Ever World: Entertain the End

After everything that happened, the end of Ever World was a bit of a let down. Entertain the End itself was pretty good, but the very end seemed to come too soon. It was like the series should have kept going for a few more books.

Senna is dead, killed by April. And with her death, the group can no longer get home to the "real world." To make matters worse, they are fading; they have to choose: Ever World or the Old World. To David it's a no brainer; he is the first to disappear entirely. Christopher is now tied to Ever World because of Etain. And Jalil is free from his OCD. Only April is left wanting to go back. But even her conviction is waning.

With Senna dead, her army now has no leader. Like the group, they are trapped in Ever World. But they came prepared with heavy weapons and machine guns. They are a rogue force marauding the countryside. And the group is afraid they will join Ka Anor.

So they hatch a desperate plan to create the beginnings of a grand army to eliminate first one threat then the other. Etain's mother will gather the elves. Merlin will go find Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. The group will go to the Dwarves (who hate them because they destroyed their dam on the Nile and killed a few dwarves in the process) to make a deal: Etain's hand in marriage for the dwarves' help first in hiring fairy archers, and in tunneling into Hel's domain to free Thor and Baldur. Jalil sweetens the deal by offering to make the dwarves more technologically efficient. Of course, Hel won't be too happy with this, especially since the group escaped her before. Oh, and Christopher isn't happy with this plan either because he's in love with Etain.

April, David and Christopher succeed in freeing Thor and Baldur. But then Hel appears. April, like a lunatic, attacks Hel and is captured. Just when she believes she is doomed to be tortured by the death-goddess for eternity (and believes she deserves it for killing her half sister), Loki appears, accompanied by Merlin and Odin. The three demand that Hel release April, and then the four return to the dwarves. The book ends with a newspaper clipping, saying that the four kids have disappeared in the wake of Senna. So they all chose Ever World. But you don't get to find out what happened with the grand army. It's kind of a let down of an ending: while they succeed in their immediate goals, you don't get to know what happens in the end. I guess you have to use your own imagination to decide what happens.

So that's it. That's all of Ever World. Overall, the series is definitely worth reading. I really liked the characters (even if I wasn't very fond of some, like April, narrating). The group worked really well together, with their own strengths and weaknesses. It was a lot of fun to figure out what was going on in Ever World and how they were going to get out of the messes that seemed to spring up around them. I also loved how certain characters, like the Norse gods, kept recurring. Loki in particular was a great villain.

On the negative side, some of the things that happened (like the African adventure in Brave the Betrayal) didn't really fit and seemed to come out of nowhere. It was neat that Applegate used many varied religions and deities in the books, but some of the adventures, particularly near the end, seemed to be added on with no real reason or advantage to the plot. Both the African adventure and the Atlantis adventure fit this bill. They both just sort of happened to the group without fitting into the overarching plot. And what did happen in them could have come up in some other way. These adventures were like busy-work (like in the video game Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 2 where bandits or trolls or something attacks every single time you travel from one city to the other), detracting from the main story. The books that were really good, such as Mystify the Magician, dealt very explicitly with the main plot.

Ever World: Mystify the Magician

Wow. Mystify the Magician was fantastic! I didn't want to put it down, it was just so good!

Mystify the Magician starts off where Understand the Unknown leaves off: Christopher is being eaten by a giant. The gang has found themselves in Eire, where giants guard the coastline. After escaping the giant, they meet Etain, the daughter of the king. And for Christopher, it is love at first sight.

Eire is the most civilized land in Ever World. Etain's father rules Merlinshire, which has electricity and even a street car. But during their first night, the gang is awakened: the giant they encountered is dead. Dead by gunshot. To everyone's horror, they have discovered that Senna has brought people into Ever World; people with guns.

Using her army, she besieges the castle. But when the gang manages, through the real world, to stop her from bringing a mortar into Ever World, she changes the game by bewitching Christopher into opening the gate for her army. They take over the castle and leave Christopher for dead. Luckily he encounters Merlin to help him be the hero and stop Senna. But the bad news is that no man can kill her.

Oh, and for more bad news: Loki is here. And he brought Fenrir.

