Rise of the Elgin by Richard Paul Evans

I'm just so loving this series! So full of action and great characters, and also "clean" of cussing and romantic times. Not that there's anything wrong with those things, but YA spans such a large amount of maturity, and sometime I need books I can hand to younger YA readers. And while clean, the Michael Vey books are definitely not boring or preachy! They are so chock-full of excitement that there's no room for sexytimes.

In Rise of the Elgen, Michael and the Electoclan are off on another adventure, this time to rescue Michael's mom from the evil Elgen corporation. In this one, the teens travel to Peru! In Peru, the Electroclan encounters even bigger and badder (yup; I'm aware that's not a real word) villains. Oh, and there's rats in this book. If you're squeamish about rats, this may not be your book. (See the cover above. Rats that glow.)

For me, I really appreciated that The Rise of the Elgen opens with a bit of a recap ofPrisoner of Cell 25. It's been two years since I read Prisoner of Cell 25, so the recap really helped. And the recap wasn't dry at all; it was skillfully woven right into the plot.

Don't misunderstand me: even with a slight repetition to refresh your memory of The Prisoner of Cell 25, The Rise of the Elgen still jumps right into the action. I was totally absorbed in this book the entire time I was listening to it. When I got near the end, I was tempted to just sit in my car and listen through to the end and be late for work. (I resisted.) I was so glad that I already had the third book, The Battle of the Ampere, in my car so that I could start it immediately after finishing this one. The Rise of the Elgen has a doozy of an ending!

The characters: just as I said in my review of The Prisoner of Cell 25, Richard Paul Evans has managed to create such a great dynamic with his group of electric teens. They're smart and funny and courageous. I love hearing their conversations too: many of them are a bit snarky. Totally my kind of humor. It's pretty impressive when an author can get so much depth of character to secondary characters. The entire Electroclan is really well fleshed-out.

And finally, the narration: I listened to this on CD and I thought the narration by Fred Berman was fantastic! He has a great cadence to his speech that is Goldilocks-just-right. Not too fast or too slow. And I never "tuned out" while listening. Oh, and I never had to adjust the volume once it was set. Just super great narration.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Action amp; Adventure, Library, Mercury Ink, Michael Vey, Review, Richard Paul Evans, Science Fiction, young adult  Leave your mark

Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans

Hunt for Jade Dragon is the fourth book in the awesome Michael Vey series, and fans of the first three books will definitely not be disappointed in this latest installment.  However, I would caution that there seems to be a major shift in focus in this book as compared to the others.

The first three books are totally focused on ACTION ACTION ACTION.  A group of about ten teens, who all have super electric powers, have banded together to fight the evil Elgen corporation.  The Elgen corporation, led by Dr. Hatch, wants nothing more than to exploit the Electroclan (the teens with electric powers) and take over the world.  (I know; the extremeness of that situation is nearly laughable... but it actually feels plausible in these books!)  I have so loved this about these books.  I've been listening to them on audio in my car during my commute, and the nonstop action and adventure has kept my attention and made my drive fly by.

However, Hunt for Jade Dragon takes a bit of a different tack.  This volume feels a bit slower and a bit more mature.  I would have put the first three books in "younger YA," but I'd put this one in the 14-16 year old range.  This isn't a bad thing!  It seems like this series is sort of going the way of Harry Potter; the characters are maturing throughout the books, and the content is too.  In Hunt for Jade Dragon, the reader gets a lot more interaction between the characters:  we see Michael and Taylor go on a date.  (Yes, there's a break in the action long enough for a date in this book!)  It's chaste, but it's nice to see some of the characters get a chance to do regular teen things, like go on a date, instead of constantly (and I do mean constantly!) running/fighting for their lives.  We also see maturity and growth in some of the platonic relationships.  Nichelle, who was on the side of the Elgin in the first book, makes an appearance in Hunt for Jade Dragon.  I wasn't sure how that would play out, but the author really did a great job with those scenes.  They ring very true.  There's not instant forgiveness and friendship, but there's not instant death for Nichelle either.  No "after school special" moments here.

Unfortunately, all of the character moments came at the expense of the action that I'd come to expect from the Michael Vey books.  For nearly the first 2/3 of the book, the Electroclan is traveling from Peru to a "safe house" facility and then to China.  In Battle of the Ampere, the teens manage to get from Idaho to Peru in less than 24 hours.  I think it took them something like a month to get from Peru to the Elgen facility in China.  At one point I thought to myself, "if I hear even one more description of a meal, I'll quit the book."  If you're a foodie, you're in for a treat:  there are numerous descriptions of meals consumed!  I was just sitting there at the edge of my seat waiting for action, though.  Where were the ninjas during dinner?

