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The Readers and Writers Paradise Podcast Episode 003: Swindle Series by Gordon Korman

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Hey guys thank you so much for coming on to my website. Today (like every Wednesday) I have a new episode of The Readers and Writers Paradise Podcast to share with you. On the podcast I have all kinds of information about books, interviews with authors and book reviewers, and more.

In this episode I’m really excited to share with you my review of the books in the Swindle Series by Gordon Korman. Long-time readers of my blog know that Gordon Korman is probably my favorite kids book author and the Swindle Series is also one of my favorites. I go over all the information about the series in this podcast, so let me know what you think of this episode 🙂

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The 39 Clues Book 8: The Emperor’s Code by Gordon Korman Review

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Note: This article was originally written almost four years ago.

Yesterday, March 6th, 2010, was a big day for the readers here on The Readers and Writers Paradise: Book 8 of The 39 Clues, The Emperor’s Code was released! I was especially excited for this book, because it was written by Gordon Korman, who is, as most of you probably know by now, my favorite author.

And I have to say this was by far my favorite book in the series as of right now. In a live webcast back on December 2nd, 2008 (seems like it was just yesterday), Gordon said that with the series being multi-author, with everyone’s creativity piling up on top of each other, by the eighth or ninth book, it would be awesome.

Certainly, his predication came true. As for writing style, this book was clearly written in a different writing style than his other books (I know; I’ve read all of them). It wasn’t just Korman writing the book; the writing style of Rick all the way back from September 2008 is still showing in this piece.

I really love the writing style—I think it’s the perfect way to write The 39 Clues series. I don’t really like book three or seven, because of the writing style of Peter Lerangis, but really everyone else has followed suite from Rick and Gordon back in the first and second books.

The plot? Well, at the end of the seventh book, Amy and Dan discover the secret of their family branch: Madrigal. As you can expect, much of the book is centered around that topic.

First, Amy, Dan, and Nellie travel to China in search of the old Janus clue (yep, Jonah Wizard makes his long awaited rebirth into the series). In the Forbidden City, Dan finds a sheet with an equation of the different branch symbols in bottles added together equals the Cahill symbol, along with a Chinese message that later proved important.

Unfortunately, Amy starts voicing her thoughts that maybe their parents deserved to die, and Dan storms off. Then, he is captured by the Kabra children, Ian and Natalie. They dump him in a pile of trash, where he is found by Jonah.

Jonah claims he’s making phone calls to Amy and Nellie and trying to track them down. However, when Amy and Nellie ask him if Dan is with him, he lies and says he isn’t, and was never making calls. When Dan meets Jonah’s mom, Cora Wizard (the leader of the Janus branch), it becomes apparent that the Wizard family is just trying to use him. They even claim Dan is from the Janus branch! Unfortunately, that prompts Dan to respond with the following:

“Janus? I’m no Janus! I know exactly what branch I am!”

“I’m a Madrigal!”

The well-kept secret of who the Madrigals are is finally out, and people will be hunting Amy and Dan down even more.

Dan flees and leaves a message for Amy and Nellie. He did not give a location, as he would have to keep moving. Both decide the next clue is on Mount Everest, and meet each other in the hanger of a plane specially designed to go to the top of Everest. At first, the pilot refuses to take him, but Nellie puts her “boss” on the phone to talk to the pilot, who suddenly agrees to take them.

Nellie later claims it’s her uncle; obviously not true. They also see Nellie pick a lock with masterful skill, and we get to see part of a phone conversation between her and her boss. In her thoughts, she also reveals she has a secret objective. Amy and Dan are once again doubting her more and more.

When they get to the top of Everest, they see that Eisenhower Holt and Ian are already near the top. Amy grabs the vial containing the clue at the peak, but it slips from her hand, as she tries to grab it, she realizes that Ian is about to fall two miles into death. Instead of saving the clue, she saves Ian. Luckily, it was hidden in the secret Chinese message:

“That which you seek, you hold in your hand,
Fixed forever in birth,
Where the Earth meets the sky.”

Because the paper they are holding is made out of silk, the first line means it’s silk. Fixed forever in birth means it’s frozen, which means its raw silkworm secretion, and where the earth meets the sky means it’s hidden on Mount Everest.

Dan also finds an impression of Anne Bonny, a famous woman pirate in the Caribbean. This tells them that’s where the next clue is located.

The secret code in this book is made from the coded letters:

“Madrigals are behind everything. They lay out the path the others will walk. The end is coming.”

