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Everworld #2
Land of Loss
There is a place that shouldn’t exist. But does. And there are creatures that shouldn’t exist. But do. Welcome to a land where all of your dreams and nightmares are very real—and often deadly. Welcome to Everworld.
David, Jalil, April, and Christopher have been pulled into a world that defies everything they once believed. Wolves the size of elephants, beings who consider themselves immortals, mythological gods. Nothing is like what they’re used to. And it doesn’t look like they're going to find a permanent way home anytime soon.
It all started with Senna. Now she’s missing. David and all the others don’t know if she’s in Everworld. They don’t even know if she’s alive. Alive…in the human sense…
David, Jalil, April, and Christopher have been pulled into a world that defies everything they once believed. Wolves the size of elephants, beings who consider themselves immortals, mythological gods. Nothing is like what they’re used to. And it doesn’t look like they're going to find a permanent way home anytime soon.
It all started with Senna. Now she’s missing. David and all the others don’t know if she’s in Everworld. They don’t even know if she’s alive. Alive…in the human sense…
185 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
K.A. Applegate
261 books387 followersalso published under the name Katherine Applegate
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 136 reviews
January 12, 2016
Their adventures continue, this time foraying into Aztec mythology and human sacrifice -- to be honest, the images from this book branded themselves into my memory as a shaken lil' kid.
Land of Loss offers further insight into Christopher's personality, a deepening of the template of the jokester who lashes out at others to defend himself. I actually have a lot of sympathy for his tendency to seek refuge in sitcoms as a pick-me-up, considering that when I'm depressed, I crawl under the covers and rewatch Friends. From the newer generations, I've also marathon-watched The Office, Parks & Recreation, New Girl, The Mindy Project, Brooklyn 99... There's something so soothing and predictable about the sitcom, a life perfectly ordered and formulaic, hitting all the right beats. A comfort when the Everworld kids' existence has turned completely upside down and nothing is familiar, so of course he'd latch onto a comfort blanket -- the same one that I reach for when I'm feeling low.
A quote from Matt LeBlanc about Friends, actually:
I think this fits so well into the escapist themes in this book, and the way Christopher talks about the characters like they're beloved friends of his: they're familiar faces, a part of his (and our) lives, as if they really are a part of our families.
And I love that Christopher is perfectly self-aware about it, and also has a really good insight to how the rest of their group ticks, and how each one of them has a different escapist tendency, a different lens through which to view Everworld and interpret it and cope with it. I like watching their group dynamic unfold, especially April still establishing herself as the fantastic voice of reason, the one trying to keep these idiot boys in check.
Also, I loved Applegate's literary, absolutely beautiful description of fear. I'd also like to mention a reminder that these kids do not have the weapon of morphing that the Animorphs did; they've just been tossed into the deep end, helpless and unprepared and with no respite whatsoever, considering that even when they pop back into the real world, they still have to deal with school and tests and parents and chores. The descriptions of Christopher's visceral fear and panic attacks are so well-written.
So her writing & characterisations are on point, as always, and the increasing worldbuilding of Everworld is fascinating -- the main reason I'm still giving it 'just' 3 stars is structural. It's not episodic, so the book leaves off on another cliffhanger, one installment simply seguing into another and carrying you on from frenetic place to frenetic place, as it tells just the long tale of their attempts to survive one more day. Admittedly I don't mind so much, though -- these books are so short that it hardly takes me a long time to get through them, and I can just dive into the next book whenever there's a cliffhanger.
Favourite quotes below:
Land of Loss offers further insight into Christopher's personality, a deepening of the template of the jokester who lashes out at others to defend himself. I actually have a lot of sympathy for his tendency to seek refuge in sitcoms as a pick-me-up, considering that when I'm depressed, I crawl under the covers and rewatch Friends. From the newer generations, I've also marathon-watched The Office, Parks & Recreation, New Girl, The Mindy Project, Brooklyn 99... There's something so soothing and predictable about the sitcom, a life perfectly ordered and formulaic, hitting all the right beats. A comfort when the Everworld kids' existence has turned completely upside down and nothing is familiar, so of course he'd latch onto a comfort blanket -- the same one that I reach for when I'm feeling low.
A quote from Matt LeBlanc about Friends, actually:
More important than anything else is the look on people’s faces when you cross paths with them in the street, or in the store, or in the grocery line. You can always tell that you were—maybe still are, maybe always will be—a part of their family. Movies have this thing where it’s an event. You get dressed up, you go to dinner, and you go to the movies. You’re outside of your element. But with television, people are watching you in bed, at their kitchen table eating. You’re in their house.
I think this fits so well into the escapist themes in this book, and the way Christopher talks about the characters like they're beloved friends of his: they're familiar faces, a part of his (and our) lives, as if they really are a part of our families.
And I love that Christopher is perfectly self-aware about it, and also has a really good insight to how the rest of their group ticks, and how each one of them has a different escapist tendency, a different lens through which to view Everworld and interpret it and cope with it. I like watching their group dynamic unfold, especially April still establishing herself as the fantastic voice of reason, the one trying to keep these idiot boys in check.
Also, I loved Applegate's literary, absolutely beautiful description of fear. I'd also like to mention a reminder that these kids do not have the weapon of morphing that the Animorphs did; they've just been tossed into the deep end, helpless and unprepared and with no respite whatsoever, considering that even when they pop back into the real world, they still have to deal with school and tests and parents and chores. The descriptions of Christopher's visceral fear and panic attacks are so well-written.
So her writing & characterisations are on point, as always, and the increasing worldbuilding of Everworld is fascinating -- the main reason I'm still giving it 'just' 3 stars is structural. It's not episodic, so the book leaves off on another cliffhanger, one installment simply seguing into another and carrying you on from frenetic place to frenetic place, as it tells just the long tale of their attempts to survive one more day. Admittedly I don't mind so much, though -- these books are so short that it hardly takes me a long time to get through them, and I can just dive into the next book whenever there's a cliffhanger.
Favourite quotes below:
March 5, 2023
The scene where they are slowly going up the Aztec pyramid was branded into my memory as a kid. Even after so many years, I still remembered that scene by heart. That is the power of words. An action-packed adventure which left me thirsting for more.
February 23, 2019
Still not as fantastic as HS me remembered but enjoying these rereads all the same!
February 7, 2017
Once again, keeping the old rating for this book, though it deserves more likely a 3 or 3.5 star rating. It's from Christopher's pov this time around -- stereotypical class clown, asshole jock, big man on campus, mildly racist bully, etc. The story advances and our band of heroes get to question Senna about why she led them to Everworld. Also, we find out that besides Norse gods, Aztecs & various aliens, the Arthurian knights & Merlin are also there. The teens trade a chemistry text for an upgrade to their pocket knife with Coo-Hatch steel (strong enough to cut through trees). Chris renames the knife Excalibur, being his normal smart-ass self. The book ends with a dragon capturing Senna to take to Merlin. Further hijinks to ensue in the next installment.
May 1, 2023
Again, I enjoyed this! I would still put it as 3.5 but again, good reads. Onto the next book!
July 14, 2016
We open up “Land of Loss” with the big battle between the Vikings and the Aztecs, and it … does not go well. Rather, we get a very close look at exactly what the Aztecs do to the people they beat and capture, with our disgruntled group (to understate matters) getting ringside seats – or is that altar-side seats?
How do you escape a society who wants to cut out your heart and eat you, while your fellow captives have a fatalistic “Oh look, we’ve been captured. We will die,” attitude? Not easily, and Senna is not always to be trusted. She is playing her own game, by her own rules, and the Everworld kids are alternately her pawns and her marionettes.
