Gregor the Overlander Review

Gregor the Overlander (The Underland Chronicles, Book 1) by Suzanne Collins

Scholastic, 2003.

Synopsis: Gregor is an ordinary kid living in New York City with his mom and his two younger sisters, whom he has been taking care of for the last couple of years ever since his dad disappeared. Then, one day when Gregor is doing the laundry, he follows his sister down a ventilation shaft and ends up in a dark but bustling metropolis beneath his home. Turns out, he and his sister are not the first Overlanders to come to the Underland – his dad fell down to the Underland as well. With the help of the Underlanders, Gregor decides to go on a mission to rescue his dad and bring him back to the surface.

Why I picked it up: Another title recommended to me by my library school classmates, I found a copy on sale at Target and couldn’t resist.

Why I finished it: Fantasy is such a broad category of literature that you can really do most anything you want, which is what I love most about the genre. Collins capitalizes on its versatility by creating a world that is both fantastical and yet, highly plausible. It could be that there is an entire other land beneath our feet populated with larger than life rodents, bugs, and of course, humans. It’s very reminiscent of DuPrau’s City of Ember, except that this story is a little more action packed. It begins with an ordinary boy trying to look out for his family after his dad has mysteriously disappeared, and he won’t even afford himself the luxury of thinking about what he will do when he sees his father again because Gregor is an idealist. He needs to be able to focus on the here and now, not about what could happen. The Underlanders on the other hand, need to be able to look a few steps ahead, especially since they’re trying to keep peace with a kingdom of rats with which they share the Underland. The characters are likeable, but Gregor is the only one that really gets a lot of fleshing out; his Underland companions and even his family are somewhat two-dimensional, and there are a few characters that don’t even occupy enough space on the page to allow the reader to get to know them. Despite this, Collins has woven together an engaging tale of unlikely heroism (is there any other kind?) that is well-paced and connects with the reader on a personal level.

Other related materials: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (The Underland Chronicles, Book 2) by Suzanne Collins; Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (The Underland Chronicles, Book 3) by Suzanne Collins; Gregor and the Marks of Secret (The Underland Chronicles, Book 4) by Suzanne Collins; Gregor and the Code of Claw (The Underland Chronicles, Book 5) by Suzanne Collins; The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins; Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff; Into the Firestorm: A Novel of San Francisco, 1906 by Deborah Hopkinson; Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan; The Kane Chronicles books by Rick Riordan; Kenny and the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi; Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker; Pie by Sarah Weeks; Waiting for the Magic by Patricia McLachlan, illustrated by Amy June Bates; The Books of Ember books by Jeanne DuPrau; Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, illustrated by Greg Call; Holes by Louis Sachar

Amulet: Prince of the Elves Review

Amulet, Book 5: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi

Graphix, 2012. 978-0545208895

Synopsis: Max has captured the Mother Stone and Emily and her friends are the only ones who can stop him. With the power of the Mother Stone, the Elf King plans to create new amulets and create an army to destroy Windsor. When Emily seeks help from the voice of her amulet, she finds that it could be much more dangerous to trust that she initially thought.

Why I picked it up: Well, it’s a series, and I want to know what happens next!

Why I finished it: Kibuishi is definitely upping the ante in this book and the story is definitely going in a slightly darker direction as we discover more about the voice of the amulet. We are also learning more about Max and the Elf Prince Trellis, adding a little different dynamic to the book as we move the focus off Emily and Navin. Both Max and Trellis both have wrongs in their past that they are trying to right which is helping to fuel their actions and helping the reader better understand their motivations for doing what they are doing. Emily’s conversations with the voice of her amulet are equally enlightening, giving the reader the impression that she probably shouldn’t be relying very heavily on the voice for advice. Then again, the voice has been at this a lot longer than Emily, so it knows what it is talking about, but it is clear that Emily needs to be in touch with herself and her own convictions in order not to fall into a trap that she won’t be able to make her way out of. I can’t wait to see how things develop as we continue to move through the story.

Other related materials: Amulet, Book 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi; Amulet, Book 2: The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi; Amulet, Book 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi; Amulet, Book 5: Prince of the Elves by Kazu Kibuishi; Explorer: The Mystery Boxes by Kazu Kibuishi; Flight Explorer, Volume One edited by Kazu Kibuishi; Babymouse graphic novels by Jennifer L. Holm & Matt Holm; Squish books by Jennifer L. Holm & Matt Holm; Bone graphic novels by Jeff Smith; Missile Mouse books by Jake Parker; The Secret Science Alliance books by Eleanor Davis; Dragonbreath books by Ursula Vernon; Big Nate books by Lincoln Pierce; Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search, Part 1 by Gene Luen Yang; Chickenhare by Chris Grine

Feature Presentation: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Episode VI – The Return of the Jedi starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, and Billy Dee Williams

Twentieth Century Fox, 1983. Rated PG.