This really was a fantastic read. Hands down, this was the best book of the series. But you need to read everything that came before Mystify the Magician to really appreciate it.

Only one more to go!

Ever World: Understand the Unknown

This time around it's David narrating once again. After leaving Egypt, the group found a boat that would give them passage back to Greece. A little way into their journey, they realize they're being followed by a magical boat: Merlin. Merlin is after Senna, but not to use her like Loki wants, but to lock her up so no one can use her. Merlin is about to catch them when Neptune appears, upset that the wizard has used magic and in so doing challenged the God. Neptune then throws a hissy fit, sinking the two boats and sending all of the occupants into his city beneath the waves.

After escaping Neptune's wrath (and city), the group finds themselves in Atlantis, where they meet another man who has crossed over from the "real world" (the mayor of Atlantis). He tells them about the Great Scroll, which has all of the rules of how Ever World works written on it. Whoever has the scroll can rewrite the universe. Senna now wants it so she can seize power. April, Christopher and Jalil want it so they can go home. And David, unknown to the others, has a sneaking suspicion of where it is.

I'm approaching the end game of the Ever World series now. Understand the Unknown is book 10, meaning there are two to go. It was also the only book the library was missing from the series, so I'm going to donate it now that I've read it. Understand the Unknown wasn't the best of the bunch, but it was full of important revelations, making it a must-read.

Ever World: Inside the Illusion

After finishing Brave the Betrayal, the eighth book which was narrated by Jalil, I was expecting David to be the next narrator. But instead, Inside the Illusion is narrated by Senna. This is the first glimpse into Senna's mind, showing you what she's planning and how exactly she thinks. And truth be told, Senna is as cold-hearted as the others think she is. Her mother abandoned her when she was seven, a magical little girl left to learn by herself in Chicago's suburbs. Senna grew up knowing she was different, and rather than trying to fit in, she retained her differences, learning how to use her magic and more importantly how to use people.

After the gang's jaunt through Africa, they find themselves in Egypt. The Nile has been dammed by Dwarves. Sobek, God of Crocodiles, is trapped on one side of the dam, while Egypt is on the other. The group agree to smash through the dam and help him return home. Once in Egypt, they discover that the city has turned within itself. The gods and goddesses are practically dead, remaining almost asleep and immobile. And the city is now run by Amazons. And more importantly, Senna finds herself face to face with her mother, the woman she thought would be a powerful witch, but who turns out to be a self-centred, pathetic thing. Senna decides to use her mother as the gateway for the Coo-Hatch, but she neglected to think of what might happen if her mother refused. If her mother called Merlin....

Ever World: Brave the Betrayal

I have to admit that Brave the Betrayal was the weirdest Ever World book I have read. During a battle against the Hetwan, the gang heard a gun shot go off. Back in one of the earlier books they had traded a chemistry book to another alien race, the Coo-Hatch (pictured), in exchange for Coo-Hatch steel which can cut through anything (the Coo-Hatch outfitted their Swiss-Army knife with the steel, and the gang has jokingly called the blade Excalibur). While Excalibur gave them protection, the chemistry book gave the Coo-Hatch gun-powder. And now they are threatening to use the gun-powder against the Gods unless the Gods can send them home.

And so it falls to the gang to fix the mess they made. According to Senna, her mother is the only witch powerful enough to open a gateway to send the Coo-Hatch home. But her mother is in Egypt, serving Isis. So they must go find her and convince her to help.

The only problem is that Egypt lies through some "lands that are very strange," as Athena says. And indeed they are. After leaving Greece, the gang finds themselves in sub-Saharan Africa. They encounter Eshu, one of the Orisha, a messenger for the higher gods. He tells the gang repeatedly that they must make a sacrifice to the gods, but the gang refuses. April is Catholic and refuses to respect a false god. And Jalil (who is the narrator) is an athesist who refuses to change his belief because he is told to. Senna, who is with them, becomes livid that they refuse, and with good reason: all five of them get dragged into this weird upside-down world that is like an underworld of Ever World. And so they have to find a way back to the "real" Ever World. And all the while Jalil finds his refusal to make the sacrifice turning into a personal battle of wills with Eshu.

