A review by shauniesbookshelves
Last Descendants: An Assassin's Creed Series by Matthew J. Kirby
5.0
Owen and his mum have had to move back into his grandparents' house after Owen's father was accused of robbing a bank, and died in prison. Owen's grandparents constantly lecture him on his grades, and how he doesn't want to turn into his father, now, does he, and Owen is sick of it. He knows his father is innocent, and when the IT guy at his school, Monroe, offers him a chance to go into an Animus, Owen jumps at the opportunity to go into his father's memories and prove his innocence. Only, Monroe seems to be hiding something from Owen, and when he is pulled from the Animus and Monroe disappears, things start to get weird. It turns out that there is an artefact called the Trident of Eden, and Owen, along with a few other kids, turn out to all have ancestors who have been in contact with the artefact. There are two groups warring over finding the artefacts, the Assassins and the Templars. Monroe seems to want to keep either group from finding the artefacts, but that would mean Owen and the rest of the group going into the Animus together, to see where it ended up. Will the danger of the mission turn them away, or will the thrill of being in the Animus cloud their judgement? And besides, if they do find the artefact, what will happen then?
I have to admit, before I picked this up, I was pretty sceptical. I haven't read any other Assassin's Creed books, I haven't played any of the games, and although I have watched part of the film, tea was ready before I could finish it, so I really don't know anything about the groups, the characters or the technology. The only thing I know is that the Animus is the thing with the chair, and there's a dude called Ezio. Having said that, I still managed to really enjoy this book! The characters were all teenage, and so really easy for me to relate to, and all had very clear, thought out personalities with a lot of depth. The plot was so interesting that I was almost immediately hooked! It didn't matter that I didn't know what the Animus was, or what the Assassin's and the Templars were fighting for, because neither did the characters in the book, so I learnt as they did. According to a review I found on Amazon, it is a 'Must read for any AC fan', and 'Helps you to understand the Animus and Abstergo a lot better and presents the assassins and the templars in quite an unbiased light where the reader is free to judge themselves'. (There was no name left on this review but it's the top review on the Amazon page for the book.) I did enjoy the fact that I was left to make my own decisions about the Assassins and the Templars, knowing what both sides were working for and against, which is part of the reason I am glad I read this book before the series by Oliver Bowden. I have been able to form my own opinion, which is that I would be on the side of the Assassins, with plenty of knowledge from both sides. I would definitely recommend this book to literally anyone, whether they know all or nothing about the whole franchise. This book has left me with a bit (and by a bit I mean a lot) of a book hangover, which I have never got before, even with the Throne of Glass series, or Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, which I consider to be my favourite books. Definitely, definitely worth a read.
I have to admit, before I picked this up, I was pretty sceptical. I haven't read any other Assassin's Creed books, I haven't played any of the games, and although I have watched part of the film, tea was ready before I could finish it, so I really don't know anything about the groups, the characters or the technology. The only thing I know is that the Animus is the thing with the chair, and there's a dude called Ezio. Having said that, I still managed to really enjoy this book! The characters were all teenage, and so really easy for me to relate to, and all had very clear, thought out personalities with a lot of depth. The plot was so interesting that I was almost immediately hooked! It didn't matter that I didn't know what the Animus was, or what the Assassin's and the Templars were fighting for, because neither did the characters in the book, so I learnt as they did. According to a review I found on Amazon, it is a 'Must read for any AC fan', and 'Helps you to understand the Animus and Abstergo a lot better and presents the assassins and the templars in quite an unbiased light where the reader is free to judge themselves'. (There was no name left on this review but it's the top review on the Amazon page for the book.) I did enjoy the fact that I was left to make my own decisions about the Assassins and the Templars, knowing what both sides were working for and against, which is part of the reason I am glad I read this book before the series by Oliver Bowden. I have been able to form my own opinion, which is that I would be on the side of the Assassins, with plenty of knowledge from both sides. I would definitely recommend this book to literally anyone, whether they know all or nothing about the whole franchise. This book has left me with a bit (and by a bit I mean a lot) of a book hangover, which I have never got before, even with the Throne of Glass series, or Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, which I consider to be my favourite books. Definitely, definitely worth a read.