This book is again quite busy, but we get to see more of exactly how Christopher’s mind works, and how weird and sometimes off-color his humor can be. But, he is also very good at figuring out how the others see their situation. I find it interesting that between these first two books, no clear ‘leader’ has truly emerged, and rather, Christopher, David, and April seem to take turns stepping up and taking charge – which so far, seems to have been mostly working. They are keeping each other in check this way, and, probably because of it, keeping each other alive too. Jalil continues to mostly provide logic, reason, and pertinent information to their situations than anything else.
I can understand Christopher, Jalil, and David getting into an argument (and it frankly is not surprising). I can also understand a bit that they would choose to tread basically stereotypical/”normal” ground with the types of insults they sling about, but I find it a bit of a stretch that they would stoop down to racist slurs and insults. We have not quite seen enough of their life philosophies for this to make sense – at least, the clues were not quite there in my reading of their characters– and I would think they would be more likely to take recent experiences as fodder to throw around. Or if not the experiences per se, but at least their reactions to those experiences.
However, I am enjoying April’s attitude more and more. She seems to call it as it is, especially when it comes to calling out the boys (“Testosterone Twins,” anyone else laugh like I did?), and be the most level-headed person in all of this. Of course, I also think she is keeping her emotions in very tight check, and we only get glimpses of just how angry she can get when she bites out a scathing and negative retort about Senna. She might be the group member most likely to do something, well, stupid, if Senna provokes her. I really wonder what it is that April has against Senna, before Everworld happened, that is.
Overall, this book continues the habit of the first book, which is to keep introducing new facets to this world (meeting the earlier-mentioned Coo-Hatch, more details about the Aztec society, meeting a certain wizard of historical renown…), at a very fast past, with the characters rarely getting a chance to breathe. And when they do get a small chance, either it is while they are asleep, or when their nerves and tempers are at the exploding point. The ‘main theme’ of the series (rescue Senna) often seems to get forgotten (understandably so), and the secondary theme (getting out of Everworld permanently) often seems to fall by the wayside (exception being when April talks with the Coo-Hatch). Mostly, what ties these books together so far seems to be “Lesson Number One in Everworld: There’s them, and there’s us. And any day we can keep them from destroying us, that’s a victory.”
Quotes and comments:
But all around was the madness. Men in the lunatic rage of combat. Hungry for murder. Thirsty for blood that would drench sand. Not their own, of course, never their own, because what fool ever goes to war expecting that he will be the one to die? The movie in your head has you as the hero, bravely whacking away at the bad guys. Courage without the sight of your own intestines spilled out in the buttery sunlight. – page 2
There are people you meet, people whose eyes you happen to look into and right away you know. You know that they are apart from the basic humanity that more or less unites us. You know, without knowing why, that you’re seeing a person whose pleasures come from the pain of others, someone whose entertainment is gloating at the terror of others. – page 13-14
“Huitzilopoctli eats the hearts. Who eats the rest?” Jalil asked.
It was bad walking through a crowd of people who looked at you as an evil invader.
It was worse walking through people who looked at you as lunch. – page 27
I scooped up some of the mango-smelling goo and lathered it into my hair. Jalil was next to climb in. Then David. Three all-American kids with a lifetime of soap and deodorant jingles playing in their head. We were in the third circle of hell, but determined not to smell bad. – page 32
All around us was a TV evangelist’s vision of hell: gluttony, drunkenness, and more different types of wanton behavior than you see on Cinemax late at night.
My vision of heaven. If you left out the part where they cut out your heart and eat you. – page 54
Then I stopped listening. David had his delusion. Jalil had his. David’s world was somehow going to be about him playing hero. Jalil’s world was going to somehow, somehow make sense. He was trying to keep his little house of logic Legos standing.
Me, I had no delusion. I just wanted to live. I just wanted to go home. What I had instead was imagination. Terrible thing, imagination is. See, without imagination you can’t picture every horrible detail in advance. Without imagination death is just death. With imagination, death is detailed. Detailed and specific and so real. – page 69 – Christopher has David and Jalil down to a T, it seems to me. Especially David’s disillusionment about Everworld, which I have a feeling will continue to bite him in the butt. (Here Christopher sounds a bit like Marco – his cold analysis of the states of mind of David and Jalil, and being the only one of the guys thinking clearly. But then, that is probably part of his character as a jokester – to be able to analyze and dissect others to best make jokes that will stab them with little knives.)
But there are limits to what a mere mortal can do. Lesson Number One in Everworld: There’s them, and there’s us. And any day we can keep them from destroying us, that’s a victory. – page 162
The hot dog discussion – page 165 – I found this rather funny. I’ve lived in Chicagoland my whole life, and when I put anything on my hot dog, it’s usually ketchup. Maybe relish if I have any. Rare occasions I add mustard to that mix.
You’d think it would be easier to be brave when you know you don’t have an alternative. But I wasn’t finding that to be true. – page 173
Swear count: In this book, I found that there were a few places where I would have either a) expected there to be a swear word and there was not, or b) the phrase was cut off before the swear was reached (“son of a…”), or c) the words were more part of set phrases. I wonder if the editor/publisher said that KAA should cut back on the swearing after book 1?
How do you escape a society who wants to cut out your heart and eat you, while your fellow captives have a fatalistic “Oh look, we’ve been captured. We will die,” attitude? Not easily, and Senna is not always to be trusted. She is playing her own game, by her own rules, and the Everworld kids are alternately her pawns and her marionettes.
This book is again quite busy, but we get to see more of exactly how Christopher’s mind works, and how weird and sometimes off-color his humor can be. But, he is also very good at figuring out how the others see their situation. I find it interesting that between these first two books, no clear ‘leader’ has truly emerged, and rather, Christopher, David, and April seem to take turns stepping up and taking charge – which so far, seems to have been mostly working. They are keeping each other in check this way, and, probably because of it, keeping each other alive too. Jalil continues to mostly provide logic, reason, and pertinent information to their situations than anything else.
I can understand Christopher, Jalil, and David getting into an argument (and it frankly is not surprising). I can also understand a bit that they would choose to tread basically stereotypical/”normal” ground with the types of insults they sling about, but I find it a bit of a stretch that they would stoop down to racist slurs and insults. We have not quite seen enough of their life philosophies for this to make sense – at least, the clues were not quite there in my reading of their characters– and I would think they would be more likely to take recent experiences as fodder to throw around. Or if not the experiences per se, but at least their reactions to those experiences.
However, I am enjoying April’s attitude more and more. She seems to call it as it is, especially when it comes to calling out the boys (“Testosterone Twins,” anyone else laugh like I did?), and be the most level-headed person in all of this. Of course, I also think she is keeping her emotions in very tight check, and we only get glimpses of just how angry she can get when she bites out a scathing and negative retort about Senna. She might be the group member most likely to do something, well, stupid, if Senna provokes her. I really wonder what it is that April has against Senna, before Everworld happened, that is.
Overall, this book continues the habit of the first book, which is to keep introducing new facets to this world (meeting the earlier-mentioned Coo-Hatch, more details about the Aztec society, meeting a certain wizard of historical renown…), at a very fast past, with the characters rarely getting a chance to breathe. And when they do get a small chance, either it is while they are asleep, or when their nerves and tempers are at the exploding point. The ‘main theme’ of the series (rescue Senna) often seems to get forgotten (understandably so), and the secondary theme (getting out of Everworld permanently) often seems to fall by the wayside (exception being when April talks with the Coo-Hatch). Mostly, what ties these books together so far seems to be “Lesson Number One in Everworld: There’s them, and there’s us. And any day we can keep them from destroying us, that’s a victory.”