I have to admit, the only Gods that I sort of know that come from Africa are the ancient Egyptian gods. While I have heard of the Orisha before, I do not know what they are like. So I found this whole adventure to be extremely confusing.

But on the plus side, it had Vikings. The gang meets up with their old friend, Thorolf, the Viking they stayed with in Search for Senna.

Ever World: Gateway to the Gods

I have finally started reading the Ever World books I got from the library! The first one is of course Gateway to the Gods which is narrated by April. The group managed to save Dionysus (but they were unable to save Ganymede) from the Hetwan and have made it to Olympus. Christopher, as promised, is offered immortality (although he turns it down because he feels he owes Ganymede a debt which cannot be repaid). The rest are promised immortality should they defeat the Hetwan who are even now surrounding Olympus. And so David jumps up to the task, becoming the general like Senna had predicted back in Search for Senna. The problem the Greeks face is multiple: the Hetwan greatly outnumber them and they have no central figure to rally around. They're also fighting war without the centuries of innovations the real world has experienced. So David is able to bring his knowlege of the 21st century in to help the Greeks succeed and save Olympus (and more importantly their gods) from the Hetwan.

Ever World: Fear the Fantastic

Well, here I am, half way through the Ever World series. This time around it's Christopher narrating. The gang had just escaped Fairy Land (well, left Fairy Land and will probably never be able to return after they brought Nidhoggr, who had destroyed parts of the Goblin Market). And then they stumbled into Hetwan country. Welcome to Ever World. The geography has been rather messed up from the get-go as they went from Viking lands to Aztec lands with only a day of travel. But now they're in the alien Hetwan lands, which is one of the last places they want to be.

Not long into their journey in enemy territory, they get caught and brought to join the revels of Dionysus, the Greek God of Wine. He's being brought to Ka Anor, the god of the Hetwan who eats other gods. After promising Christopher immortality, Christopher and the others agree to help Dionysus escape and return to Olympus. The only problem: Mount Olympus lies on the other side of the Hetwan lands. To get there, the group will have to pass right through the Hetwan's city, which is the stronghold of Ka Anor. And while they have a god on their side this time, Dionysus can't do much more than throw a party.

Yet again, Fear the Fantastic was a good read. I can't wait to start Gateway to the Gods, which is also the first Ever World book that I got from the library.

Ever World: Discover the Destroyer

This time it's fairies. At the end of Realm of the Reaper, the group stumbled on Nidhoggr, the dragon who lives rather close to Hel's underworld domain. They have agreed to help him recover four treasures which were stolen from him by Leprechauns. But to ensure that they return with the treasures, he replaces their hearts with rubies (except Senna's. It's later revealed that her heart is too hard, and the dragon is too cheap to use a diamond); after six days the rubies will explode in liquid fire, killing them.

And so they find themselves in a Goblin-style Market with the very capitalist Fair Folk. After mentioning Nidhoggr, they then find themselves in the Fairy Castle. So everyone else can get away, Senna claims her half-sister April is the witch, which the Fair Folk and their resident Hetwan believe. But Jalil comes up with a very capitalist plan (introduce the Fair Folk to the telegraph) in an attempt to raise money to buy the treasures and free April. But in case that doesn't work, David heads back to Nidhoggr, having figured out how the dragon can fly in and simply get his stuff back (and April).

Discover the Destroyer had a very different feel from most of the other books (Realm of the Reaper in particular). It was a bit ludicrous, but all in all rather light-hearted and fun.

Ever World: Realm of the Reaper

Realm of the Reaper. This time it's Jalil's turn to narrate. And this time the group heads straight back into Norse mythology. After wandering in the woods, they find themselves in "Her City," guarded by eunuchs. The eunuchs keep everyone (almost entirely good looking men) inside of the city so they cannot escape her. The "her" everyone is talking about is Loki's daughter, Hel, goddess of the underworld, half beautiful woman and half corpse (also pictured on the cover). It seems she has her way with her chosen man/men and then submits them to eternal torments in the underworld. And this time around it's Jalil, David and Christopher she wants because they're from the "Real World."

