shonaningyo's review
3.0
My not-actually-an-aunt Aunt gave me this book. I looked at it and offered a "cool...thanks.." . I do not like it when people buy books for me, because I was in NO WAY a mediator or judge in that decision. Who KNOWS what possible shit they just bought me?
Anyways, I decided to crack it open and read.
Bobby Pendragon is a 14 year old kid. His nerdy friend Mark gets a special message that is actually sent from across multiple dimensions. Bobby is on another planet called Denduron, and he is a "Traveler".
Uncle Press, who is Bobby's uncle is Earth's Traveler, and Bobby is basically his protegee. Basically they're like, the planet's guardians and can hop through time and space to other timeframes of various universes/planets. (Valley Girl, much?)
And so Bobby is hanging onto Uncle Press's coattails as they get into a crazy adventure! (insert jazz hands and 'whappity-shmapitty-dooooooo!!'s here)
Truth be told, I barely remembered what was happening. Not because I wasn't focused, but it just flew over my head. The scenery, the layout, the people... The main characters -- Bobby and Uncle Press-- were the only ones I was really paying attention to, along with Saint Dane. All the details -- except for the quigs and diggers and the fact there were more than two moons (I think) --- was all that I remembered about the book.
It's an okay sci-fi. Not one of the best, since of course if you're not super interested in the plot you won't be able to really care much about it and stuff will slip past your head. For me personally, I wasn't even that concerned to go back and re-read what I missed. Is that bad?
3/5
Anyways, I decided to crack it open and read.
Bobby Pendragon is a 14 year old kid. His nerdy friend Mark gets a special message that is actually sent from across multiple dimensions. Bobby is on another planet called Denduron, and he is a "Traveler".
Uncle Press, who is Bobby's uncle is Earth's Traveler, and Bobby is basically his protegee. Basically they're like, the planet's guardians and can hop through time and space to other timeframes of various universes/planets. (Valley Girl, much?)
And so Bobby is hanging onto Uncle Press's coattails as they get into a crazy adventure! (insert jazz hands and 'whappity-shmapitty-dooooooo!!'s here)
Truth be told, I barely remembered what was happening. Not because I wasn't focused, but it just flew over my head. The scenery, the layout, the people... The main characters -- Bobby and Uncle Press-- were the only ones I was really paying attention to, along with Saint Dane. All the details -- except for the quigs and diggers and the fact there were more than two moons (I think) --- was all that I remembered about the book.
It's an okay sci-fi. Not one of the best, since of course if you're not super interested in the plot you won't be able to really care much about it and stuff will slip past your head. For me personally, I wasn't even that concerned to go back and re-read what I missed. Is that bad?
3/5
dashalikesasha's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
justluck's review
4.0
I adored these books as a kid, so wanted to give them a try again as an adult. I absolutely love the universe built for the Pendragon series, it’s so unique and makes me wish I was a Traveler to be able to explore different worlds. The telling of the story through Bobby’s journals is interesting too, though it does create some convoluted plot telling at times. The writing also isn’t A+, but for a young adult novel I can’t complain! I want a movie of this book series SO BAD, I think it could be phenomenal to follow Bobby’s travels through the worlds of Halla.
I do have one big complaint - the fat jokes. I know this was written decades ago when that type of humor was everywhere, but wow were some of the jokes absolutely distasteful and offensive. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but definitely lowered my respect for the writer. Sure, I could see a 14 year old athletic boy having a disdain for overweight people, but the level of disgust about the one obese character was just too much and unnecessary. This knocked my rating from 5 stars to 4 on its own.
I do have one big complaint - the fat jokes. I know this was written decades ago when that type of humor was everywhere, but wow were some of the jokes absolutely distasteful and offensive. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but definitely lowered my respect for the writer. Sure, I could see a 14 year old athletic boy having a disdain for overweight people, but the level of disgust about the one obese character was just too much and unnecessary. This knocked my rating from 5 stars to 4 on its own.
creatingavery's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
keg_jpeg's review
3.0
I first read the book in middle school and I’ve read it and almost the entire series multiple times (the last one finally lost me), and maybe it’s because I’m so familiar with the material that I saw all the flaws this time around. I love MacHales world building but I found all the characters in the first entry pretty flat. I know he has a large world to set up, and the fact that he’s able to create a unique and original world with every subsequent entry is remarkable, but as a stand alone piece it hasn’t held up to my maturing as much as I hoped it would.
snootycrumb's review
4.0
I'm happy to say that this story holds up. It's a really good tale of good and evil, and not in a simple, obvious way. The evil is complex, and so is the good. The juxtaposition of in-depth storytelling with Bobby's teenager-ness is awkward at times, especially given that the book is 15 years old and the slang can be a little outdated sometimes (and a middle-aged author doesn't help, either). But the character development is still really excellent, the story is compelling, and even though I've already read them all I still feel interested enough to read the next one.
alicetosi's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
onecheesetoasty's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
hoosgracie's review
4.0
14 year old Bobby Pendragon has been leading a normal life until the day his Uncle Press shows up and takes him off to the territory of Denduron, where he finds out he's a Traveller. Great coming of age story and fantasy.
ambzetelmo's review
I’m re-reading this series because I remember really enjoying it when I was younger. I don’t think I made it through all the books, so that’s my goal this time around! Also - adults are allowed to read YA books. YA books are good, and sometimes you want something that’s an easier read, no shame in that!