What I make from that is the Madrigal’s plant the clues and leads for others to find, and obviously that the contest is coming to an end. There are numerous examples of the Madrigal’s making leads, such as Nellie “accidentally” placing them into secrets (she’s obviously not from one of the four branches, the way they talk about her), and at the beginning of book eight, the Man In Black making sure Amy and Dan saw a certain movie which showed the Janus crest at their next destination. They certainly are the most powerful.

To be honest, The Emperor’s Code was sort of like a filler; not as much as books two, three and four, because we at least got some info from this book, and not quite as much as book six, but more like book five. Certainly this book sets the stage for the outbreak of the series that we know is happening in books nine and ten. I hope to see you on the hunt.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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The 39 Clues Book 7: The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis Review

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I was more excited for this book than any other in The 39 Clues series. Some of you may find this surprisingly, knowing that I am one of the biggest fans of The 39 Clues, and also knowing that I really didn’t like Peter Lerangis’s earlier contribution to the series.

Why why I was so excited, then? Because in this book we learn the identity of Amy and Dan’s branch!

In case you don’t know, The 39 Clues is a multi-author series in which two kids, Amy and Dan Cahill learn that they are members of the most powerful family in human history. The source of their families power is hidden across the world in the form of thirty-nine clues, or chemical elements, which when put together will create a virtual superman potion.

The 39 Clues is one of my all-time favorite kids series, and I consider it was a part of my childhood. If you haven’t read it yet, then you might want to start with the latest books and then backtrack your way from the first book. If you have read it, though, than read on!

Summary

As you probably already know, there are four main branches in The 39 Clues, one for each of the children of Gideon Cahill, the patriarch of the entire Cahill clan. The Ekaterina, Lucian, Tomas, and Janus branches all want to be the first to find the clues.

Amy and Dan, however, don’t know what branch they’re apart of. That’s a problem that has dogged them throughout the entire series. The matter of Amy and Dan’s branch was the thing that intrigued clue hunters (including me) the most. We all had a pretty good idea; after all, clues throughout the series hinted that Amy and Dan were actually Madrigals, a secretive group that everyone is afraid of.

Before Lerangis tells Amy and Dan’s branch, however, he first continues the story from the last book. Irina just sacrificed her own life to save Amy and Dan, and they can barely believe that the vicious ex-KGB agent would do such a thing. Their suspicion of Nellie also continues to grow, but they little choice but to trust her for the moment.

Amy and Dan realize that Irina’s last words-“I’m with you and you’re with me and so we are all together”-were actually the words to a song called marching to Pretoria, a city in South Africa. Amy and Dan quickly discover that the clue has to do with Shaka Zulu, one of the greatest warrior kings of all time.

Amy and Dan also discover that Winston Churchill was involved with the clue, and infiltrate the Tomas stronghold. They are helped throughout the book by Professor Bardsley, a friend of Grace.

Although Amy and Dan find the clue in the stronghold, they are once again attacked by Isabel. Isabel offers them Amy and Dan a chance to join her family, but of course they decline. Isabel is about to kill them once again, but their ingenuity and the help of Professor Bardsley keeps them alive.

The Professor was such a good friend of Grace’s that he has access to her plane, The Flying Lemur. Amy and Dan, however, accidentally spill a vial full of poison onto Dan’s arm. They head to Grace’s secret house in Madagascar to get Dan some medicine.

Dan gets the medicine, but he and Amy also get far more. They find Grace’s notebook, that has the secret of their family branch. If you want, you can click here to see what that branch is. Me; I’d read the book.

Review

This book was a pretty mediocre one, to be honest. The plot itself was good enough, but the way it was written wasn’t. It literally gave me a headache to read it because a lot of it wasn’t clear. I wanted to stop and try to reread, but I just pushed on so I could get to the branch revealing.

There was some historical information in the book about Shaka Zulu and South Africa, but it wasn’t understandable at all. All that I remember is that Shaka Zulu was a great warrior of some kind and that there was recently slavery in South Africa. The slavery could’ve been a powerful moment, but it was pretty weak the way Lerangis wrote it.

The style was a little more matching the other authors than in book 3, but it still wasn’t quite there, and wasn’t really any better. In fact, it might have been worse. This book was more of a blend between his style of writing and the other authors, but it only meets halfway and is kind of like an orchestra not sure of what note to play.

Either way, this is a necessary book for any serious fan of The 39 Clues. This book contains perhaps the most important information in the whole series. I’d just skim through it and to the end. If you’ve been paying attention, I don’t think you’ll be very surprised.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook Page or enter your email below to get more book reviews.