Realm of the Reaper was also a great learning point. It gives some insight into exactly why Jalil is present. Where April is her half-sister, Christopher her ex and David her current boyfriend, Jalil didn't really fit with them. But Senna specifically chose him to be there. And for all of his outward appearances, in the "Real World" he fights OCD.

In a series that can be rather creepy and gruesome, Realm of the Reaper was probably the creepiest. But it was still a really good read. Now I can't wait for Discover the Destroyer (which is once again narrated by David).

Ever World: Enter the Enchanted

I guess I'm still quite interested in Ever World as I just powered through book 3! This time around it was April, Senna's half-sister, who was narrating. And they had a run-in with Merlin and some of the knights of the round table (Galahad, Gawain, Perceval, Gareth and Kay in particular). In the spirit of Sarah Zettel's Camelot series, I found Enter the Enchanted to be quite a good read, especially since it gave a new look at many of the people I enjoyed from Zettel's series.

This time around, the gang has found Senna. But they are attacked by a dragon, which is sent off by Sir Galahad. They find themselves the guests of the knight at one of his castles. Unfortunately, they are not the only guests as Loki has also shown up, demanding Senna.

Enter the Enchanted had a lot more adventure than Land of Loss. Rather than wandering around lost, this time around the gang seemed to make more decisions for themselves. And while my favourite narrator is still David, April was a lot better than Christopher. So I guess that means Jalil will be next in Realm of the Reaper.

Ever World: Land of Loss

Well, my suspicions were correct: Ever World is a lot like Animorphs. Not the subject matter or anything. But the whole idea that it's a group of teenagers. And every book is narrated by a different one.

Land of Loss picks up right where Search for Senna leaves off: the vikings are battling the Aztecs (although now you get Christopher's narration rather than David's. If you're familiar with Animorphs, Christopher is rather similar to Marco). And all I can say is that these are the luckiest kids ever. They not only survive Loki's keep in Search for Senna, but now they have to deal with their team (aka the Vikings)losing to the Aztecs. And yes, they somehow survive. But now they are left wandering in the jungle outside of New Tenochtitlan (the Aztec city). They encounter some alien people (the Coo-Hatch) who have also been brought into this world; unfortunately, the Coo-Hatch have been here for 100 years and have yet to find a way home. And so their story continues as they try to survive in Ever World.

While Land of Loss had a different feel from Search for Senna, I still found it hard to put down (although I much preferred the narration of David over Christopher).

Ever World: Search for Senna

School is over, leaving me free to read whatever I want now. I was originally going to read something like Mogworld by Yahtzee Crowshaw, but in the end I decided to go with the first Ever World book. I apologize for the spoilers that will inevitable happen as I review all twelve books.

Ever World came out around the time when K.A. Applegate was also working on Animorphs. I was really into the Animorph books, so I was interested in reading something else by the same author. For reasons I don't remember anymore, I just never picked these books up at that time (probably because I was already into one indefinitely long series and didn't want to get into another one at the same time). So a year or two ago, I found the first six books for sale at a used book store. It was a really good deal, and I thought that might be all of them. Unfortunately, when I got home I realized that this was only the first six of twelve books. But with the help of the library and a local used-book store (the Bookshelf) for the 10th book which the library was missing, I was able to get a hold of all of them; I'm going to read them all one after the other (as long as I stay interested in them).

Search for Senna opened with a bunch of teenagers sort of fighting in a parking lot. I was intrigued with some of the stuff that was going on (it was a fight over a girl between two guys), but I wasn't sure that I cared enough to keep reading. But I soldiered on, and am extremely glad to have done so! Not long after the fight, this group of teenagers gets transported into Ever World when Fenrir, the wolf from Norse mythology, kidnaps Senna. The rest of the group finds themselves prisoners of Loki. They escape and find themselves in a viking village and later heading off to war. Meanwhile they have no idea where Senna is, and everytime they fall asleep they find themselves awake in the "real world."

After all of my viking reading late last year, how could I not be intrigued by this? I even knew more about some of the stuff that happened than the know-it-all smart kid Jalil (of course the giant snake is Loki's son - it's the world serpent!) I honestly think I'm enjoying Ever World more now (thanks to my readings of the Eddas) than I would have back then! Ever World is off to a great start and I hope it keeps my interest through all twelve books!