Gregor the Overlander (The Underland Chronicles: Book One)

published	2005 by Scholastic
first published	2003
binding	Mass Market Paperback
isbn	043977134X (isbn13: 9780439771344)
pages	311
description	When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches ...more [close] When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever. [close]
date added	03-06-07 edit book

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Becky rated it:

(review of isbn 0439435374)

02/24/08

Read in February, 2008

recommended to Becky by: Riley B.
recommends it for: 4th grade and up, fans of City of Ember

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This book was a lot like "The Golden Compass" for me, in that I couldn't seem to get through the first few chapters for many months, but once I broke through, I read it nonstop.

Riley at Genoa insisted that I read this when I said I liked how Ananka in "Kiki Strike" falls into another world, much like Alice in Wonderland. I was relieved to read that Suzanne Collins thought about Wonderland as well, and "how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who live in urban sur...more This book was a lot like "The Golden Compass" for me, in that I couldn't seem to get through the first few chapters for many months, but once I broke through, I read it nonstop.

Riley at Genoa insisted that I read this when I said I liked how Ananka in "Kiki Strike" falls into another world, much like Alice in Wonderland. I was relieved to read that Suzanne Collins thought about Wonderland as well, and "how pastoral the setting must seem to kids who live in urban surroundings." Gregor becomes an urban Alice when he falls (with his baby sister, Boots) down a grate behind the dryer in his laundry room and finds himself in the Underland. Here, humans have adapted with very little light, living in various states of harmony and war with oversize bats, cockroaches, spiders, and (all together now) evil rats. [Someone should do a comparison study: in the anthropomorphizing of animals in literature, who is ahead in terms of representing evil: rats or snakes?]

Gregor finds himself the unwilling subject of a prophecy that names him the long-awaited warrior who will join the different creatures and go on a quest to save the human city of Regalia.

I give Gregor four stars, but for underground stories, I prefer City of Ember, and for quest stories, I prefer The Lightning Thief. However, fans of either of those series, or even kids wanting something more "urban" than Wonderland or Oz, Gregor is perfect. Older readers would like Gaiman's "Neverwhere." As it says in the bonus "Create your own Underland" section....."Choose your rabbit hole."

Favorite quotes:

"Gregor could never hate people very long because he always ended up finding out something sad about them that he had to factor in."

"'Most rats read. Our frustration is, we can't hold a pen to write.'"

"'Mutual need is a strong bond. Stronger than friendship, stronger than love.'"

"Wasn't Luxa's strategy just an extreme form of his own rule? True, he didn't think about dying every day, but he denied himself the luxury of thinking about the future with or without his dad. If he hadn't fallen through the grate in his laundry room and discovered his dad was still alive, if his dad had never come home, how long would he have gone on refusing to be happy? His whole life?"

"Gregor had thought he would get a parent back when he found his dad. Then he could stop having to make hard decisions. He could just be a kid again. But the man before him was even needier than Boots was."...less

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Carter rated it:

07/07/08

bookshelves: children-s, fantasy

Read in July, 2008

After reading The Hunger Games (due out in the fall), I wanted to read everything else Collins has written. I'm guessing that once The Hunger Games is published, many out there will do the same. While audience, plot, and tone seem to be entirely different than her newest series, Gregor the Overlander is a fantastic read and shows how masterful Collins is at world-building.

When eleven year-old Gregor follows his two year...more After reading The Hunger Games (due out in the fall), I wanted to read everything else Collins has written. I'm guessing that once The Hunger Games is published, many out there will do the same. While audience, plot, and tone seem to be entirely different than her newest series, Gregor the Overlander is a fantastic read and shows how masterful Collins is at world-building.

When eleven year-old Gregor follows his two year-old sister, Boots, down a storm drain in his New York City apartment, he enters a world deep, deep underground. There are giant spiders, cockroaches two feet tall, rats as tall as basketball players, bats large enough for humans to fly on... and they all talk. Almost right upon his arrival to this dangerous new world, Gregor is identified as the possible warrior foretold in a nearly 400 year-old prophecy. But none of this matters to Gregor. His only concern is to protect his sister, escape the Underworld, and rescue his father who's been missing for the past two years. But without the help of all the giant creepy crawlies, Gregor has little chance of survival. Thus begins the quest that intertwines the fate of the Underworld and the survival of Gregor and his sister and father.

While Gregor seems a little more mature and able than I imagine an eleven year-old to be, this can be forgiven as he's forced to mature early so he can help take care of his family. I found him to extremely thoughtful and fair. He has in him the qualities that would make a great leader. He's quick on his feet, passionate and loyal to his family, honest, and proves himself to be brave at each opportunity.

Boots certainly is the sweetest of characters in this book. She seems to have her own special strength and abilities within her. There's a line in the book that says she never met a stranger that rings true. She seems to be one of those characters that if you were to meet in real life, you'd pledge yourself to their safety and well-being.

Perhaps one of my favorite characters is Ripred. He is the turn-coat rat that helps Gregor on his quest. What I particularly enjoy about him is he has this villainous quality about him, but he is most definitely a hero.

Gregor the Overlander is an easy recommendation. The book is well-written and the plot just sails you through to the end. And thankfully, all of the books in the Underland Chronicles are available. Go get some....less

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Justin rated it:

(review of isbn 0439678137)

10/16/07

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone!

The Underland Chronicles consist of five books whose purpose is to entertain you in the most unimaginable way. An eleven-year-old is a normal kid with normal family issuses until that fateful day when Gregor is sucked from his lawndry room and hurled into the Underland, an amazing world under the very streets of New York City. His role in the Overland is to attend school, look after Boots, his two-year-old sister, and keep yet another watchful eye on his grandma and Lizzie. To help keep the bala...more The Underland Chronicles consist of five books whose purpose is to entertain you in the most unimaginable way. An eleven-year-old is a normal kid with normal family issuses until that fateful day when Gregor is sucked from his lawndry room and hurled into the Underland, an amazing world under the very streets of New York City. His role in the Overland is to attend school, look after Boots, his two-year-old sister, and keep yet another watchful eye on his grandma and Lizzie. To help keep the balance in their life is his mom. Without her nothing would make sense.
But in the Underland, he has a destiny to fulfil. Gregor the Overland Warrior must evade the rats and an array of other oversized, everyday creatures. The Warrior is mentioned in propehcies within a chamber in the Regalian city, the only city of humans. Sandwich, the hero who brought the Regalians to live in the Underland, was able to see into the future, and it was he who wrote the prophecies upon the chamber walls. All anyone knows is that the Warrior is of the Overland and that he would be the one to save them from a terrible fate, a fate to be decided by the rats.
Gregor denys many times throughout the book that he is the Warrior, but in the end, he's proven wrong by the mysterious prophecy of Sandwich. To be the Warrior means to give himself over to a world to a world in which he does not truly belong. He hates the Underlanders for dragging him into a life-threatning journey miles below the surface of the city.
Though he hates the Underlanders for all their worth, Gregor grows on the large variety of people ... and creatures. He must travel, as it is in the prophecy, with two gnawers (rats), spinners (spiders), crawlers (cockroaches), and a group of humans. The Warrior meets Luxa, queen-to-be, Henry, trusted cousin of Luxa, and, of course, Vikus, teacher of Luxa. Or is he?...
This is a violent, fantastical, and amazing read which I recommend to all! There's your eleven-year-old boy, violent and descriptive battle scenes, and a character we can all relate with, be it Luxa, Gregor, or even Vikus. The library is right down the street. Go and read this book!...less

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