When The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis first came out all the way back in early 2009, I was stoked. I had already read the first two books in The 39 Clues series, the last one being One False Note by Gordon Korman, and the series was progressing along well. Great story, great mystery, and great characters. What more could you want?
The 39 Clues is a multi-author series written by super popular, bestselling authors about orphans named Amy and Dan Cahill. When their grandmother Grace dies, they learn they are members of the most powerful family in human history. The source of their families power is scattered throughout the world in the form of thirty-nine different clues. Whoever finds all the clues will become the most powerful person in history.
Amy and Dan, of course, are not the only ones who want the prize. Their treacherous, back-stabbing relatives will do anything possible to find the clues first.
As with all books in The 39 Clues series, I finished The Sword Thief the very day I got it. Although it was an interesting book and moved the plot along, I remember not being very satisfied with the book.
Summary
At the end of One False Note, Amy and Dan find samurai swords by the location of the clue. They take the hint and head off to Japan. Before they are able to get there, however, their cousins, Ian and Natalie Kabra, manage to trick them and leave them stranded in the airport.
After that, Alistair Oh offers to help Amy and Dan and create an alliance. After all, Alistair has resources in Seoul, Korea, and he has wisdom and age. Amy and Dan do not fully trust him, but they agree to work together for the time being.
Amy, Dan, and Alastair realize that the clue is hidden in the history of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a great Japanese warrior and son of Thomas Cahill, the founder of the Tomas branch.
The Holt family, however, are also hot after the clue and manage to trap them in a subway. It looks as though it’s about to curtains for the Cahill kids, but Alastair rescues them before they end up being hit by a train. We get to see the human side of the Holt kids as they balk at the idea of killing Dan and Amy.
Unfortunately, the three of them accidentally go into the abode of sword-wielding Yakuza, or Japanese warriors. Nellie, their au pair, is able to save them, along with Ian and Natalie Kabra. Amy, Dan, and Alastair agree to form an alliance with Ian and Natalie. The reason for that is partly because Amy has sort of a crush on Ian, and Ian is acting as though it’s reciprocal.
The clues point to Korea, and the six of them go to Alastair’s house. We learn more about the Ekaterina branch and about Bae Oh, Alastair’s uncle and leader of the Ekaterina branch. After Alastair’s dad died, he lived miserable years under his uncle. On the plane ride to Korea, however, he learns for the first time that Bae Oh arranged for Alastair’s father to be murdered.
At Alastair’s house, he shares some of his own information with the others. We learn a lot more about the clue hunt, specifically that the thirty-nine clues are thirty-nine elements that when mixed together will create a sort of philosopher’s stone. They travel to the mountain Pukhansan, and Dan tricks the others regarding the location of the clue.
The end is an interesting and treacherous tale, where we learn the true intentions of Amy and Dan’s relatives. Will Ian and Natalie steal the clue, or will Amy and Dan outsmart them once again? More importantly, will Alastair Oh survive?
Review
Like I said before, I consider this to be one of the weakest books in the series. Although Gordon Korman talked about how he used The Maze of Bones as his bible in writing One False Note, Peter Lerangis clearly did not do the same. The book is written in a very different style from the rest of the series. The other books are written in an exciting, detached, and realistic way. This book is much more relaxed, the tone is more informal, and it is not nearly as action-packed. Plus, it is kind of difficult to understand. As a result, the book loses some of its educational value and I don’t remember any of the historical information, very different from the author books.
Although some of my friends who were reading the series at the time told me that they liked the break from the action, all of them stopped reading after this book. None of my friends who started the series actually read the fourth book. Plus, books one and two were both #1 on the bestseller list for a long time. This book was on the bestseller list, but did not hit number one. None of the subsequent books in the series did, either.
There are some good parts to the way Lerangis writes, though. He introduces a possible romance between Ian and Amy that has continued throughout the series to the current books with different boyfriends and hints of crushes. This was the subject most frequently discussed among clue hunters during the Cahills vs. Vespers arc, and was in my view a valuable addition to the series.
This book has some good information about the clue hunt that moves the story along, so it’s a must for dedicated clue hunters going back through the early books to read. Overall, however, the writing is not nearly as good as in the rest of the series and on its own I would not recommend it.
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