Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane by Suzanne Collins

I am officially hooked. I read this one and the second Percy Jackson one (he’s still no Harry Potter, though) in one day. I think both Gregor the Overlander and The Lightning Thief suffered from first-book syndrome – you know, they have to introduce everyone, set up how they’re going to get where they’re going or find out what they’re going to find out, introduce the new land, etc. which can get a little boring. With the second book, you can just dive right in to the next adventure and say hello to your old friends along the way!

I thought Gregor’s adventure was better this time around – more was at stake (although I totally guessed at the prophecy’s real meaning!) and more is lost (although I don’t quite believe certain people won’t be showing up in the third book which I just picked up today (I braved the rain in flip-flops for you, Gregor!), but we’ll see if Collins can stick to her guns). What he’s up against this time is a mythical rat which threatens the peace (albeit uneasy) in the Underland at the moment. Ripred is back (awesome!) for a little bit, but to comfort us while he’s away, he leaves behind Twitchtip (equally awesome – just wait for her to start snarking at the fireflies (who are hilarious, but treacherous)), a new addition to the group of Questers.

But more importantly, Temp, the giant cockroach is back. So much love for the giant cockroaches.

There’s also more character development in this one. We learn more about Gregor’s bond-bat, Ares (still more awesome) which is nice because they both entered into this relationship not knowing much about each other (something they both realise). Luxa finds her third dimension and, of course, there is more to her than just the arrogant princess.  Actually, we find out a little more about Gregor, too – something I don’t want to give away, but I thought it was an interesting little hitch in his character. All I’ll say is that it turns out that he and Ripred have more in common than he thought (no, he’s not half-rat, that would just be silly).

My rating: B+

The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

I thought Gregor had the better adventure, but Percy definitely has better character development (which is saying a lot!). The quest is your standard quest sprinkled with figures from Greek mythology and actually, I think this one was more set-up for King of the Titans (which I also bought today, so you’ll know what I think of that one soon enough).

The big news, of course, is that Percy has a new friend (relative?), Tyson. I don’t want to give away too much here, but Tyson definitely grows on you and I like him better than Grover (who is here, but out of the main action for most of the book). Luke is flushed out a bit more as a villain – there are fewer rumblings from Kronos this time around which makes it clear that Luke is in really deep (and most likely over his head) and a baddie through and through (of course, now that I’ve said that, he’ll probably be redeemed in the end). Annabeth is awesome. She and Percy have great chemistry – I’m just a little worried about someone who shows up at the end (again, more set-up for book three) that might ruin things there.

So I guess when it comes down to it, I’m reading Gregor for the adventure and Percy for the characters. Who would’ve thought it?

My rating: B+