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The 39 Clues Book 6: In Too Deep by Jude Watson Review

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With the sixth book of The 39 Clues series, In Too Deep by Jude Watson, the series was moving into its second half. We were moving into more secrets, getting closer to discovering secrets such as the identity of Amy and Dan’s branch and what really happened the night Amy and Dan’s parents died.

Note: Little did we know, of course, that there would be a second and now a third arc.

In The 39 Clues, young Amy and Dan Cahill learn that their family contains a secret powerful enough to make the owner of it the most influential human in history. The secret is scattered across the world in the form of 39 clues, or chemical elements.

Of course, Amy and Dan aren’t the only ones looking for the clues. Their relatives will do anything to get the clues first. In fact, we meet the worst one for the first time in this book.

Although Jude Watson’s earlier addition to the series was mostly mediocre, this book is much better, mainly because of its well-crafted character development.

If you haven’t read The 39 Clues series yet, then I’d advise starting with the most recent book and then working your way backwards from the first book. You probably you won’t read all of them, but you’ll thoroughly enjoy the ones that you do.

If you’re familiar with the series, though, then read on.

Summary

At the end of the last book, Amy and Dan decide to head to Australia to meet with their dad’s cousin Shep. Their parents were very involved in the clue hunt, and Amy and Dan want to figure out what they discovered.

The trouble starts immediately, however, when someone steals Amy’s necklace. Grace, Amy’s late grandmother, gave her the necklace, and it is very important to her. She runs after the thief, only to fall into a trap set by Isabel Kabra.

Ian and Natalie, Isabel’s kids, were bad enough. They had tried to kill Amy and Dan more than once. But their mother? She is the leader of the Lucian branch, and probably the most evil person in the entire series.

Isabel tells Amy, however, that she can help Amy learn who killed her parents. She also tries to manipulate Amy by telling her how Ian has a crush on her. Amy knows that Isabel is trying to trick her, but the chance to learn about her parents is just so tempting.

In the meantime, they learn about Bob Troppo, an Ekat who was close to discovering all of the clues. Amy and Dan spend their time in Australia trying to track him down.

Amy is in a terrible emotional state throughout the book, having flashbacks about the night her parents died. Ian calls and informs Amy that her parents were murdered. Then Irina, an ex-KGB agent who is supposed to be working for Isabel, tells Amy that she shouldn’t trust Isabel because she is the one who murdered her parents. Isabel, however, says the same thing about Irina! Amy is totally confused. She tries to keep it away from Dan, however, because she doesn’t want to him to have to feel the pain, too.

Unfortunately, Amy allows Isabel to lure her into a boat and then threatens to murder her if she doesn’t share which clues she’s found. Amy is in a tough spot, but Hamilton Holt comes and saves her. Even though the Holts called off their alliance at the end of the last book, he obviously still feels like he owes her.

While following Bob Troppo’s footsteps, Amy and Dan are lead through the desert and discover a clue that their mom left. That leads them to a mine, but Isabel drops poisonous spiders and a venomous snake down the mineshaft. It is yet another very close call, although Amy and Dan are once again able to escape.

We are able to identify a lot more with Irina this book. In past books we thought she was just a ruthless killer, but here we learn that she has some heart. In fact, she makes a serious sacrifice to help the Cahill kids, to avenge for her own child dying at Isabel’s instructions.

We also grow more suspicious of Nellie, Amy and Dan’s au pair. Before they had just kind of trusted her, but now they suspect that she might be up to something. After all, what kind of au pair knows tons of languages, can fly planes, and can do all kinds of other crazy stuff?

Who will die at the hands of Isabel? Will Amy and Dan go, or will someone else pay the ultimate price for them? Will they find the clue?

Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The parts about the clue hunt weren’t super great or clear, and I don’t think I remember any historical information from the book at all (I’m not even sure if there was any). Either way, Jude Watson does a masterful job of dealing with the characters in this book.

As mentioned above, we get to see Amy grow more mature and deal with her trauma of the past. We see a softer side of Irina, Amy and Dan worrying about the only person they thought they could trust, and the first death of the clue hunt. While most of the books are mainly focused on action, this book is about understanding the characters better, something that is very important to the series.

Would I recommend it? Definitely. Writing this review, I almost feel like I want to read this book again. Just some of the emotions of the characters in it were fascinating. Clue hunters will love it.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also check out my Facebook page or subscribe through email below.

