Redlass's Full Review: Peter Lerangis - The Sword Thief
My son and I have been gleefully reading the Percy Jackson demigod series by Rick Riordan. What does that have to do with Peter Lerangis' The 39 Clues: The Sword Thief? Only that Rick Riordan wrote the first book in The 39 Clues series, which then hooked us into the rest of them.
The 39 Clues series reveals that all of the great names in the world--whether athletes, artists, politicians, or warriors--were all part of the same family, the Cahills. When the matriarch of the Cahill family dies, members of the Cahill family are given a choice between inheriting a million dollars or searching for 39 clues that will lead them to ultimate power, glory, and wealth.
Each book in the series will be written by a different author, though the central characters remain Amy and Dan Cahill. They travel around the world in the company of their au pair, Nellie Gomez, searching for clues.
The first two books focused on famous members of the Cahill family: Benjamin Franklin and Beethoven. The third book, The Sword Thief, takes the brother and sister team to Japan where they learn about Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a great Japanese warrior.
This book has many of the same elements that made the first two books appealing. There are plenty of life-threatening situations, betrayals, kidnappings, and mysteries. Yes, there is a heavy educational strain, but it is camoflaged in the plot far more effectively than the Magic Treehouse books.
There is also a delightful sense of humor in the way the characters interact with each other. Amy and Dan are loyal to each other, but they still get on each other's nerves the way any siblings do.
Peter Lerangis' offering in the series is most successful in developing hte characters of the antagonists. We don't learn much more about Amy and Dan than we did in other books, but he gives us a closer look at two of the would-be villains, fleshing them out and making them far more interesting. He even succeeds in winning our sympathies for them for a time.
This book also starts to introduce hormones into the mix, though since the elder sibling Amy is only 14, they are still pretty minimal.
The books in this series have been coming out pretty quickly--perhaps because each one has a different author and they can work concurrently. It keeps the series entertaining and engaging.
The books also come with collectible cards that contain clues so that the readers can join in a virtual chase at The 39 Clues website. Readers can log in and then enter the code for each card and try to solve the puzzle. The Sword Thief is a very quick read, heavier on the action than the academic than the first two books in the series. It's an entertaining read and keeps me hooked into a series that has shown much promise.
ATTENTION! Amy and Dan Cahill have been located once again, this time in the company of the notoriously unreliable Alistair Oh. Could they have been f...More at Buy.com
Kid favorite Lerangis, author of the Spy X series, pens the third entry in the 39 Clues series. Amy and Dan Cahill have been located once again, and s...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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