Quotes and comments:
But all around was the madness. Men in the lunatic rage of combat. Hungry for murder. Thirsty for blood that would drench sand. Not their own, of course, never their own, because what fool ever goes to war expecting that he will be the one to die? The movie in your head has you as the hero, bravely whacking away at the bad guys. Courage without the sight of your own intestines spilled out in the buttery sunlight. – page 2
There are people you meet, people whose eyes you happen to look into and right away you know. You know that they are apart from the basic humanity that more or less unites us. You know, without knowing why, that you’re seeing a person whose pleasures come from the pain of others, someone whose entertainment is gloating at the terror of others. – page 13-14
“Huitzilopoctli eats the hearts. Who eats the rest?” Jalil asked.
It was bad walking through a crowd of people who looked at you as an evil invader.
It was worse walking through people who looked at you as lunch. – page 27
I scooped up some of the mango-smelling goo and lathered it into my hair. Jalil was next to climb in. Then David. Three all-American kids with a lifetime of soap and deodorant jingles playing in their head. We were in the third circle of hell, but determined not to smell bad. – page 32
All around us was a TV evangelist’s vision of hell: gluttony, drunkenness, and more different types of wanton behavior than you see on Cinemax late at night.
My vision of heaven. If you left out the part where they cut out your heart and eat you. – page 54
Then I stopped listening. David had his delusion. Jalil had his. David’s world was somehow going to be about him playing hero. Jalil’s world was going to somehow, somehow make sense. He was trying to keep his little house of logic Legos standing.
Me, I had no delusion. I just wanted to live. I just wanted to go home. What I had instead was imagination. Terrible thing, imagination is. See, without imagination you can’t picture every horrible detail in advance. Without imagination death is just death. With imagination, death is detailed. Detailed and specific and so real. – page 69 – Christopher has David and Jalil down to a T, it seems to me. Especially David’s disillusionment about Everworld, which I have a feeling will continue to bite him in the butt. (Here Christopher sounds a bit like Marco – his cold analysis of the states of mind of David and Jalil, and being the only one of the guys thinking clearly. But then, that is probably part of his character as a jokester – to be able to analyze and dissect others to best make jokes that will stab them with little knives.)
But there are limits to what a mere mortal can do. Lesson Number One in Everworld: There’s them, and there’s us. And any day we can keep them from destroying us, that’s a victory. – page 162
The hot dog discussion – page 165 – I found this rather funny. I’ve lived in Chicagoland my whole life, and when I put anything on my hot dog, it’s usually ketchup. Maybe relish if I have any. Rare occasions I add mustard to that mix.
You’d think it would be easier to be brave when you know you don’t have an alternative. But I wasn’t finding that to be true. – page 173
Swear count: In this book, I found that there were a few places where I would have either a) expected there to be a swear word and there was not, or b) the phrase was cut off before the swear was reached (“son of a…”), or c) the words were more part of set phrases. I wonder if the editor/publisher said that KAA should cut back on the swearing after book 1?
January 6, 2022
Look. I think I'm just gonna give all of these a 3 star because it's really good for what it is but it isn't much beyond 4 characters in an adventure they never asked to be in - which is something I really enjoy. It's about discovering the world while trying to survive with twists on all the myths and legends of the ancient world + some alien creatures who are also trapped in this weird dimension or universe or whatever.
It's the kind of series you hand to an edgy kid. The kind you read at the airport when you're waiting for a flight. Or the kind you pick up as a curious middle schooler when your mum brings you to the library and she's downstairs doing genealogy stuff and you're upstairs in the kids section refusing to read the babysitters club because that looks boring and aren't the covers on this so weird and creepy and intriguing?
Anyway. I don't think it's much more than an action/adventure. But for what it is, it's fun. I think the teenage character writing really influenced how I write first person narratives, honestly.. I'm not gonna collect the books or anything though.
It's the kind of series you hand to an edgy kid. The kind you read at the airport when you're waiting for a flight. Or the kind you pick up as a curious middle schooler when your mum brings you to the library and she's downstairs doing genealogy stuff and you're upstairs in the kids section refusing to read the babysitters club because that looks boring and aren't the covers on this so weird and creepy and intriguing?
Anyway. I don't think it's much more than an action/adventure. But for what it is, it's fun. I think the teenage character writing really influenced how I write first person narratives, honestly.. I'm not gonna collect the books or anything though.
September 21, 2017
Note: I find these books extremely hard to rate and review, so please keep in mind that the ratings I’m attributing are not really equivalent with my usual ones, nor accurate with how pleasant a read it’s being.
The mythology part of the story is really good, and it’s actually involving mythological aspects that I’m not really used to read about so that’s really nice.
I also really like that it seems that each book was a different POV, it give us the opportunity to know all the characters a little better and not being stuck with just one.
Different perspective are a really good thing for me.
I really enjoy how the author manages to keep things interesting with such small books, and I also enjoy this captivating and darkish vibe in her writing.
The mythology part of the story is really good, and it’s actually involving mythological aspects that I’m not really used to read about so that’s really nice.
I also really like that it seems that each book was a different POV, it give us the opportunity to know all the characters a little better and not being stuck with just one.
Different perspective are a really good thing for me.
I really enjoy how the author manages to keep things interesting with such small books, and I also enjoy this captivating and darkish vibe in her writing.
December 3, 2015
Just a note – I’m not sure if I’m going to continue on this Project EverWorld thing. For one thing, it’s completely different to Animorphs. Those books hold up. The characters are likeable. Stuff actually happens to move the plot forward. There’s resolution, satisfaction at the end of a good story.
These EverWorld books are different. I felt neither satisfaction nor that any part of the story had concluded upon finishing both Books 1 and 2. When you write a series, you’re supposed to write like a picture of an open umbrella side-on: each book tells its own story, but the overarching plot is there, too. Applegate (and ghost writers) totally nailed this with Animorphs. Sure, some books sucked, but in a series of 54 you’re going to have some stinkers.
Both of these books so far have finished on a cliffhanger – and not the nice kind of cliffhanger. The plot isn’t resolved – the plot is barely legible to begin with. The characters spend all their time wandering around with no clear goals wondering what to do, and as a reader I find that frustrating. To top it off, Christopher, the narrator of this book, is a giant jerk-ass who hates everyone and is annoyed April’s not swooning in his arms.
So, the plot: the EverWorld gang are on the losing side of the Viking vs Aztecs war, manage to escape having their hearts cut out thanks to April who’s cleverer than all three boys combined, wander around for a bit, upgrade Jalil’s Swiss Army Knife so it can cut through anything, whine, whine, and whine some more about being stuck in EverWorld and angst if they’re going to get out, and end up going back to the place they nearly died for no reason and bumping into Senna on their way. Absolutely riveting stuff.
Like I said, Christopher’s a jerkass. His automatic response is to make people laugh, but he’s really an insecure racist dumb jock who can’t stand that David’s a better natural leader than him, despite having his own flaws. He doesn’t get along with anyone and quite frankly I wouldn’t mind if he was killed. Of course, I last read (a handful) of these books ten or fifteen years ago so I don’t exactly remember what happens to whom.
Unfortunately I feel that the events of this book didn’t move the overall plot forward of backwards, and the ultimate goal (finding Senna) just fell into their laps without them overcoming any hurdles or obstacles towards that goal. Then the books ends on a clumsy cliffhanger and I’m supposed to dive right into the next book.
I hope it’s an April book, she seems to be the only one who can think clearly in this insane physics-defying world.
These EverWorld books are different. I felt neither satisfaction nor that any part of the story had concluded upon finishing both Books 1 and 2. When you write a series, you’re supposed to write like a picture of an open umbrella side-on: each book tells its own story, but the overarching plot is there, too. Applegate (and ghost writers) totally nailed this with Animorphs. Sure, some books sucked, but in a series of 54 you’re going to have some stinkers.
Both of these books so far have finished on a cliffhanger – and not the nice kind of cliffhanger. The plot isn’t resolved – the plot is barely legible to begin with. The characters spend all their time wandering around with no clear goals wondering what to do, and as a reader I find that frustrating. To top it off, Christopher, the narrator of this book, is a giant jerk-ass who hates everyone and is annoyed April’s not swooning in his arms.
