I happened upon these books one day in Chapters. I had seen them before, but not given them much attention, so one day I decided to actually see what the first one was about. With all the buzz about the Percy Jackson series (which I have not yet read), I was excited to discover this one was also about the Greek Gods. I have never taken any Greek mythology, but have always had an interest in learning, so I picked up this trilogy. The first book, The Shadow Thieves, is about Hades and the underworld, the second book, The Siren Song, is about Poseidon and the ocean, and the third book, The Immortal Fire, is about Zeus and Olympus.
I read the first book and I fell in love. It was really well written, the characters were just your ordinary grade eight kids, and there was a surprise at the end that made me gasp. I was gripped from the get-go and couldn't wait to read the other two. And they did not disappoint. I really hope that more kids read this trilogy. The writing was well-done and the stories were written in a way that kids could feel as though they could fight against the Greek gods like Charlotte and Zee! I hope Ursu will try another trilogy (maybe an offshoot of this series, using Maddy or another character we are introduced to in this trilogy) introducing some of the other Greek gods or maybe just some other myths and tales!
As I said, I have not read the Percy Jackson series, but I would recommend this trilogy to anyone who has. I think it is great that kids are learning about the Greek gods, as the myths are far from being nice, fluffy, and bright. This series also shows that even Greek gods have family spats :).
If you would like more information about these books, please check out the links below. Happy Reading!
http://www.cronuschronicles.com/
http://www.anneursu.com/
http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/1416905871.asp
http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/1416905898.asp
http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/9781416905912.asp
http://books.simonandschuster.ca/Shadow-Thieves/Anne-Ursu/Cronus-Chronicles-The/9781416905875
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/The-Shadow-Thieves-Anne-Ursu-Eric-Fortune/9781416905882-item.html?ikwid=the+shadow+thieves&ikwsec=Home
http://www.amazon.ca/Shadow-Thieves-Anne-Ursu/dp/141690588X/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1328110461&sr=8-8
I think it's important in children's books that there is some realism and that some stories don't end with happily ever after.
ReplyDeleteI agree. These ones are pretty fantastical, but the main characters are very real and everyday kind of kids. This one also ties up pretty well at the end. Some of my favourite books, though, are ones in which the author is not afraid to kill off main characters (I think most authors are afraid to do it, but it's a sign of an author who is not afraid to tell the "real" story)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you found these, now I know about them too. I have been trying to find ePubs of them so that I will read them but I can't seem to find any. I may have to resort to paper!
ReplyDeleteI have read the Percy Jackson series and I love it and I know many people who have been looking for similar, I will have to point this out to them.
Thank you again for the great info and the links!