"The Lost City of Faar" by D. J. MacHale

Title: The Lost City of Faar

Author: D. J. MacHale

Series: Pendragon, #2

My rating: 4.5 of 5

(Book read from February 24th to February 28th, 2014.) 

  

Summary:

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Pendragon is not like other boys his age. His uncle Press is a Traveler, and, as Bobby has learned, that means Uncle Press is responsible, through his journeys, for solving interdimensional conflict wherever he encounters it. His mission is nothing less than to save the universe from ultimate evil. And he's taking Bobby along for the ride.

 
Fresh from his first adventure on Denduron, Bobby finds himself in the territory of Cloral, a vast world that is entirely covered by water. Cloral is nearing a disaster of huge proportions. Reading the journals Bobby sends home, his friends learn that the desperate citizens of the endangered floating cities are on the brink of war. Can Bobby -- suburban basketball star and all-around nice guy -- help rid the area of marauders, and locate the legendary lost land of Faar, which may hold the key to Cloral's survival?

 

My Thoughts on the Book:

Once upon a time, years before I started blogging, I came across the book The Merchant of Death. It sounded fun, so of course I had to get it & read it, and I loved it. It was quite the adventure, and I was eager to continue the series.  

The Merchant of Death is the first book in the Pendragon series, a series of 10 books, but at the time I hadn't been able to get my hands on the sequels, and after I did some years later, I hadn't been able to get around to continuing the series. 

I have this thing that I do, I keep postponing reading & finishing the series that have more than a few books, and every year since I've started blogging I made the resolution to finally return to the series, and every year I failed big time. And since it was so long ago since I read The Merchant of Death, a reread was necessary, even though I remembered the particulars. And finally, I reread the first book near the end of 2013, I felt about it the same way as I did the first time, such a great adventure & great beginning to a new series, so 2014 is the year I'll finally finish the Pendragon series (I hope). And finally reading The Lost City of Faar is one step closer to me reaching my goal ;)

The Lost City of Faar continues where The Merchant of Death ended. Bobby Pendragon & Uncle Press followed Saint Dane on the planet Cloral. I absolutely loved Cloral! I wish I lived there. It wasn't perfect, but it was magnificent. The whole planet is under water, and I loved the world-building, and their technology, and the way they lived, just everything about it. So imaginative, and beautiful & lovely, and I wish I was there. So, yeah, I totally fell in love with Cloral, and that's what made me love this book so much.

The second thing that made me love this book was the new character - Vo Spader. From the moment we meet him, I adored him. He's such a charming, easy-going, funny guy. And he's so smart, quick on his feet, and so, so brave. Just one of those persons that light up the room wherever they go.

But, after something happened to him, he changed of course, everyone would in his place, so my heart was breaking a little bit for him, and I could understand him, and I can't wait to see what will happen next with him.

And then there's Bobby of course - our protagonist. I love Bobby Pendragon. There's just something about him, he's so likable, and good, and brave (even when he's afraid), and loyal, and he keeps getting better as a Traveler.

I adore Uncle Press. I would've loved to have an uncle like him, he's amazing, and I'll stop right here. I'll say that I was really sad & heartbroken, but I just know that this isn't the end ;)

And yay, Loor of course was back, at least for a little while ;) She's as amazing as ever, and I loved the glimpse of Zadaa as well.

The only thing that irritated me in this book was Mark. I think that he acted a little bit foolish about something, he should've told Courtney right away, but in the end, they were awesome with the way they dealt with the situation they had found themselves in.

Another thing I have to point out is that I love the way the series is written. We (the readers) just like Mark & Courtney, follow Bobby's adventures as a traveler through his journals, journals that he sends to Mark & Courtney for safekeeping, and to let them know how he is doing. To be honest, this time, I just wished to skip the parts with Mark & Courtney, because Mark irritated me, and go right from one journal to the next, because I was eager to see what will happen next to Bobby, but I still loved the writing style.

 

I loved the story. It was quite the adventure. The villain (Saint Dane) was villainous, there was lots of action, adventure, mystery, danger, and the mysterious & lost city of Faar. That's all I'm going to say, and I'm really excited about reading the sequel, especially with the teaser we got in the end about what Bobby has been through so far after leaving Cloral & where he has ended up, it sure seems to be quite the roller coaster ride.

 

If you're a fan of adventure books, then this series is for you. An adventure in time & space (I know, it sounds like Doctor Who, I totally stole the line ;) but believe me, it's different), an awesome mix of fantasy & science fiction & adventure, and so far, so good, and I highly recommend it!

 

 

  

Challenges:

 

2014 TBR Pile Reading Challenge