wiseowl33's review
5.0
Loved this series! I very much enjoyed the action and the humor and the characters in this book!
britomarte's review
5.0
Read this book tonight while eating ice cream. A delightful experience. There are 2-3 times that the author went just a little too far for me with his references to the past, but over-the-top is great for the target audience, so that's a VERY minor quibble.
snazel's review
Solid assortment of hilarious "culture as heard though a game of telephone" world building, plausibly nasty Big Bads, and excellent friend bonds. I'm not gonna give it a star rating cause I forgot to eat lunch, and so I was reading in a (in retrospect) haze.
buj's review
5.0
It's safe to say this is my new favorite middle grade series. When I found out there were only 2 books, not the 3 I thought it had, and I cried a little inside because I wanted to stay in this world and with these characters as long as possible, but after finishing this installment, I'm left completely satisfied.
Plots and character arcs wrap up in a satisfying manner while leaving room for the imagination to take over, the nuisances of the world and Chess' role in controlling the Fog comes to fruition, and the characters and their individual relationships continue to be so lively, distinct, and just plain fun without falling into tired tropes.
Can't recommend this enough, especially if you like unique worlds like something out of Bioshock Infinite or a Philip Reeve's Railhead or Mortal Engines books.
Plots and character arcs wrap up in a satisfying manner while leaving room for the imagination to take over, the nuisances of the world and Chess' role in controlling the Fog comes to fruition, and the characters and their individual relationships continue to be so lively, distinct, and just plain fun without falling into tired tropes.
Can't recommend this enough, especially if you like unique worlds like something out of Bioshock Infinite or a Philip Reeve's Railhead or Mortal Engines books.
briarrose1021's review against another edition
5.0
Reader's Log Start-8 173.2
The Lost Compass picks up right where The Fog Diver left off. Immediately. The kids have made it to Port Oro, Mrs. E. is being helped by the doctors, and the cogs want Chess to dive for them; he just needs to find the map that leads to the Compass, find the Compass, and trigger it to start all before Kodoc starts attacking Port Oro. So, no big deal, really.
This book was just as much fun as The Fog Diver, or perhaps even more so because of the hope the kids were beginning to feel as they explored Port Oro, very cautious at first, and learn that life here was very different from life on Rooftop.
Throughout this story, we got to see more of each of the characters, learning about what makes them ... them, and while most of that time was spent on developing the characters of the crew, we also learned more about Vidious, Nisha, and other adults around the crew, Of course, now that the crew is on Port Oro, there is a whole new city of people to introduce, but it was done in a way that didn't feel overwhelming.
Just like in The Fog Diver, there are lots of pop culture references that sound like they've been through several rounds of the telephone game, and I think reading those was actually my favorite part of the book. Kudos to the author for thinking about how knowledge would change after several hundred years of people living above the Fog, with no way to access electronic databases - only paper ones - and how misunderstandings of information would happen over time.
So, long story short, if you read The Fog Diver, then you NEED to read The Lost Compass. If you haven't read The Fog Diver, then you REALLY NEED to read it so you can read The Lost Compass afterward. You will not be disappointed. Though, the stars-tangled pandas may confuse you. Anyway, as Bea would say - don't be a chuzzlewit! Go get a copy to read right now!
The Lost Compass picks up right where The Fog Diver left off. Immediately. The kids have made it to Port Oro, Mrs. E. is being helped by the doctors, and the cogs want Chess to dive for them; he just needs to find the map that leads to the Compass, find the Compass, and trigger it to start all before Kodoc starts attacking Port Oro. So, no big deal, really.
This book was just as much fun as The Fog Diver, or perhaps even more so because of the hope the kids were beginning to feel as they explored Port Oro, very cautious at first, and learn that life here was very different from life on Rooftop.
Throughout this story, we got to see more of each of the characters, learning about what makes them ... them, and while most of that time was spent on developing the characters of the crew, we also learned more about Vidious, Nisha, and other adults around the crew, Of course, now that the crew is on Port Oro, there is a whole new city of people to introduce, but it was done in a way that didn't feel overwhelming.
Just like in The Fog Diver, there are lots of pop culture references that sound like they've been through several rounds of the telephone game, and I think reading those was actually my favorite part of the book. Kudos to the author for thinking about how knowledge would change after several hundred years of people living above the Fog, with no way to access electronic databases - only paper ones - and how misunderstandings of information would happen over time.
So, long story short, if you read The Fog Diver, then you NEED to read The Lost Compass. If you haven't read The Fog Diver, then you REALLY NEED to read it so you can read The Lost Compass afterward. You will not be disappointed. Though, the stars-tangled pandas may confuse you. Anyway, as Bea would say - don't be a chuzzlewit! Go get a copy to read right now!
sagenguyen's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ndgrad95oh's review
5.0
My son can't get enough of these books! He loves the action, the humor and the characters!
hcpenner's review
4.0
A fun conclusion to the lightly steampunk, very amusingly dystopian story started with The Fog Diver.
ohwaitiforgot's review
5.0
This series is great! I'm wondering how well future entries will go, though.
aylea's review
4.0
Chess and his crew have escaped the slums, but that doesn't mean that they are out of danger in Port Oro. The fog is threatening to consume the rest of their small world, and Lord Kodoc is determined to use Chess for his own purposes. In Port Oro, Chess is recruited to help search for the one thing that can stop the fog's progression: an ancient machine called the Compass that only Chess with his fog eye can find. As Chess fights off Lord Kodoc, driftsharks, ticktocks, and does everything he can to keep his friends save, he discovers a surprising answer to how to claim the world back from the fog and to start a new world not consumed by the fog.
This exciting sequel has plenty of science, air battles, and fog dives to continue captivating the audience. With the world developed in the first book, this book has more room for action and suspense as Chess races against time to find the Compass before Kodoc does. Readers will continue to enjoy the subtle references to our world that Chess finds in his history books or while he is diving through the fog. The exposition in the beginning is a little too much for people who have just read the first book, but once the book gets going readers will enjoy this smart science fiction story with an ending that leave the readers both thrilled and satisfied with how Ross handled the story and characters.
This exciting sequel has plenty of science, air battles, and fog dives to continue captivating the audience. With the world developed in the first book, this book has more room for action and suspense as Chess races against time to find the Compass before Kodoc does. Readers will continue to enjoy the subtle references to our world that Chess finds in his history books or while he is diving through the fog. The exposition in the beginning is a little too much for people who have just read the first book, but once the book gets going readers will enjoy this smart science fiction story with an ending that leave the readers both thrilled and satisfied with how Ross handled the story and characters.