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The 39 Clues Book 5: The Black Circle by Patrick Carman Review

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As usual, I was really excited to read the fifth book in The 39 Clues series, The Black Circle by Patrick Carman. After a wayward third book, the fourth book had been relatively strong and the fifth book was looking to be exciting by all indications. There were some promos and sneak peaks for it during the summer that were pretty well done, and I’m happy to say the book didn’t disappoint.

The 39 Clues, for those who don’t know, is a multi-author series about two kids named Dan and Amy Cahill. Amy and Dan learn that they are members of the most powerful family in human history when their grandmother, Grace, dies. The source of their families power is in thirty-nine chemical elements, and whoever assembles them all will become the most powerful person ever.

Of course, Amy and Dan are not the only people looking after the clues. Their conniving relatives are also after them, and will do anything to find them. Even kill.

The 39 Clues also tends to be good for learning history because Amy and Dan travel the world to all kinds of exciting places. Paris, Venice, Cairo, and, in this book, Russia.

If you haven’t read the series yet, I’d start with the most recent series and then work your way back from the first book. For those of you who have…

Summary

Amy and Dan are still in their hotel room in Egypt when they get a telegram from a person who calls himself (or herself) NRR. NRR gives them an airport locker number. The telegram also contains a poem about how Dan buried his bottle cap collection in Grace’s yard, making Amy and Dan think NRR must have known Grace.

Their au pair Nellie is asleep, so they head out without her and leave a message. In this book much more than any of the others, Amy and Dan act independently without Nellie’s help.

Of course, things won’t go so easy for Amy and Dan that they can just get to the airport easily. Ian and Natalie Kabra, their rich cousins, are already on their tail. Amy and Dan manage to outsmart them, however, and find a key hidden in a glass paperweight and a piece of paper with jumbled letters on it. They also get disguises, passports, a credit card (which Dan is most excited about), and a Russian guide book with plane tickets. Most important to Amy and Dan: A picture of their late parents in Russia.

Even though Nellie is still in the hotel room, time is of the essence and they head out. Dan decodes the piece of paper to be various cities in Russia. Amy and Dan learn that the clue may have something to do with Anastasia Romanov and her medicine man, Rasputin.

They scale all the to the top of The Motherland Calls Statue to find a clue, but meet up with the Holt family. Dan decides to team up with Hamilton because he knows that there’s no way they can to all the cities on the list in time. It is a very exciting book and they do all kinds of awesome things, too many to list here.

They are also tracked down by Irina Spasky, an ex-KGB agent. Irina tries to convince them not to look for the clue, but the pictures of their parents and the connection to Grace make Amy and Dan forge on.

Will Amy and Dan make it in time to see NRR? More importantly; will NRR actually help them, or simply kill them?

Review

This is an awesome book, one of the best in the series. It is very clearly written and I still remember a lot of the historical information in the book. It is very fast-paced and full of adventure. Carman did a great job.

Even though it’s not quite written in the same style as the earlier books, I think this one is just as good. The characters also develop well, as we see Amy and Dan going off on their own. We also meet NRR and get closer to the Holt family, seeing a better side of them. In addition, we see that Irina cares about Amy and Dan because she doesn’t kill them when she has the chance.

If I was going to rate The 39 Clues books, this would be a strong contender for the best one; I can’t even think of anything bad to say about it. It’s too bad that this is the only book Carman wrote in the series.

Thank you for reading this review and if you’d like to purchase the book you can do so through this link. You can also like my Facebook page or subscribe through email below.

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How the Hunger Games Made me Sick-Literally

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Oh man, The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games. Pretty much the most read book series in the last few years. Pretty much the most talked about series. Pretty much the most hyped series. Also one of the few book series to make me physically sick.

When I first heard about The Hunger Games, I had absolutely no interest in it. I don’t know what it was about it, but it just didn’t appeal to me.

A couple of weeks ago, however, I decided to finally jump in and read it. After all, it’s hard to read a book review blog and not be able to talk about The Hunger Games. After having a discussion about books move on to a discussion about how I hadn’t read The Hunger Games, I decided to read it.

Below is a podcast where I talk in more detail about how The Hunger Games made me sick.

Reading the Books

Despite not having read The Hunger Games, I had a pretty good idea of what it was about. I wasn’t surprised to read about the adventure of Katniss, the narrator from District 12 who protects her sister by taking her place in the games. Taking her place in the relentless games set up by the Capitol as a reminder for the districts not to rebel. A game to the death.

