Mark > Recent Status Updates

Although this is the first book of the series I've read, and this is the 4th book, it's easy for me to guess that the "Gone" series is a series of books where with each book, the quality degrades a little. This book is filled with cliches, starting with the brotherhood rivalry between Sam and Caine. Not to mention, there are so many characters in the book, it's hard to keep track of who's who.

I find it interesting that the book is set in time where all adults have allegedly ceased to exist. I find it interesting because it's an interesting prospect to contemplate. Personally, I believe society would fail to function. Perhaps that's the reason for all the chaos. Also, I think it's safe to conclude this book is rather dark and gory.

Interesting beginning. I'm looking forward to the book's revisiting of what really happened and what it was about.

It seems the book has approached an unfortunate and quick turn of events. The situation quickly deteriorated. For me, it becomes more and more clear that instead of a traditional storyline, this book follows the main character as he falls into deep and grave danger, and tries to get out of it instead of some dramatic climax where he makes a choice in more traditional stories.

Now that I'm around the middle of the book, I would like to point out that I have found this story to follow a more unconventional story structure. It is made up of multiple complcations, that result from an underlying problem instead of having one big issue. Yes, there is still a large cause for trouble in the book, it's just this problem is addressed seperately and does not seem to be leading to a dramitic climax.

I have noticed that the book has begin to introduce a number of new characters. Sometimes, I find it hard to keep track of and makes the book harder to understand. However, there was a character list in the beginning of the book that helps, perhaps it was created for this specific reason.

I like how this book seems to take place over a longer period of time.

I like how the large-scale conflict of the book is developed. The rising action leading to an inner conflict within the US in the story was smooth and logical. However, it seems like the end of the book maybe focussed more on the character's smaller scale problem. To be bluntly honest, this is a little disappointing for me, as the author took so much effort in building up such a great plot conflict.

There was a mini climax since the last time I read. Surprisingly, it came during one of the side stories that accompany the main story. I'm beginning to think it's quite smart of the author to incorporate some side stories. At times, this helps keeps things interesting since major plot events unexpectedly show up during some of these side stories. I'm happy I stuck with this book.

I've realized that the plot of the book goes up and down. Unlike the traditional plot setup, which climaxes at one point, this book has a series of "mini-climaxes". This can be good as there is really never one point in the book where there is no action. But this also means that there are many side-stories, and the buildup to the climaxes are less intense.

The main character in the book starts a conflict with himself. He doesn't know what to follow, the orders he is given, or his own beliefs. Although he is not able to decide which is best for him, his dilemma is quite clear. I think this addition of another conflict helps make the book more meaningful, accompanying the obvious political conflict in the book. It helps the reader relate and sympathize with the character

I'm glad to say that I've developed a good interest in this book. I notice that the story has focused on the main character and a few others. This makes the book much more easy to understand and interesting. I've noticed a few hints of foreshadow that the author has used. I'm suspecting the main conflict to progress further soon. Trouble is on it's way!