Once the teens got to China, though, and begin planning the rescue of Jade Dragon, I was all in.  This was definitely their most daring adventure yet.  This time they not only have to outwit the Elgen and their highly trained guards, but they have to do it in such a way so as to not harm the girl they're tasked to rescue.  I just love how the main characters always pull together and use all of their unique talents and knowledge to rise to any challenge.  And a bonus:  the title character of the series, Michael, has Tourette's.  It doesn't define him, but sometimes he has to work around it.  He always triumphs, but I love seeing great series like this that show teens overcoming adversities or disabilities.

And to conclude, a note on the narration:  I was admittedly disappointed to find out that there's a new narrator for this book (as opposed to Kirby Heyborne, who did such a fantastic job with Battle of the Ampere), but Keith Nobbs does a fantastic job!  You might not even notice the narrator switch between books if you weren't looking for it.  The pacing was good and the inflections were just right and I never had to adjust the volume scene to scene.  For me, a good audiobook narration is one in which I can get lost in the story and not even notice the reader, and Keith Nobbs does just that for Hunt for Jade Dragon.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Action amp; Adventure, Library, Mercury Ink, Michael Vey, Review, Richard Paul Evans, sci-fi, Science Fiction, young adult  6 People left their mark

Battle of the Ampere by Richard Paul Evans

Battle of the Ampere is the third book in the Michael Vey series.  So this review could contain slight spoilers for the first two books, but I promise no spoilers of this volume.

You won't find any series fatigue in this third volume!  After a narrow escape from the Peruvian Elgen headquarters, the Electroclan is scattered in the jungle.  Not only do they need to continue eluding the remaining Elgen guards and Dr. Hatch, but they also have to survive a grueling trek through the rainforest.  The goal that the Electroclan teens are moving toward: destruction of The Ampere (Dr. Hatch's fancy yacht, and the headquarters of the Elgen) and, hopefully, Dr. Hatch himself.  A little bit more is asked of the reader in this book, as the main characters are split up in a few groups of 2-4 each.  They are all moving toward a rendezvous, but for the first half of the book the viewpoints alternate between a few different characters in different locations.

Another difference between Battle of the Ampere and Book #2, Rise of the Elgen:  romance.  It's still very, very chaste (I think I remember one kiss), but it is there.  Michael spends some serious jungle time with a girl who is not his girlfriend, Taylor, and both Michael and Taylor have to deal with the emotions that brings up.  (No surprise: Taylor's ability to read minds kind of helps cut through any emotional irrationality during the ensuing Discussion of Feelings.)  The first two books in this series focus entirely on action and adventure; this third book is able to include some more emotional development of the characters now that the reader is familiar with the characters' talents (powers?) and situation.  Not only is there the Discussion of Feelings between Michael and Taylor; other supporting characters also have moments of emotional vulnerability.  All of this is really well done.  The emotional growth is more often shown than told, and is sprinkled throughout the book, in between exciting action.  The reader is never left bogged down with feelings, and nothing feels superfluous.

So yes, the ACTION! ADVENTURE! continues.  The Electroclan is still always on the go, trying to take down Dr. Hatch and the Elgen.  To make things more difficult, the Peruvian government has declared them wanted criminals for their "terrorist" activities destroying the power plant.  Yikes.  To recap:  trekking through the jungle on foot.  Dr. Hatch and his private army wants their heads.  The Peruvian government wants their heads.  They must destroy The Ampere.  I wouldn't trade places with them for anything!

A bonus factor in this book series: kids with disability.  The main character, Michael, has a superability: he's literally electric.  But he's also got a disability: Tourette's.  This never ever defines him or slows him down, but it is present and occasionally Michael has to work around it.

My only gripe with Battle of the Ampere is a tiny one:  the very ending.  When I read Battle of the Ampere, I already knew that there was going to be a fourth book.  But still, can we maybe not set up the fourth book so very blatantly at the end of the third?  I listened to this on CD, and I feel like the ending period would have been better placed about 15 minutes prior to the actual end of the book.  But maybe that's just me.

Speaking of listening to it on CD... the narration was fantastic!  I reviewed Rise of the Elgen a few weeks ago, and it's the same great narrator.  He has great cadence, and I never had to fiddle with the volume button.  He kept me totally engaged.  I think the book would be great no matter how you read it, but I do give the audiobook a shiny seal of approval.

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Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Action amp; Adventure, audiobook, Library, Michael Vey, Review, Richard Paul Evans, sci-fi, Science Fiction, Simon and Schuster, young adult  3 People left their mark