So, the plot: the EverWorld gang are on the losing side of the Viking vs Aztecs war, manage to escape having their hearts cut out thanks to April who’s cleverer than all three boys combined, wander around for a bit, upgrade Jalil’s Swiss Army Knife so it can cut through anything, whine, whine, and whine some more about being stuck in EverWorld and angst if they’re going to get out, and end up going back to the place they nearly died for no reason and bumping into Senna on their way. Absolutely riveting stuff.
Like I said, Christopher’s a jerkass. His automatic response is to make people laugh, but he’s really an insecure racist dumb jock who can’t stand that David’s a better natural leader than him, despite having his own flaws. He doesn’t get along with anyone and quite frankly I wouldn’t mind if he was killed. Of course, I last read (a handful) of these books ten or fifteen years ago so I don’t exactly remember what happens to whom.
Unfortunately I feel that the events of this book didn’t move the overall plot forward of backwards, and the ultimate goal (finding Senna) just fell into their laps without them overcoming any hurdles or obstacles towards that goal. Then the books ends on a clumsy cliffhanger and I’m supposed to dive right into the next book.
I hope it’s an April book, she seems to be the only one who can think clearly in this insane physics-defying world.
July 22, 2020
Argh, this book was so hard to get through and not because of the plot but because of the fact that it was narrated by Christopher "Asshat" Hitchcock.
ERGH!
I thought reading from David's POV in the first book was painful because he is so annoying. In the first few pages, he peed his pants from sheer fear and that fundamentally traumatised him. He then proceeded to be all annoyingly heroic and decided to call the shots. Jeez, that sudden 180 degree flip was enough to give me whiplash.
Then this book comes ol' Christopher; a bloody misogynistic, rascist arsehole.
JESUS CHRIST ABOVE
Look, I get as a 16-year old white jackass in high school, you are always thirsting but it does not give you the right to be sexist and rascist.
*breathes* yes, I need to remind myself that it was written in the 90s but STILL.
Besides Chris being an absolute douchebag, the story is interesting enough. I am intrigued to see where the plot goes. It clearly has a direction. Each book a new myth and lore is explored and the next one is something I genuinely like.
On the side, there are bits in the book where I can see that Chris is somewhat relatable and his whiny attitude (which he acknowledges at least) kind of makes sense. When you are afraid of the uncertainty, when you are stuck in a world where people have been non-stop trying to kill you and you haven't eaten or drank a thing, when you are cluelessly wandering around and have no idea how to get home, these things build and eventually you lash out in anger. This was essentially what this book was about for the characters. Of course Chris and David were just the worse.
One idiot is obsessed with finding his girlfriend (which by the way ain't shit - she's manipulative and annoying as hell) and the other is determined NOT to find his ex which leads him to narrate his opinionated, misogynistic views on women.
Overall, because of the idiotic and temperamental nature of the POV, this book gets a 3.
ERGH!
I thought reading from David's POV in the first book was painful because he is so annoying. In the first few pages, he peed his pants from sheer fear and that fundamentally traumatised him. He then proceeded to be all annoyingly heroic and decided to call the shots. Jeez, that sudden 180 degree flip was enough to give me whiplash.
Then this book comes ol' Christopher; a bloody misogynistic, rascist arsehole.
JESUS CHRIST ABOVE
Look, I get as a 16-year old white jackass in high school, you are always thirsting but it does not give you the right to be sexist and rascist.
*breathes* yes, I need to remind myself that it was written in the 90s but STILL.
Besides Chris being an absolute douchebag, the story is interesting enough. I am intrigued to see where the plot goes. It clearly has a direction. Each book a new myth and lore is explored and the next one is something I genuinely like.
On the side, there are bits in the book where I can see that Chris is somewhat relatable and his whiny attitude (which he acknowledges at least) kind of makes sense. When you are afraid of the uncertainty, when you are stuck in a world where people have been non-stop trying to kill you and you haven't eaten or drank a thing, when you are cluelessly wandering around and have no idea how to get home, these things build and eventually you lash out in anger. This was essentially what this book was about for the characters. Of course Chris and David were just the worse.
One idiot is obsessed with finding his girlfriend (which by the way ain't shit - she's manipulative and annoying as hell) and the other is determined NOT to find his ex which leads him to narrate his opinionated, misogynistic views on women.
Overall, because of the idiotic and temperamental nature of the POV, this book gets a 3.
September 20, 2016
I thought the first book was an ok read, but the sequel was even harder to read. The adventure just does not MOVE anywhere. The way the characters wander around Everworld makes me wonder if their author had no clear idea where they were going either. It was difficult to finish this book after I lost interest in the 2nd chapter.
Read
January 20, 2010dfal;skdfj;alksdfj
February 9, 2017
Reread 2015
October 23, 2021
Like the first book in the series, I’m a little concerned I’m rating this too high. Overall I think it was fine, though there’s not really anything that sticks out to me as particularly noteworthy the way the introduction of the two-body conceit surprised and impressed me in SEARCH FOR SENNA. Or rather, there’s not anything noteworthy and positive to mention—there is something negative and is the main thing I want to talk about.
After the Vikings are defeated by the god Huitzilpoctli the survivors are being marched through the streets and jeered by the locals who throw things at them such as bones and feces. Jalil points out that they’re not throwing food, like apple cores and rotten tomatoes, suggesting the populace doesn’t *have* food, i.e. they’re starving—their “god” can’t provide for them. Christopher, our narrator for this book (it seems these books are going to do the Animorphs thing and switch narrators with each book) can’t help himself from making stupid joke comments and when Jalil mentions they’re not throwing food responds, “What, you were expecting watermelon and fried chicken?” WHOA. What the hell? Christopher is just casually racist? I know we as a society are a lot more conscious of this kind of thing in 2021 than we were in 1999, but still—Jesus Christ, Christopher. I worried that would color my response to the whole book.
Then, later, Christopher is asleep and transported back to the real world. He’s talking on the phone to one of the others about Everworld, though of course it’s nonsense to anybody else, but he sees his brother eavesdropping. Christopher starts yelling at his brother not to spy on him and his brother says something like, “Take it easy, homes, everybody could hear you talking so loud.” Christopher changes tack and argues his brother’s use of “homes” is ridiculous because he’s not in the ghetto. His brother responds: “You really need to get over your problem with black people.” Wow, okay. Huh. I thought Chris was only being casually racist before but apparently it’s something that other characters see too? I thought the previous reference was a one-off, but is this book going to seriously address his racism? Okay, I’m intrigued; this could be worthwhile if the plan is to get the protagonist to reconsider his ways. (Notably, though, Christopher tries to defend himself with the “I have a black friend” defense, except he says “I’m sleeping with a black guy right now”… his brother laughs at him and says “Okay, Tinky Winky.” Who is going to confront Chris’ brother on his casual homophobia?)
A third instance comes when Christopher and David are fighting but Jalil tries to intervene. Chris turns his attack on Jalil, who calls Christopher a “redneck cracker”. Chris seizes on this: “Oh, now we’re doing racial stuff?” Though obviously that insult hardly affects him, he’s eager to make more racist comments and now he’s found a justification. He begins suggesting Jalil is a Muslim name, and that alone is meant as an insult to a certain subset. Jalil says he doesn’t want to be part of a group with an ignorant racist. David breaks up the argument and as it settles down Christopher gets the last word to defend himself: “I’m not racist, by the way. That’s not true.” This is just a step away from the classic “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” b.s. that people like to throw out *only* in situations where they have been explicitly racist.
