terrible Two (book 4): Last Laugh. By Mac Barnett and Jory John (illustrated by Kevin Cornell).

This book is the finale of the Terrible two series, and it ends on a strong note. We see the Terrible two pull a prank on Principal Barkin’s brother’s farm , and see in their last year at Yawnee Valley science and letters academy. We see how they meet friends, go to classes (prank Josh Barking with a lock, and get out of gym class to dust the trophy case), and how Principal Barking is pulling his own pranks on his colleagues (they meet several times in the book). Old Principal Barkin (or Principal Barkin’s father, Bertrand) becomes the new superintendent and vows revenge on the Terrible Two. After Miles and Niles pull a prank On April first, we see that Old man Barkin tells Miles that he’s moving again (his Mom is shocked about this because he wasn’t supposed to tell him), and they worry about how they’re going to communicate (in this time Miles tries to leave his legacy with a good prank). We see how Principal Barkin might run against his father for superintendent, and Old man Barkin seems to notice some differences in his huge scowling portrait.  Adding onto that we also see the lives of Stuart and Holly after school (Stuart telling what happened in the day to his family, and Holly eating pizza with her Dad). We see the graduates doing their last things at the School, and this leads up to the graduate goodbye party. In this party people dance and have some fun last moments while Miles sneaks off. We see the two meet together with tiny placards signifying their friendship (they put this on Old man Barkin’s second place trophy). And we see Principal Barkin and Miles have a conversation about how the Two had changed him (he became nicer), and it’s a very nice and well written emotional moment. We then see Principal Barkin run for superintendent. This is the end to another wonderful series, it was a funny light hearted and had some genuinely nice moments in them. I would recommend this series for people who love jokes, and sentimental moments. A fun series indeed.

by Akhyaar Mian

January 11, 2020

Book 1 of the Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

This book might be one of my favorites of Semester two. Rick Riordan is famous for his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and this book is similar to those books yet it’s story can stand on its own. We follow the story of siblings Carter and Sadie Kane (their Mother died when they were young, Carter moves around with his Egyptologist father Julius, and Sadie lives with her maternal grandparents in London), we learn about the Kane family, how they meet two days a year, and how their Father had released five Egyptian gods from the Rosetta Stone on the first night they were all together in Britain. We see how they have to go with their Uncle Amos to his place, and we also see how a bad god (Set) had been released and is planning to rule the world. Throughout this story we meet likable characters like Khufu the Baboon, the albino crocodile Philip of Macedonia, Zia Rashid of the House of Life, and other Egyptian gods. We see how they escape with cat goddess Bast, and follow their adventures through many places on Earth. The book has taken many elements of the Ancient Egyptian culture and made them interesting in the book, Hieroglyphs are often used as spells of symbols that help the characters progress through the book, the siblings themselves have gods inside their amulet (Horus for Carter, Isis for Sadie), they synchronize that power to get items to defeat Set. The siblings get to go to the House of Life (they meet characters like Zia, Desjardens, and others that try and are kind of against the gods), and are soon on their way to meet other gods that will help them defeat Set. Thoth (god of wisdom) talks about Feather of truth, an incantation, and Sets secret name to defeat him. We see them battle mythical creatures like the Set animal, and regular animals like crocodiles. They’re also a lot of emotion, loss, hope, and drama that makes you connect with them even more. They get all those necessary things, and are able to defeat Set, but they don’t banish him to the Duat (magical realm). They team up with him to defeat an even greater evil, Aphophis the serpent of chaos (who was using Set). They fix up Amos’s place, get to see both their parents in the underworld, gifts from the gods, now try to rely on own magic instead of Horus/Isis’s magic, and are preparing to find other godings to defeat the new evil. This book is a lot of things, on the one hand it creates characters that feel human and whatever they face propels them into bettering themselves. On the other hand the mashup of the ancient Egyptian and modern world gives a feel of memorable mysticism that keeps you engaged at every page. The way they represent the culture makes you interested, I learned more things about the Ancient Egyptian culture than I had ever before. I would recommend this book to any Percy Jackson fan, or a fan of mythology. And maybe your Ba will soar through the pages.

by Akhyaar Mian

January 25, 2020

Castle Diary: The journal of Tobias Burgess. By Richard Platt (illustrated by Chris Riddell)

This book is a bit shorter than the last one, but it’s set in Medieval Europe and is quite interesting in its history. We follow our protagonist Toby, as he’s going to become a Page to his Uncle (he’s eleven years old). We see him say goodbye to his family, and we see his Uncle’s land/ Toby has to get tutored, help his Aunt around with her things, and practice many skills like Archery. His elder cousin Simon has become a Knight (the thing goes as Page, then Squire for a few years, and soon a Knight), and we see Simon partake in medieval versions of familiar things. We see him go to a feast (where they serve Peacock, and have entertainment), his Uncle’s joust (where his Uncle’s head gets stuck in his helmet at the end), the hunt (in which they catch a wild Boar), and many other things. Usually when he’s not studying or working he plays with his friend Mark (they play with stilts) and we get a good look at the occupants of the castle. The Cook makes the food (along with his workers), the Doctor uses bloodletting as a method to cure Toby (draining blood out of him), and the Gong – farmer clears out the toilet. We also see him become pals with a poacher named David (he’s taking fish off of someone else’s property), and we see him relieved after David isn’t going to be found guilty. The book ends with Toby going for a visit to his parent’s house after a year (or twelvemonth) . The rest of the book talks about the times back then, including the Page’s thing. We see the sorts of weapons that people had, armor, family systems, coat of arms, and how Toby’s world ended with a war (King and Queen thought Nobleman would challenge their power with the power they had). This book was interesting because though this world did exist in the past, the writing makes it more relatable for readers nowadays. I would recommend this to any person who likes learning about the Middle Ages, and for people who want a nice read about a world in Earth’s past.

by Akhyaar Mian

January 25, 2020


Network-wide options by YD - Freelance Wordpress Developer