Nick J > Recent Status Updates

1 hour 30 minutes:
Alyss and Evelyn have always partially disliked each other. But now is the first time that they are actually doing something together, and they started hating each other even more. I think this conflict will go on for some time, and, later on it might even lead to something really bad happening just because of them fighting.

1 hour 20 minutes:
Evelyn said that she had come to Toscana on a Skandian ship. The moment I heard 'Skandian', I predicted that Gundar Hardstriker would be on the ship. I predicted this because the author always repeats characters; Selethen, Malcolm, Erak, and other friends of Will have appeared again in later books. So it would only be logical for Gundar to be Skirl of this Skandian ship.

1 hour 15 minutes

2 hours:
The moment Horace mentioned that they were traveling close to Macindaw (this was a long time ago), I knew that, sooner or later, they would have to get help there. And now, Halt has been poisoned and Will is going to Macindaw to get help from Malcolm the healer.

1 hour:
Once Halt and Will realize that the Genovesans have set a false trail and are going to ambush them, there is a lot of suspense. They are constantly checking on all sides to find the Genovesans. Then Halt and Will are planning and wondering if they should have gone after the Genovesans in the first place. And finally, Will hears Halt scream, his bow dropping on the ground.

2 hours 15 minutes:
I noticed that, before Horace battles Tennyson's two guards, the author builds up a lot of tension and suspense. Both Will and Horace are very nervous - especially Will, who is desperately trying to find something to do to get his mind off the coming battle. Also, this part before the battle is very long, as if to make the readers feel it pass slowly, just like the characters are feeling.

45 minutes:
Horace is trying to make people believe that he is the legendary 'Sunrise Warrior' in order to make Tennyson lose followers and be forced to fight Horace. This reminds me of Icebound Lands, where Horace became the 'Oakleaf Knight' by challenging all the corrupt knights that make people pay just to cross the bridge they guard. Because of his reputation, the lord in that city had to challenged him.

15 minutes:
Goals for this week:
Finish The King's of Clonmel by Thursday and read to about 30% of the next book (Halt's Peril) by Sunday.

1 hour:
Tennyson gave his speech and then '80 bandits' attack the village and Tennyson 'beat' them. Earlier, Halt was talking about the Outsiders' plans. They would persuade the village to follow them by faking an attack and defending the village. Then they would tell the villagers to give them gold as tribute to Alseiass. Finally they would run away, with the gold. This attack was the first part of their plan.

3 hours 35 minutes:
The author sets the mood very well. These villages Halt, Will, and Horace are passing all have rusty, old, dull, and unkept buildings. The people are unfriendly, scared and constantly suspicious and most are armed weapons. Something is obviously wrong in the country.

4 hours 30 minutes:
In previous books, Will was a fairly happy, fun boy. In this book he seems to not have a sense of humor. He rarely smiles and is short tempered. He constantly gets annoyed at Horace too. I wonder why.....

4 hours 30 minutes:
In previous books, Will was a fairly happy, fun boy. In this book he seems to not have a sense of humor. He rarely smiles and is short tempered. He constantly gets annoyed at Horace too. I wonder why.....

4 hours:
Earlier, I predicted that Orman was the antagonist (the sorcerer who poisoned his dad) and Keren was the protagonist. I was totally wrong! Orman turned out to be reading ancient books and scrolls about black magic because he was trying to save his dad from Keren's poison. And Keren was actually semi-secretly recruiting criminals and bandits to form a small army and take over Castle Macindaw.

1 hour:
Today I noticed a text to self connection. Will was singing this song:
Graybeard Halt is a fighting man,
I've heard common talk,
Greybeard Halt he cuts his hair,
with a carving knife and fork
and so on. In the book, the song is called Old Joe Smoke, which sounds just like Old Joe Clark, a song that I sang in choir. i tried to sing this song with the Old Joe Clark melody, and it worked!

25 minutes:
The whole book is building up tension for the final moment - but the ending is kind of anti-climactic. Charles, the antagonist, is eliminated from the game. Now Kyle and his team are just racing against time, so you know they will win. Also, at the end the passage opens up for them, instead of (this is just an example) something like a riddle they have to solve to find the exit by themselves.

