Predator’s Gold by Philip Reeve

Challenge #2 ~ “A book by an author whose name doesn’t contain the letters A, T or Y.”

predatorsgold

★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

My opinion in three sentences:

It’s hard to say if this book truly succumbed to sequel syndrome, but it certainly slipped towards it many times. Yet, Reeve continued with some fantastic world-building and an entertaining, twisting and inventive plotline that did give the book a real firm foundation. Nevertheless, the romantic side elements, which came to the fore as the book developed, added little, slowed the momentum and lessened my interest in reading on.

(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:

Let it be known that Predator’s Gold certainly has its own, unique plotline (and a rather entertaining one, too, with mad professors, armies of young thieves, and a good pun or two)! Standing alone, yet connected, to its prequel, Reeve deftly handles the balance of a sequel, aided, I’ll admit, by the fact that over 90% of the cast of book one have long since been killed off! Nevertheless, whether as a veteran or new-to-the-series reader, the story is accessible, enjoyable and, most importantly, rather well written.

A warning for the book:

Why does every series seem to go in for the love triangle angle at some point? And when doing so, why are the female characters always driven to rash actions in the name of love? It’s a frustrating state of affairs, and one (sadly) this series falls into on only book two! I’m still interested enough to read book three, which admittedly is quite a feat, but that ending, well, let’s just say the rest of the series is looking less and less appealing with every page.

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