So now there are three instances in this book where Christopher has been and/or has been called out for being racist. How will this issue be resolved? Well… it won’t. At least not in this book. Will it come to a head later in the series? I’m worried it won’t, but even if it does, does that excuse leaving it so open-ended in this book? LAND OF LOSS ends like SEARCH FOR SENNA, with a ramping up of the plot and a “To Be Continued” ending. No doubt some aspects of the narrative are being developed over the long-term but are readers of this book (high schoolers) going to be sophisticated enough to understand that and not take Chris’ excuses at face value? I feel like this indictment of Christopher’s racist behavior—if indictment it be—is very poorly done here, and that really detracts from the book.
The rest of it is okay, though. Several seemingly major characters from the first book are killed off quickly at the start of this, which was somewhat bold, and I guess I do like the unbearable tension of waiting for a god to tear out and eat your heart. The fact that there’s nothing they can do in the real world except hope everything works out in Everworld is also great. I like that even when they are not inhabiting their real world bodies, their real world selves are continuing to stress about what is going on in Everworld; it’s not just that their real world selves are completely separate from their Everworld selves. I can imagine in their sleep they may eventually start doing research or training of some sort to help their Everworld selves. There’s still a lot of potential I’m seeing here.
So yeah, it was alright. Some good bits, I guess, but that through-line of Christopher’s racist behavior was badly handled and that really severely undercuts it. I’m being generous with 3 stars. Let’s hope the next one earns its rating.
After the Vikings are defeated by the god Huitzilpoctli the survivors are being marched through the streets and jeered by the locals who throw things at them such as bones and feces. Jalil points out that they’re not throwing food, like apple cores and rotten tomatoes, suggesting the populace doesn’t *have* food, i.e. they’re starving—their “god” can’t provide for them. Christopher, our narrator for this book (it seems these books are going to do the Animorphs thing and switch narrators with each book) can’t help himself from making stupid joke comments and when Jalil mentions they’re not throwing food responds, “What, you were expecting watermelon and fried chicken?” WHOA. What the hell? Christopher is just casually racist? I know we as a society are a lot more conscious of this kind of thing in 2021 than we were in 1999, but still—Jesus Christ, Christopher. I worried that would color my response to the whole book.
Then, later, Christopher is asleep and transported back to the real world. He’s talking on the phone to one of the others about Everworld, though of course it’s nonsense to anybody else, but he sees his brother eavesdropping. Christopher starts yelling at his brother not to spy on him and his brother says something like, “Take it easy, homes, everybody could hear you talking so loud.” Christopher changes tack and argues his brother’s use of “homes” is ridiculous because he’s not in the ghetto. His brother responds: “You really need to get over your problem with black people.” Wow, okay. Huh. I thought Chris was only being casually racist before but apparently it’s something that other characters see too? I thought the previous reference was a one-off, but is this book going to seriously address his racism? Okay, I’m intrigued; this could be worthwhile if the plan is to get the protagonist to reconsider his ways. (Notably, though, Christopher tries to defend himself with the “I have a black friend” defense, except he says “I’m sleeping with a black guy right now”… his brother laughs at him and says “Okay, Tinky Winky.” Who is going to confront Chris’ brother on his casual homophobia?)
A third instance comes when Christopher and David are fighting but Jalil tries to intervene. Chris turns his attack on Jalil, who calls Christopher a “redneck cracker”. Chris seizes on this: “Oh, now we’re doing racial stuff?” Though obviously that insult hardly affects him, he’s eager to make more racist comments and now he’s found a justification. He begins suggesting Jalil is a Muslim name, and that alone is meant as an insult to a certain subset. Jalil says he doesn’t want to be part of a group with an ignorant racist. David breaks up the argument and as it settles down Christopher gets the last word to defend himself: “I’m not racist, by the way. That’s not true.” This is just a step away from the classic “I don’t have a racist bone in my body” b.s. that people like to throw out *only* in situations where they have been explicitly racist.
So now there are three instances in this book where Christopher has been and/or has been called out for being racist. How will this issue be resolved? Well… it won’t. At least not in this book. Will it come to a head later in the series? I’m worried it won’t, but even if it does, does that excuse leaving it so open-ended in this book? LAND OF LOSS ends like SEARCH FOR SENNA, with a ramping up of the plot and a “To Be Continued” ending. No doubt some aspects of the narrative are being developed over the long-term but are readers of this book (high schoolers) going to be sophisticated enough to understand that and not take Chris’ excuses at face value? I feel like this indictment of Christopher’s racist behavior—if indictment it be—is very poorly done here, and that really detracts from the book.
The rest of it is okay, though. Several seemingly major characters from the first book are killed off quickly at the start of this, which was somewhat bold, and I guess I do like the unbearable tension of waiting for a god to tear out and eat your heart. The fact that there’s nothing they can do in the real world except hope everything works out in Everworld is also great. I like that even when they are not inhabiting their real world bodies, their real world selves are continuing to stress about what is going on in Everworld; it’s not just that their real world selves are completely separate from their Everworld selves. I can imagine in their sleep they may eventually start doing research or training of some sort to help their Everworld selves. There’s still a lot of potential I’m seeing here.
So yeah, it was alright. Some good bits, I guess, but that through-line of Christopher’s racist behavior was badly handled and that really severely undercuts it. I’m being generous with 3 stars. Let’s hope the next one earns its rating.
September 5, 2020
As with book 1 where I appreciated that Applegate started her series with Vikings and Norse gods rather than the go-to Greek or Roman, I appreciate that in this book we have Aztecs. There are too few Aztecs in fiction, I find.
This book is written from Christopher's POV. And while his commentary is basically a lot of snark and sarcasm, it isn't the sort of snark that you come to love in books like Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. Christopher can be crass, rude and bigoted. Says racist and sexist things. Thankfully he is called out on his behaviour by the others, but his whiny attitude does grate on you.
Side note: I remember crushing on Christopher as a tween. Blonde surfer dude, good-looking class comedian? Of course I did. The model they used for the glossy inner cover color pages in later books (which looking back, were horribly photoshopped), was also cute. Yeesh, how opinions change with age.
Christopher and David's little rivalry gets tiring over time. April gave them a very fitting nickname, "Testosterone Twins". That rivalry probably stems from their history with Senna. But also due to the fact that Christopher just wants to escape Everworld while David has a hero complex and wants to fight and prove himself constantly.
At the moment, April and Jalil are the characters I empathise with most. However, I have yet to read the books written from their point of view, so that may change. But of the four teenagers, they seem to be the most level-headed and mature. April makes jokes, but she's never offensive the way Christopher is. Jalil comes off as self-serving, always looking out for his own skin. But at least he's open about it. And I really have less problems with that than I do with David's toxic masculinity, which is of course compounded by his need to save his damsel in distress who is actually controlling him. Jalil does have a habit of dismissing things like magic as unrealistic, and chides April for suggesting it. Even though he has already seen a Norse god, his animal brood, Vikings, Aztecs, an Aztec god, and aliens. You'd think magic wouldn't be such a leap after all that.
Senna on the other hand, oof. I know she has a book later in the series written from her POV, but I read this series so long ago so I really don't remember how that book went or if I ever developed a sort of understanding of why she is the way she is, after reading her backstory. So far though, utter manipulative b****.
One thing I find incongruous is how Applegate pulls her punches with the curse words (e.g. uses "butt" instead of "ass", and there's never an f-bomb in sight), but is perfectly happy to describe human sacrifices with victims having their hearts sliced out and fed to an Aztec god, as well as suggesting the possibility of rape for female captives. I guess profanity is a sure way to get your book rated adult, but brutal murder is a-okay for YA? Gotcha.
I have to say, in a book where Applegate alters Viking history to allow Black and Asian members, gives them cigarettes and pits them against Aztecs, I do wish she had also allowed women to join the battle. It really isn't such a stretch. There were about 300 shieldmaidens at the real world Battle of Brávellir. I'm not sure if this was more a plot-convenient omission or a reflection of 90s societal views.
