Underland Chronicles (Books 2-5)

 

Title: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Author: Suzanne Collins ; Read by Paul Boehmer
Publisher: Listening Library
Series: Underland Chronicles, Bk 2
ISBN: 0307282686
Length: 6 hours, 34 minutes ; 6 discs
Obtained: Library audiobook copy

Comments:

After reading Gregor the Overlander, I had to read more.  Once I started this one, I was just as caught up as I had been with the first book.  I had some issues with one of the discs skipping and jumping backwards, but I finally made it through.  It can be so intense with some really dramatic scenes.  At one point when a shocking death occurred, my mouth dropped open, and I had to tell my coworker about it.  I was all, "This is a kids book for, like, 10-12 year olds!"  (Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it isn't age appropriate just... very intense.)  In any case, by the end I was so caught up I decided I had to read book 3 immediately.

Title: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Author: Suzanne Collins ; Read by Paul Boehmer
Publisher: Listening Library
Series: Underland Chronicles, Bk 3
ISBN: 9780739353950
Length: 7 hours, 48 minutes ; 7 parts
Obtained: Library downloadable audiobook copy

Comments:

Immediately following my reading of Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, I got on my computer and downloaded this book.  I put the actual audiobook on hold too, but I couldn't wait.  I didn't intend to stay up until 4:30 in the morning listening to it (and of course it had to be longer than the rest), but I couldn't just stop either.  I started book 4 the next morning.

Title: Gregor and the Marks of Secret
Author: Suzanne Collins ; Read by Paul Boehmer
Publisher: Listening Library
Series: Underland Chronicles, Bk 4
ISBN: 9780739364826
Length: 7 hours, 17 minutes ; 6 discs
Obtained: Library audiobook copy

Comments:

Unlike in the first three stories, Gregor does not have a specific prophecy to follow, or at least not yet.  But it's not like there is much he can do in the Overland over his summer break.  Not with the fresh scars across his legs and body.  While Gregor starts this book without any overt pressure, the story becomes increasingly intense as it goes.  There are even parallels with holocausts and concentration camps.

Title: Gregor and the Code of Claw
Author: Suzanne Collins ; Read by Paul Boehmer
Publisher: Listening Library
Series: Underland Chronicles, Bk 5
ISBN: 9780739364864
Length: 9 hours, 4 minutes ; 7 discs
Obtained: Library audiobook copy

Comments:

This is the last and most intense of the Gregor/Underland books.  Each book has loss of life, but the loss in this one was so MUCH.  I was sobbing through parts.  And the ending!  I couldn't get this out of my head.  I really wish there were more; I wasn't ready for it to end.  But there you are... I'm glad I at least took the journey.

Gregor the Overlander

Title:  Gregor the Overlander aka Gregor and the Rats of Underland

Author:  Suzanne Collins; Read by Paul Boehmer

Publisher:  Listening Library

Series:  Underland Chronicles, Bk 1

ISBN: 0307282694

Length:  6 hours, 34 minutes; 6 discs

Obtained:  Library audiobook copy

Comments:

I've heard good things about this series for awhile now.  I checked this out in print but ended up returning it without reading it.  Then I needed another audio, preferably children's.  I asked for a recommendation and said I was looking for something fantasy.  The children's librarian pulled this out and said the series was actually pretty good (it sounded like it wasn't really her kind of genre).

I'm pleased to say I found that I did enjoy it.  I really liked Gregor.  He was so responsible for an 11 year old.  I loved how he cared for his little sister when others might have found a 2 year old tagging along and causing mischief annoying.  I was happy he was willing to overlook his personal wants for the good of his family.  It is something I struggle with, so I find it especially admirable when I see it (yes, even in fictional characters) ... all the more so in a kid.  The other characters were varied and interesting as well.

Another point of interest is the setting and storyline.  It's kind of James and the Giant Peach (which I've never read - I'm basing this comment on the movie) and Harry Potter (no wizardry, but a whole new world just past our every day Earth and major cities) - though Gregor is not so abused as either of the aforementioned comparisons - and Alice in Wonderland (which I've never read or watched all the way through, but which apparently inspired the author).  In any case, it was interesting and different (despite all the comparisons).

I moved quickly through the story and am currently listening to the second book, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane.  Or at least I'm trying to, if only I can get through the part that keeps skipping and jumping backward.