2 hours 20 minutes:
At first I thought it was kind of weird that the POV kept changing. But now I realize how much worse it would've been only with Kyle's POV. You wouldn't know what the others are up to and there wouldn't be any suspense. Also, it would seem as if Kyle and his team were the only competitors. Competing against... no one. There would be nothing to make the reader interested in reading the book.

1 hour:
Kyle and Akimi are constantly helping others out when needed, even though it just slows them down with their main goal: escaping. Charles calls everyone a loser and is a show-off. But in front of adults, he acts super nice. Andrew seems fine until he starts saying bad things about Mr. Lemoncello. Miguel seems nice and is semi working with Kyle, Akimi and Sierra. These actions say a lot about the characters.

20 minutes
The security just locked the huge front door of the library - and the kids are inside. Also, there are no windows, so now there is no way out. Even though Dr. Z and some other staff are inside, it can't be good.

25 minutes:
I noticed that the 'voices' of most of the characters are very similar. Everyone is funny. This is Rick Riordan's writing style, but sometimes it's better to have their voices different. Sam and Alex are almost identical. Both girls are tough and kind of boyish. They are so similar that I got confused and though Sam was talking when Alex was.

35 minutes:
The giant, Utgard-Loki once challenged Thor to drink mead from a horn. But what Thor didn't know was that the horn was actually connected to the ocean. Water from the Ocean kept filling the horn so that Thor couldn't empty it. Another book that I read (Story of the World - Ancient Times) also has a very similar story.

45 minutes:
I noticed that there was mystery right from the beginning - and there was a lot of it. Where are Hearth and Blitz? Who was the person who killed Otis? Who is Sam's "brother"? Why is his room the same as Magnus'? Why does Randolph have the strange mark on his cheek? I could just keep listing all the questions.

2 hours 15 minutes:
The ending is just like the ending of book 1; in both books, Will gets the choice of being something other than a ranger but he says no. The ending of this book is great, except for this part, which kind of ruins it and makes it feel cheesy. The author should have changed it - the king could've given something else to Will.

1 hour 15 minutes:
The Temujai are just like the Mongols; both are from the Steppe and both are horse riders who use bows. Even the Shan, who is their leader, is like the Khan, leader of the Mongols. I feel like the author overdid it a bit. None of the geography is original. This world is just like our world in the Middle Ages, except for different country names (but even the names are very similar).

2 hours 45 minutes:
The government reminds me of England during the Middle Age. At that time, everyone had to pay tax to someone higher; the farmers to their landlord, landlord to dukes, dukes to the king. A similar thing is happening in the book. Intact, I search up a map, and Scandia is where Scandinavia is, Gallica is around where France is, so it's obviously based on some things from the past.

The beginning of this book remind me a lot of Narnia 3: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Both books (so far) are about a journey on the seas. However, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader was only about that journey (and therefore very boring!) while this book has Halt's point of view too, and is more about saving Will and Cassandra from the Scandians.

When Horace's sword snapped and he brought out his dagger, I knew exactly what he would do right before it happened. I remembered his training with Gilan and knew that he would use his broken sword as if it was a Saxe Knife and the dagger to help the sword. But I also knew that Morgarath couldn't die; there were ten more books! And sure enough, althought it wasn't clear, Horace thought that Morgarath had escaped.

1:35 hours read:
The part where Will put something around the tip of his bow and lit it on fire reminded me of a movie that I watched where a group of soldiers each lit the cloth wrapped around the arrow tip on fire, then shot the burning arrow at the enemies. My dad also told me about a war where one side did something like that too.

The Solitary Plain sets a very desolate mood. It's completely empty; no life, only rocks and grass, going on for hundreds of miles. The Stone Flute makes the mood even more creepy.
"He felt small and insignificant against the emptiness of the Plain."
"It wan an unmelodic series of musical notes, all being played at once but creating a harsh, discordant sound that jangled his nerves and unsettled his mind."