Also pretty sure the whole "Vikings are dirty and never bathe" thing is a myth. Personal grooming was a big thing for them. Horrible Histories taught me that. Confirmed by a quick google search. Jussayin'.
One final complaint: I do think Huitzilopoctli's treatment towards the end was a bit of an anti-climax. He was so badass all the way through up till that point. I can't say what happened without spoiling. Suffice it to say, it was embarassing. The Aztec pantheon won't let him live that one down.
Overall still a fun book, and a quick read. I'm rating this slightly lower than book 1, maybe 3.5-4 stars, because Christopher annoyed me. But I'm looking forward to reading April's POV in the next book.
This book is written from Christopher's POV. And while his commentary is basically a lot of snark and sarcasm, it isn't the sort of snark that you come to love in books like Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City. Christopher can be crass, rude and bigoted. Says racist and sexist things. Thankfully he is called out on his behaviour by the others, but his whiny attitude does grate on you.
Side note: I remember crushing on Christopher as a tween. Blonde surfer dude, good-looking class comedian? Of course I did. The model they used for the glossy inner cover color pages in later books (which looking back, were horribly photoshopped), was also cute. Yeesh, how opinions change with age.
Christopher and David's little rivalry gets tiring over time. April gave them a very fitting nickname, "Testosterone Twins". That rivalry probably stems from their history with Senna. But also due to the fact that Christopher just wants to escape Everworld while David has a hero complex and wants to fight and prove himself constantly.
At the moment, April and Jalil are the characters I empathise with most. However, I have yet to read the books written from their point of view, so that may change. But of the four teenagers, they seem to be the most level-headed and mature. April makes jokes, but she's never offensive the way Christopher is. Jalil comes off as self-serving, always looking out for his own skin. But at least he's open about it. And I really have less problems with that than I do with David's toxic masculinity, which is of course compounded by his need to save his damsel in distress who is actually controlling him. Jalil does have a habit of dismissing things like magic as unrealistic, and chides April for suggesting it. Even though he has already seen a Norse god, his animal brood, Vikings, Aztecs, an Aztec god, and aliens. You'd think magic wouldn't be such a leap after all that.
Senna on the other hand, oof. I know she has a book later in the series written from her POV, but I read this series so long ago so I really don't remember how that book went or if I ever developed a sort of understanding of why she is the way she is, after reading her backstory. So far though, utter manipulative b****.
One thing I find incongruous is how Applegate pulls her punches with the curse words (e.g. uses "butt" instead of "ass", and there's never an f-bomb in sight), but is perfectly happy to describe human sacrifices with victims having their hearts sliced out and fed to an Aztec god, as well as suggesting the possibility of rape for female captives. I guess profanity is a sure way to get your book rated adult, but brutal murder is a-okay for YA? Gotcha.
I have to say, in a book where Applegate alters Viking history to allow Black and Asian members, gives them cigarettes and pits them against Aztecs, I do wish she had also allowed women to join the battle. It really isn't such a stretch. There were about 300 shieldmaidens at the real world Battle of Brávellir. I'm not sure if this was more a plot-convenient omission or a reflection of 90s societal views.
Also pretty sure the whole "Vikings are dirty and never bathe" thing is a myth. Personal grooming was a big thing for them. Horrible Histories taught me that. Confirmed by a quick google search. Jussayin'.
One final complaint: I do think Huitzilopoctli's treatment towards the end was a bit of an anti-climax. He was so badass all the way through up till that point. I can't say what happened without spoiling. Suffice it to say, it was embarassing. The Aztec pantheon won't let him live that one down.
Overall still a fun book, and a quick read. I'm rating this slightly lower than book 1, maybe 3.5-4 stars, because Christopher annoyed me. But I'm looking forward to reading April's POV in the next book.
August 9, 2019
Once again, this was a decent story that never really clicked.
I still do like the way that Applegate portrays battle: she never glorifies violence.
So much of fantasy focuses solely on the heroism of battle, and makes little to no mention of the brutality or the lives that are snuffed out (that is, if it's not actively glorifying them).
That said, I don't think I was wrong in my review of the last book when I said that the lack of real friendship or any other genuinely positive human feeling was a pretty big turn-off. While the dynamics of this group certainly are interesting, it gets pretty wearing pretty quickly to be spending so much time with a bunch of kids who all started off not particularly liking each other and only hate each other more as the story goes on.
That, and the portrayal of a lot of the real-world historical cultures just seems... oversimplified. The Vikings are unwashed barbarians and the Aztecs are bloodthirsty savages, and that's... pretty much all there is to them. (Never mind that the real life Vikings were actually some of the most hygienic people of their time, and the Aztecs had an incredibly sophisticated culture.) It's impossible not to make comparisons with the much more nuanced portrayals of Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear's Iskryne World or Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood , and Everworld does not come off particularly favorably.
I still do like the way that Applegate portrays battle: she never glorifies violence.
But all around was the madness. Men in the lunatic rage of combat. Hungry for murder; thirsty for the blood that would drench the sand. Not their own, of course, never their own, because what fool ever goes to war expecting that he will be the one to die? The movie in your head has you as the hero, bravely whacking away at the bad guys. Courage without the sight of your own intestines spilled out in the buttery sunlight.
So much of fantasy focuses solely on the heroism of battle, and makes little to no mention of the brutality or the lives that are snuffed out (that is, if it's not actively glorifying them).
That said, I don't think I was wrong in my review of the last book when I said that the lack of real friendship or any other genuinely positive human feeling was a pretty big turn-off. While the dynamics of this group certainly are interesting, it gets pretty wearing pretty quickly to be spending so much time with a bunch of kids who all started off not particularly liking each other and only hate each other more as the story goes on.
That, and the portrayal of a lot of the real-world historical cultures just seems... oversimplified. The Vikings are unwashed barbarians and the Aztecs are bloodthirsty savages, and that's... pretty much all there is to them. (Never mind that the real life Vikings were actually some of the most hygienic people of their time, and the Aztecs had an incredibly sophisticated culture.) It's impossible not to make comparisons with the much more nuanced portrayals of Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear's Iskryne World or Aliette de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood , and Everworld does not come off particularly favorably.
April 29, 2024
Still don’t know what to make of this series! Applegate definitely set herself up for a big time challenge with her post-Animorphs spec-fic series. Where Ani took place in the real world, EW is in a mythological composite universe. Where Ani had characters endowed with powers, EW’ kids are not even highly competent or athletic normies, they’re just normy normies. Where Ani had a group of friends, no one in EW’s group rly gets along. (At least half of them aren’t even what I’d call “likeable” according to tropes/character expectations at the time.) Where Ani explained the basic rules of its universe up front, EW is very obscure and withholding.
Now challenges are good, new is good, it can be very exciting for an author, and it is best an author chases their excitements. Plus this time it has a defined ending in the short term: 12 issues, whereas about 25-30% of Animorphs books ultimately aren’t that worth revisiting or even having in the first place (imo).
The problem with challenges is that they’re hard, and sometimes you don’t strictly conquer them at first so much as you survive them. Thus far EW does not have strong first volumes, unlike Ani. Because of the aforementioned hard turns away from the style she had been using for years, and also because of a problem I hadn’t experienced from her before: her other species so far are rly, rly thinly sketched. The Vikings like fighting, the Aztecs like cannibalism, the Coo like trading. That is all there are to them rn, and that’s not enough. They don’t have evident internal lives so they come off cartoonish, off putting, and boring. The most we get about the Coo isn’t even from one of them but is relayed to us by one of our leads after she talks with the Coo off screen.
But! As prickly as our central cast are so far, I’m definitely interested still. What’s up with the sci-fi stuff, what’s up with Senna, just how doomed is David (probly super doomed!), why does that old codger give a shit what he tells these kids, and are the Hetwin or Ka Anor secretly remotely interesting at all? I’m deffo curious and the books are short enough that I’m not tired yet from trying to find out.
