Nothing Can Stop The Lego Adventurers On Their Quest To Find "The Lost Temple"!
Written: Nov 17 '05 (Updated Feb 15 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Fun story, challenging puzzles, awesome graphics, a must have for Lego Adventurers fans.
Cons: Hard to find in retail stores.
The Bottom Line: Are you brave enough to help Johnny, Pippen and Dr. Kilroy find The Lost Temple? Pack your bags, pay attention to clues and get ready for an incredible Lego adventure!
Freak369's Full Review: Anna Knight - The Lost Temple Books
If you haven’t gathered from past reviews, I am a Lego fanatic. We have everything from books to watches, customizable pens to clothing, video games and even keychains with Lego figures on them. There are a ton of books that involve Lego characters and themes, the most popular being the Bionicle line. The only thing that prevents me from writing about them is that I break out in a cold sweat when I start reading them; I didn’t follow the evolution of them as closely as I should and can’t keep track of the different tribes and wars. The “Interactive Puzzle Storybook” line is a collaboration between Lego and Dorling Kindersley; they had a lot of luck with the Lego Reader series geared towards the younger kids and these are just as engaging to read. Some people might see these books as just another way to make money or for from publicity and product tie-ins but to me they are a great way to get kids motivated to read, work the different puzzles and learn a little more about the characters that are featured in the companion Lego sets.
The Lost Temple An Interactive Puzzle Storybook
First off, this is more than just a Lego book, it has some very challenging puzzles that you need to try to solve along the way. Some require you to read a map, others ask you to search for clues, there’s backwards letters, searching for animals in the rainforest and filling in missing letters to learn more about Senor Palomar. You’ll find these puzzle boxes in rectangles, it’s isn’t a necessity that you solve each and every one of them but it does help to try and do your best. If you skip over the first few you might run into some trouble later on it the book. There are a total of fourteen puzzles within the story and if you get stumped, you can find the answers at the end of the book. There is also a ‘curious facts’ section when the story wraps up; it tells you about the Aztecs, the game of ‘ulama’, how they used pictures instead of words to write and where some of their hidden temples were built.
I wasn’t expecting this story to have a lot of depth to it; after all it is a kids book. Let’s just say that this is one heck of an adventure and thanks to the Adventurers crew, you are right there with them. It all starts at the National Museum; Johnny Thunder, Pippen Read and Dr. Kilroy learn of The Lost Temple and that Senor Palomar plans on trying to steal the golden sun disc. Knowing that time is of the essence they make a bee line for the air strip so Alex Botnik can get them to Mexico but someone has stolen the plane that they rented. This is the first of many mishaps that the team encounter on their way to the temple and they are going to need your help to get them through it. Taking the airship [a blimp] they soon arrive at Salsa Verde but Senor Palomar is one step ahead of them and sabotages the vehicle that was waiting for them. The team has to battle against a place called Piranha Creek, make their way through a valley of stone heads, brave the dangers of the jungle, figure out how to cross a river that has a broken bridge and once they finally arrive at the temple, they still have to find a way to get in.
But that’s just half the story. The evil Senor Palomar doesn’t care about the historic value of the artifacts that lay at the temple, he just wants to get his hands on them and sell them to the highest bidder. If the golden sun disc falls into his hands, he won’t appreciate it or have any respect for what it meant to the people that built the temple. You will have to solve a few clues before you can figure out how to get into the temple and once you do, you will be face to face with Palomar and his men. He is dead set on getting the disc and he doesn’t care who perishes in the process. It isn’t until Achu, the Keeper of The Jungle appears. Palomar and his men have been entangled in a web and can’t move, leaving the Adventurers to be tested by Achu to see if they are treasure hunters or if they are there to protect the temple and all that is inside it. With snakes slithering around, the Keeper asking questions and Palomar getting loose from the web -the ending is a complete thrill ride!
The Series
There are a total of four books in the Lego Puzzlebook line; The Lost Temple, Castle Mystery, Rock Raiders and The Curse of The Mummy. They offer kids a great way to combine reading, puzzle solving skills and Lego entertainment t a price that won’t have you falling over. These books have a suggested retail price of $4.95, a great deal when you see the amazing graphics, incredible stories and challenging puzzles. I’d recommend these for kids between the ages of six and ten but that’s just me, if your child is a proficient reader he or she might be able to tackle this without help from an adult. A few of the titles are old, two were published in 1999 and two more in 2000 so these might be a little hard to find in retail bookstore but they are definately worth the effort to track them down if you have a Lego fanatic in your house.
The Bottom Line
This is a great book for kids that are into Lego but not reading - it is just the thing to get them motivated. If you do have a child that likes to read then you can use this as a great educational tool; from it you can take the basic facts that are given at the end of the book and expand on them. This is an awesome companion book for the Adventurers series, the computer graphics used for the imagery is exceptional and there is a lot of detail to the Lego figures that appear in the book. To make things even more interesting there are a lot of hidden things in the pictures, kids love to study them and try to find as many as possible. This is well worth the suggested retail price of $4.95 but it may be hard to find in retail stores since it is an older title. If you aren’t too picky, try looking online for it or at sites that carry used books. All of the titles are entertaining, educational and a must have for Lego fanatics of all ages!
These inventive books will appeal to LEGO lovers, puzzle lovers, young science fiction fans, and every child who enjoys an exciting adventure story. B...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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