Katniss has to say goodbye to her family, knowing very well that she’ll probably never see them again. She is going with another person from her district, a boy named Peeta who announces that he has a crush on her to the entire nation of Panem on live television.

Things are looking pretty good for Katniss when she steals the crowd with her fire dress prepared for her by her stylist and then scores an 11 out of 12 in training because of her skills of being able to fling arrows. She may not have much of a chance of winning, but she’s at least going to fight.

I don’t want to say exactly what happened, but suffice it to say that with the help of Capitol induced attacks of fearsome wolf-like muttations of the losers of the hunger games and tracker jackers, also muttations that are like bees and will kill people with a couple of bites.

Okay, so it’s no surprise that Katniss and Peeta end up winning The Hunger Games, playing up their fake (at least on the part of Katniss) romance to let the Capitol keep both of them alive. At the end of the games, however, the gamemakers announce that there can only be one victor and that Katniss and Peeta will have to fight it out to the death. Instead, Katniss outwits the Capitol, pulling out poisonous berries that will kill both of them.

Not wanting the both of them to die, the gamemakers intervene and Katniss and Peeta live as champions.

In the second book, however, we learn that the Capitol is very mad at Katniss for outsmarting them during the games. The President personally threatens her. She thinks of trying to flee to the woods, but eventually agrees with her hunting friend Gale that they’re going to have to stage a full-on rebellion against the Capitol.

That’s about when I stopped reading. And for good reason.

At the time I was taking a train home from a chess tournament (I got third place, by the way!). I had to take a combination of two buses and two trains in order to make it home, a grueling trip that took over four hours.

It didn’t help that I had a sinus infection and was feeling sick for a couple of weeks because of that. When I got home, well…let’s just say it was one of the worst nights of my life. I threw up about fifty times that night and could not help myself from crying and murmuring crazy things.

I was pretty much going crazy and feeling extremely sick. Luckily, I’m on an antibiotic and am feeling way better now.

How The Hunger Games Made me Sick

So why do I say that The Hunger Games made me sick?

It probably is an exaggeration. I may well have gotten sick without reading it. I do, however, that it weakened my mental strength as well as my immune system. It’s just such a negative and entrancing world. Terrifying creations of the Capitol, everyone in a horrible prison of a world. Misery and death wherever you look.

I don’t know if I’m describing it right, but I feel that when I open the pages of The Hunger Games, I’m reading a story from the worst part of the human psyche. Sure, I’m fine with dystopian books that show the evil of an oppressive government. But this is way too much.

What a Book Should Be…and what The Hunger Games Is

I think the main problem is that there is no purpose that I can see to the books. Books like 1984 are a little weird, sure, but the author has a clear purpose of what they want to convey. What I love so much about books is being able to convey my emotions in an understandable way. That is a form of perfection for me.

From what I understand, though, Collins had no clear message she wanted to teach the reader. The idea formed in her head to write the book and she wrote it…just that simple. But how does it grow to this gruesome of a scale?

Even if the Capitol does get overthrown in the last book (which I can pretty surely guess it does), and they are able to live in peace, that would still not bring a sense of relief to me. What kind of people should have to go through horrors so great as Katniss and other people in the districts? Why? And what does it mean right now?

If it had been just the first book, I could have done that. It wouldn’t have been my favorite by any means, but it would’ve been interesting to some degree. It would’ve been more than bearable for sure. But to add in another two books of misery is just way too much for me.

I know there has been and is misery in the world similar to one described in The Hunger Games. I know there is a dark part in all of us. I also know that there is no way that I as a writer would write a series like The Hunger Games in a million years.

I was trying to force myself to read the second book, and I could barely do it. I get a headache now just thinking about the books. I’m far from a perfectly happy person. I don’t struggle quite as much as I used to, but I still have all kinds of things stressing me. I don’t need for books to become one of them.

Books are for me a way to express my emotions, explore them, and feel better about them. The last thing I need is to read a book series that takes me to dark places and doesn’t take me out or help me cope. To be making me feel sick. While I was sick, I decided I would quit reading The Hunger Games. It is clearly not good for my health.

You’ve probably already read The Hunger Games. If so, I hope this was still an interesting perspective on the series. If you haven’t read it yet, well, I’d advise not to if you can handle the peer pressure. Part of me still wants to finish it some day, just to be able to say I did.

The more I think about reading it at some point, however, the more I don’t want to. The more I feel like I should lay this unhappy series to rest in my mind forever.

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