Now challenges are good, new is good, it can be very exciting for an author, and it is best an author chases their excitements. Plus this time it has a defined ending in the short term: 12 issues, whereas about 25-30% of Animorphs books ultimately aren’t that worth revisiting or even having in the first place (imo).
The problem with challenges is that they’re hard, and sometimes you don’t strictly conquer them at first so much as you survive them. Thus far EW does not have strong first volumes, unlike Ani. Because of the aforementioned hard turns away from the style she had been using for years, and also because of a problem I hadn’t experienced from her before: her other species so far are rly, rly thinly sketched. The Vikings like fighting, the Aztecs like cannibalism, the Coo like trading. That is all there are to them rn, and that’s not enough. They don’t have evident internal lives so they come off cartoonish, off putting, and boring. The most we get about the Coo isn’t even from one of them but is relayed to us by one of our leads after she talks with the Coo off screen.
But! As prickly as our central cast are so far, I’m definitely interested still. What’s up with the sci-fi stuff, what’s up with Senna, just how doomed is David (probly super doomed!), why does that old codger give a shit what he tells these kids, and are the Hetwin or Ka Anor secretly remotely interesting at all? I’m deffo curious and the books are short enough that I’m not tired yet from trying to find out.
July 13, 2020
Book two went much better than book one. This one was told from Christopher’s point of view. I’m going to guess that since there are 12 books, we can expect each character to narrate three of the books.
Christopher is the self proclaimed funny guy of the story who thinks he’s on a sitcom (literally). He’s a total ass and definitely racist (Jalil, the token Black guy in the story, calls him out on this, as does Christopher’s little brother). He better have a redemption arc to fix that particularly nasty trait about him, or Applegate is doing a disservice. He’s also made some anti-Semitic comments towards the half-Jewish David. Applegate admonishes him slightly in the book through other characters, but not enough in my opinion. Like I said, he needs to do some serious soul searching and apologize to Jalil and David at some point
Book one just kinda threw us into Everworld (much like the characters) and left us confused and wondering what in the world is going on here. While things are still all over the place in Book Two, the pieces are sort of starting to come together to paint a picture of what’s going.
These books are so short, that I feel like we have to read a few of them before forming a full opinion on the series. In this chapter of the story, we follow the heroes as they join the Vikings in battle against the Aztecs and get captured.
We also briefly meet Merlin (because why not?)
Christopher is the self proclaimed funny guy of the story who thinks he’s on a sitcom (literally). He’s a total ass and definitely racist (Jalil, the token Black guy in the story, calls him out on this, as does Christopher’s little brother). He better have a redemption arc to fix that particularly nasty trait about him, or Applegate is doing a disservice. He’s also made some anti-Semitic comments towards the half-Jewish David. Applegate admonishes him slightly in the book through other characters, but not enough in my opinion. Like I said, he needs to do some serious soul searching and apologize to Jalil and David at some point
Book one just kinda threw us into Everworld (much like the characters) and left us confused and wondering what in the world is going on here. While things are still all over the place in Book Two, the pieces are sort of starting to come together to paint a picture of what’s going.
These books are so short, that I feel like we have to read a few of them before forming a full opinion on the series. In this chapter of the story, we follow the heroes as they join the Vikings in battle against the Aztecs and get captured.
We also briefly meet Merlin (because why not?)
January 27, 2023
Ooh, boy.
1) This book is very well-written. The plot moves forward relentlessly and gives you very little room to breathe or take in what is happening, which may not be to everyone's taste, but works so well because:
2) The point of view character is in a constant flight-or-fight/trauma-response state of mind, and the pacing of the plot really heightens that emotion and puts the reader into that sort of mindset (again, this may not be for everyone, but works very, very well as a storytelling tool).
3) The toxic masculinity hiding what very much appears to be internalized homophobia made me want to strangle several of the characters, but also really good characterization. I l0ve when the one female character is like: "You boys don't get to make decisions anymore because you're so bad at it. From now on I'm making all of the decisions." Yus, queen. Start a matriarchy.
This series is definitely traumatizing, which is not for every child, but could be quite therapeutic for some kids. Read with kindness to your own traumas and know your boundaries.
Possible Triggers Include but Are Not Limited To:
1) This book is very well-written. The plot moves forward relentlessly and gives you very little room to breathe or take in what is happening, which may not be to everyone's taste, but works so well because:
2) The point of view character is in a constant flight-or-fight/trauma-response state of mind, and the pacing of the plot really heightens that emotion and puts the reader into that sort of mindset (again, this may not be for everyone, but works very, very well as a storytelling tool).
3) The toxic masculinity hiding what very much appears to be internalized homophobia made me want to strangle several of the characters, but also really good characterization. I l0ve when the one female character is like: "You boys don't get to make decisions anymore because you're so bad at it. From now on I'm making all of the decisions." Yus, queen. Start a matriarchy.
This series is definitely traumatizing, which is not for every child, but could be quite therapeutic for some kids. Read with kindness to your own traumas and know your boundaries.
Possible Triggers Include but Are Not Limited To:
July 13, 2018
The second book in the Everworld series definitely solidifies the fact that these books are far more adult than the Animorphs. It also sets the books apart from KA Applegate’s other stories by having more visceral descriptions of gore and fear.
The book introduces Christopher as a narrator, and while it may appear that he is the comic relief of the group, he is in fact a much deeper character with some real insights into how we each find different ways to deal with the world around us (and in the case of these characters, the utterly bizarre and violent world that they find themselves in).
The character development in this series is also markedly different than the Animorphs series as each of the characters is fundamentally different and, in their own ways, fundamentally unlikeable. However, I am really digging the insight that this series is giving to human nature and I’m hoping that it keeps this up.
Again, the mythical elements are keeping me intrigued and I’m excited to find out more about Merlin and the terrible, horrible Senna (I may have read a few of these books when I was a kid, but I cannot remember the details).
All in all, this series is great so far.
The book introduces Christopher as a narrator, and while it may appear that he is the comic relief of the group, he is in fact a much deeper character with some real insights into how we each find different ways to deal with the world around us (and in the case of these characters, the utterly bizarre and violent world that they find themselves in).
The character development in this series is also markedly different than the Animorphs series as each of the characters is fundamentally different and, in their own ways, fundamentally unlikeable. However, I am really digging the insight that this series is giving to human nature and I’m hoping that it keeps this up.
Again, the mythical elements are keeping me intrigued and I’m excited to find out more about Merlin and the terrible, horrible Senna (I may have read a few of these books when I was a kid, but I cannot remember the details).
All in all, this series is great so far.
February 2, 2019
I enjoyed Christopher's voice much more than David's. I think I'll like Jahlil's even more. These books are a nostalgia read for me. And although I enjoyed this one, the writing still isn't what I wished it could be. That said, this book is loads better than the first one. I think I've read the first three in this series when I was in the 6th grade. I'm going to read the whole series now. I'm more excited for it after reading this book than I was after reading the first.
There are some seemingly random things about Everworld that I feel could be better pieced together. But I suppose we are experiencing it in this way because our protagonists don't know how the pieces fit. I'm still curious as to what this series would be like if each book had an extra hundred pages or so to really flesh out the details and characters. It's an excellent plot. I've simply been spoiled by YA writers of the past two decades.
There are some seemingly random things about Everworld that I feel could be better pieced together. But I suppose we are experiencing it in this way because our protagonists don't know how the pieces fit. I'm still curious as to what this series would be like if each book had an extra hundred pages or so to really flesh out the details and characters. It's an excellent plot. I've simply been spoiled by YA writers of the past two decades.
April 19, 2022
I don't have much to say about this one either.
