Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)
They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover and I try not to but the cover is the first thing you see when you read a book. I actually saw the third book first. The cover was very intriguing. Once I found out that it was the third in the series I ordered the other two to read. Now if I would have run across this first book first I may not have read it. I know, I know I sound like a book snob. But in my defense there is a huge bird with a man riding on it. It just looks weird. Even though the cover may not pull me in I do read the book jacket to see what the books is about but I like when the cover is really cool. Anyway on to the story.
The first book in the series is "So This Is How It Ends." What would you do if one second the world was fine and the next everyone one was gone but you? I'm not sure either but for Gus, Venus, Kali, and Tigre they are about to find out. The year is 2012 and everything seems like it should be. Kali is in New York on the subway when it happens. She closed her eyes for only a second and when she wakes up everyone is gone. Stepping off the subway she notices graffiti with phrases like "The End has Come" and strange fish drawings. Then suddenly water comes out from nowhere. Gus (tech guy) and Venus (pop star) are in Los Angeles on a sound stage when an earthquake hits. The get safely outside to discover that area has changed and there is a statue of Venus claiming she died. Tigre is in Chile and wakes up to find animals that are grotesque and a huge beautiful bird that can communicate with him. The world is nothing like it should be. All humans seem to be gone and there are these huge crystal creatures that are terrifying. As the four teenagers try to find out what happened they are hearing voices telling them to go in a certain direction. In this book you get to know the characters quite a bit and you are as confused as they are because you have know idea what is going on and you don't really find out until the end of the book and all you want to do is start reading the next book right away.
Book two is called "Shadow Falling." You learn from the first book that the Gods, as in the Roman/Greek, Egyptian, Norse, Incan, and other Gods are behind why the people disappeared and the voices in the teenagers heads. Six pantheons each choose one of there Gods to be reborn as a human child. Now each human/God must fight each other to the death so they can claim the other's powers and see who will be the ultimate ruler of all the Gods. Kali is the Indian Goddess of destruction and her husband Shiva is her trainer for this game the Gods are playing. Kali is not happy with Shiva because he entered her into this contest against her will. Venus, who's real name is Diana, has two Goddess's in her. She is from the Roman/Greek pantheon and was born Diana Goddess of the hunt but then at age 13 had Venus Goddess of love shoved into her as well. Her pantheon made a deal with the Egyptians that if they played nice Amon could win and have Venus as his prize. Gus was actually a normal teenager but had Oro the Polynesian God of war thrust into him when the earthquake happened. Tigre is the Incan Storm God and his real name is Catequil. Then there is Thor, as in the God Thor of the Norse pantheon. Anna and Ereka that show up at different times looking exactly a like with the same memories but no memories of each other and they don't know what Pantheon they are from. In this book the games begin but for Tigre, Kali, Diana/Venus, Gus, and Thor they don't want to play by the rules.
Book Three is called "Kingdom of Twilight." Diana has been stabbed by Anna who is the Sumerian Goddess of love. Diana is alive but barely and she finds herself in the underworld. Meanwhile her body along with Kali, Tigre, and Gus are on a viking ship to Africa. Africa is neutral in this game. The African Gods wanted to be left alone in Africa. Once they get to Africa Gus heads to the underworld to help bring Diana back and Kali and Tigre try and find the African trickster God Eshu. He knows something about the game and about getting them back to 2o12. I don't want to ruin the ending but keep in mind they have been playing a game and they are being played. I loved all the mythology running around in the this book but Ms. Sutherland did a great job with keeping them all straight and it wasn't confusing. With all the Gods that were present I could see how these books could get confusing. I loved these books and I'm glad that I didn't let the cover stop me from reading the first book or I would have missed out on something great and fun to read.