Synopsis: With Han in the clutches of the gangster Jabba the Hutt and the Empire building a new Death Star in the orbit of the moon of Endor, things look bleak for the Rebels. Luke sends C-3PO, R2D2, Chewbacca, and Leia to rescue Han and the band of heroes regroups with the rebels to take down the new Death Star and hopefully cripple the Empire once and for all.

The climax to the original trilogy, Jedi is the longest of the three films and as much as I love it, there are parts where it seems just as long as its 134 min. running time. We also see the ruler of the Galactic Empire, Emperor Palpatine, in the flesh and he is every bit as frightening as his title suggests; not only in appearance, but his general manner and personality. And he’ll go as far as he needs to in order to keep the galaxy under his eerily translucent thumb. Luke seems to have finished his training and seems well equipped to be mentally challenged by the Emperor, but will he hold up better than the last time his friends were threatened? But wait, this time the Alliance has some help from the inhabitants of Endor, the Ewoks, a teddy-bear like creature that seems far more adorable than it does threatening. The set-up for the final showdown between the Imperials and the Rebels is rather epic and intense and ends just as dramatically, both on the part of the spaceships taking down the Death Star and Luke taking on both Vader and the Emperor. It’s a fitting finish to the trilogy, tying up a fair amount of loose ends, but still leaving some questions unanswered as to expand upon later.

And finally, I will again entreat you to watch the original 1983 version or even dig up a VHS version of the 1997 Special Edition, particularly with this film and I will tell you why: there is an extended segment at the close of the film when it was re-re-released in 2004 that was altered to match the casting of the prequels and I feel like that change completely ruins the original work.

 

Feature Presentation: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Frank Oz, and Billy Dee Williams

Twentieth Century Fox, 1980. Rated PG.

Synopsis: In the continuing adventures of Rebels trying to restore order to the galaxy, the Imperial Empire engages the Rebels at their base on the ice planet of Hoth, forcing Han to escape with Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO in a disabled Millennium Falcon. Despite their attempts to hide out on Bespin, they are captured by Darth Vader. Meanwhile, Luke takes R2D2 and goes to the planet Dagobah in search of Jedi Master Yoda at the posthumous command of Obi-Wan Kenobi. When Luke learns of the capture of Han and Leia, he abandons his training despite Yoda’s protests to go and rescue them.

Originally released in 1980 and re-released in 1997 along with A New Hope, Empire introduces us to a whole host of new creatures and arguably two of the most iconic characters in the franchise: Yoda and Boba Fett. The pop cultural homages are boundless, so I won’t list them here, but I think my favorites are Tom Angleberger’s Origami Yoda books and then this gem by MC Chris called Fett’s Vette.

In the trilogy’s second installment, we’ve upped the ante significantly: the Empire is gradually closing in on the Rebels, the Millennium Falcon has become (if possible) more decrepit, and our heroes now have Vader toying with them psychologically. We also delve more into the love story portion of the film when we find Han and Leia (who are already rather stand-offish around each other anyway) in a situation where Luke isn’t there as a buffer and the threat of imminent danger is forcing them to think about how they really feel. Luke on the other hand is being challenged both physically and mentally training with Yoda and it’s bringing out more of the impatience that we saw in the first film pre-Tatooine extradition. He’s struggling to become the leader the viewer knows he can be but he’s somewhat more preoccupied with his emotions – a decision that’s going to put him in a situation in which he’s playing right into Vader’s hands. Then there’s Yoda and Fett. Yoda is mysterious, green, and has a distinctive sentence structure. Fett is a bounty hunter with his own agenda with a cool helmet that he never takes off. Why he won’t take it off, no one knows, but let’s face it, it’s so cool, by would you take it off? Both add a layer of depth to the story that helps to further the overall plot and adds a little bit of character development to Luke and Han’s characters respectively. It’s also said that Empire is supposed to be the ‘favorite’ of Star Wars fans, but I would tend to disagree. While Empire unveils one of the greatest secrets in cinematic history, it doesn’t have the same climactic finesse of Return of the Jedi, the third installment of the original trilogy. I would also entreat you to find the original 1980 version in all of its campy special effects glory because although it’s probably not the version that Lucas envisioned when he made the film, it’s probably the most definitive version and the geek-approved version to boot.