I feel like David is the Jake/Rachel character. Christopher is Marco. Jalil is maybe Ax and Tobias into one. April is Cassie. Not too sure what else to say about this series other than it's a fun popcorn read, the mythology isn't like... super accurate? But I don't hate that either.
Poor vikings get a bad rap as not being clean. Aztecs getting a bad rap as being super savage. But they had a lot of really solid advancements and they had amazing agricultural capabilities so I'm not sure what's going on. I get that we're looking at sample sizes and things are twisted around and broken... and that we don't know what's up.
Spoiler? Merlin? Who does that make Senna? The Lady of the Lake? Morgana? Someone else entirely? Glad my Merlin detector was working as always though. Little bugger shows up in so many places.
I feel like David is the Jake/Rachel character. Christopher is Marco. Jalil is maybe Ax and Tobias into one. April is Cassie. Not too sure what else to say about this series other than it's a fun popcorn read, the mythology isn't like... super accurate? But I don't hate that either.
Poor vikings get a bad rap as not being clean. Aztecs getting a bad rap as being super savage. But they had a lot of really solid advancements and they had amazing agricultural capabilities so I'm not sure what's going on. I get that we're looking at sample sizes and things are twisted around and broken... and that we don't know what's up.
Spoiler? Merlin? Who does that make Senna? The Lady of the Lake? Morgana? Someone else entirely? Glad my Merlin detector was working as always though. Little bugger shows up in so many places.
March 26, 2021
This second installment is told from the point of view of Christopher. I have a feeling that every book will bet told from a different characters pov.
This book was way more violent than the last, our gang having to escape from cannibalistic Aztecs and their giant, heart hungry god.
Im not a big fan of Christopher. hes racist, sexist, and more or less a jerk. but, it says a lot about Applegate that she can tell a story from an unlikable character's view point and i still want to know what happens next.
I also enjoy how i can devour these books in one sitting each.
What really keeps me going is the mystery of Senna... who is she? what does she want? what the fuck is really going on???
Starting book three right away!
This book was way more violent than the last, our gang having to escape from cannibalistic Aztecs and their giant, heart hungry god.
Im not a big fan of Christopher. hes racist, sexist, and more or less a jerk. but, it says a lot about Applegate that she can tell a story from an unlikable character's view point and i still want to know what happens next.
I also enjoy how i can devour these books in one sitting each.
What really keeps me going is the mystery of Senna... who is she? what does she want? what the fuck is really going on???
Starting book three right away!
May 22, 2021
The Aztec book, with the cast in line to become human sacrifices. As disinterested as I am in the grimdark tone and mythological elements, this is a hammy and utterly effective way to sink into them: I have no idea how historically accurate it is, but it makes for vibrant, awesome imagery that focuses on fear and mass slaughter rather than sex and sexual violence--not unproblematically more palatable, but more palatable nonetheless. Christopher is, at least at first blush, easily the worst of the group and I didn't love to spend a book with him. But the rotating PoV makes for diverse internal and external views of the cast, here of David in particular. I hope the characterization evolves as the series goes on, but given its length I worry.
March 8, 2018
La realtà di Everworld (SPOILER)
In questo secondo volume del ciclo,il narratore è Cristopher,che ci fa capire in tutti i modi di voler ritornare nella realtà. I nostri protagonisti si addormentano un po' di meno e iniziamo a scoprire altre creature. Finalmente riescono a sfuggire al dio Azteco cannibale e lo feriscono con il martello di Odino;si rifugiano nella foresta e incontrano delle bizzarre creature grigie con le quali effettuano uno scambio:il libro di chimica per il rivestimento in acciaio bello resistente del loro coltellino multiuso. Alla fine spunta anche Merlino e Senna inizia a spiegare un po' questo strano mondo.
Proseguo, con la speranza che migliori un po'...
In questo secondo volume del ciclo,il narratore è Cristopher,che ci fa capire in tutti i modi di voler ritornare nella realtà. I nostri protagonisti si addormentano un po' di meno e iniziamo a scoprire altre creature. Finalmente riescono a sfuggire al dio Azteco cannibale e lo feriscono con il martello di Odino;si rifugiano nella foresta e incontrano delle bizzarre creature grigie con le quali effettuano uno scambio:il libro di chimica per il rivestimento in acciaio bello resistente del loro coltellino multiuso. Alla fine spunta anche Merlino e Senna inizia a spiegare un po' questo strano mondo.
Proseguo, con la speranza che migliori un po'...
June 10, 2017
Land of Loss features Christopher as narrator, whose honest commentary on his ongoing horror and trauma creates a compelling read, even as the plot moves more sluggishly than the first book. Following the battle against Huitzilopochtli, the four kids have to escape being prisoners of the Aztecs. The writing does not shy away from the more gruesome elements of human sacrifice, and overall continues to feel "older" than Animorphs with things like racism and rape coming up in characters' conversation. The world expands as the mystery with Senna deepens and we are introduced to the bizarre Coo-Hatch and the unsettling Merlin.
December 28, 2023
2023 Reread:
3.5 rounded down.
I really do love Christopher but he is a lot when we first meet him. It's what makes his growth arc so rewarding in the end, but we really don't see it. I also think it's interesting to see David through another person's eyes, rather than being stuck in his head. It really gives you a more well rounded view of these characters past their own biases.
This is another book that ends on a cliffhanger, however, so that can be a bit of a detriment, but we cover a lot of ground, introduce some major players, and I'm excited to revisit the next parts of this story, particularly reacquainting myself with April and Jalil.
3.5 rounded down.
I really do love Christopher but he is a lot when we first meet him. It's what makes his growth arc so rewarding in the end, but we really don't see it. I also think it's interesting to see David through another person's eyes, rather than being stuck in his head. It really gives you a more well rounded view of these characters past their own biases.
This is another book that ends on a cliffhanger, however, so that can be a bit of a detriment, but we cover a lot of ground, introduce some major players, and I'm excited to revisit the next parts of this story, particularly reacquainting myself with April and Jalil.
January 24, 2018
Sto procedendo molto lentamente perché la sto leggendo in lingua originale, ma la saga di Everword mi piace sempre di più! Continuano le avventure di David, Christopher, Jalil ed April in questo strano e straordinario universo alternativo, dove i vichinghi combattono contro gli Aztechi e si incontrano bizzarre specie aliene esperte di acciaio. Il fatto che il punto di vista cambi -da quello di David si passa a quello del cinico Christopher- mi ha un po' spiazzata sul momento, ma per il resto è davvero una bella lettura.
January 25, 2020
This book throws you in without much warning, and doesn't really stop. It's clearly a teenage boy at the helm, but he recognizes this with some introspective thought when he's getting tetchy and itching for a fight.
The take on the Aztec was interesting, especially with the fattening feast before ritual slaughter and the way the townspeople starved in comparison to the hungry god, but I really loved the Coo-Hatch. No doubt Merlin, seen for the space of one chapter, will have a bigger part to play as the series continues considering Senna's reaction to his name.
The take on the Aztec was interesting, especially with the fattening feast before ritual slaughter and the way the townspeople starved in comparison to the hungry god, but I really loved the Coo-Hatch. No doubt Merlin, seen for the space of one chapter, will have a bigger part to play as the series continues considering Senna's reaction to his name.
March 7, 2022
I never quite find myself warming up to Christopher on the second read. He's a guy who likes for life to make sense, to be comforting, to fall into somewhat black-and-white categories...so when it doesn't, he makes racist or otherwise bigoted remarks? And this is supposed to be kind of...understandable? I appreciate his fondness for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, if nothing else. I'm not sure if it's because he's the narrator or that the pacing is off, but this one didn't interest me until the kids met the Coo-Hatch, who I find fascinating. Too bad the book is almost over at that point. As a teen, I was terrified by their near-death encounters with the Aztecs; now I guess I'm just jaded and it didn't make me feel all that much.
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