Customer Reviews

The 39 Clues Book 10: Into the Gauntlet

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 39 Clues is the first series I've read that was written by a variety of authors. I wasn't sure how well that would work, but as the series ends, I can say that, IMHO, the books blended together well, creating a cohesive and very entertaining whole. The multi-author method also exposed me to authors I hadn't read before, including Margaret Peterson Haddix whose contribution, Into the Gauntlet, turned out to be my favorite book in the series.

As Into the Gauntlet begins, Dan & Amy Cahill, along with their au pair Nellie Gomez (who has been declared an honorary Madrigal) arrive in London, still reeling from the events of Storm Warning. Not only are they exhausted, but they're feeling defeated and unable to cope with the news that they are expected to unite the warring branches of the Cahill family. But there's no time to rest and regroup. Within minutes, the coded note waiting for them in their room is stolen by a taunting monkey and the clue hunt - revolving this time out around William Shakespeare - begins again.

Into the Gauntlet continues the series standard of keeping the chapters short and the action non-stop. The POV changed frequently, something I thought worked particularly well in this book because it gave us the opportunity to listen in as each of the characters started to make decisions about the direction they wanted their own life to take. I won't reveal any spoilers except to say that most of the characters make decisions that seem relatively wise.

Though I thought there were a few bumps in the road over the course of the series, I feel it ends strongly and, overall, there were a lot of things I liked. Readers caught glimpses of exotic locales and learned a bit about some of the most influential people in history. As protagonists, Dan & Amy Cahill faced danger, defeat and malice and continually struggled with knowing who to trust. But they kept trying and, even though frequently annoyed with one another, they supported each other and, along with Nellie, they hung together as a family. The books also have a lot of good messages concerning the corrupting power of greed, the futility and self-harm of hating others, the value of working together as well as the importance of valuing human life. Those messages were presented without preachiness and were mixed with adventure and humor.

All in all, I think the 39 Clues is a worthy addition to family libraries and is a great series for parents or grandparents to read aloud with family members.

Highly recommended.

Note #1
For those sad to see the series ending, there is more to look forward to:
* A bonus book by Rick Riordan, who wrote the first book in the series and the main story arc, is due in stores on October 26th. Called The Black Book of Buried Secrets, it promises to reveal more secrets about the Cahill family.
* A 39 Clues film, reportedly to be directed by Steven Spielberg, who bought the film rights in 2008, is scheduled to be released in late 2011.
* There are hints at the end of Into the Gauntlet that there may be more adventures in the future for Dan and Amy. Apparently, another mysterious family, more evil than the worst of the Cahills, have always been interested in acquiring Cahill powers...

Note #2
I just wanted to add that I really liked the whole 39 Clues concept - the online, interactive stuff, the cards to collect etc. - even though I didn't participate in anything but the reading. Some people might view this concept as a money-grubbing marketing ploy, but I preferred to look at it as a creative way to involve kids and attempt to draw them further into the adventure of reading. I have no idea if Scholastic feels the concept has been successful, but regardless, I salute them for giving it a try and hope to see more publishers offering innovation interactive reading opportunities for kids in the future.

The most interesting thing about this entire series is that it was written by different authors, some of the very best adolescent authors writing today. I was delighted to find Haddix at the helm of this latest, and last, installment. She is one of my favorite adolescent authors and I knew she would not disappoint.

Watching the book and trying to determine how this author's style is different from the one before it is kind of like a puzzle. This book had much more reflection in it than Rick Riordan's go at the series, which was mostly adrenaline on the run.

In case you don't know what the series is about, it concerns two siblings, Amy and Dan. Orphaned at a young age, they are left a mysterious challenge by their grandmother in her will: Find the 39 clues and become the holder of the greatest knowledge the world has ever known along with fabulous wealth. Each book in the series has them one step closer to the ultimate mystery, while simultaneously competing against warring family members.

In this last installment, Amy and Dan and all the youths in the book are coming to terms with their past decisions and their family's shortcomings while trying to decide for themselves the adult they want to become. They start questioning the decision of their parents and not just following their orders. This last one is so unique because it is the first time the reader gets to see the inside thoughts of Ian Kabra and Jonah Wizard, two main antagonists from the beginning.

This last book in the series wrapped up nicely and paved the way for a brand new series with these characters, which I have just ordered.

One suggestion: read the series straight through with no books between them. It was very easy to forget important clues and the book right before it.

This is coming from a kid who loves The 39 Clues, this book is weird. Each of the first nine books Iread them all day. Then the ninth book ended. One question I had was, 'How is another author gonna top this?' They did a ok job. It's an avid fight to get all the clues. It gets too violent! I'd recommend to about 10 yrs and up.

39 clues is one of the best series i have read all of the books but i think book ten was the best.39 clues books have it all humor adventure and also a bit of mystery,the books are like a package deal.I cant wait for the second book in cahill vs vespers to come out the first one was really good!!!!!!

this book was probaly the best in the series! The characters finally learn what is right and I finally get to know who won. Also in this book the Starlings are back after their injuries, though two of them are disabled. read this book and find out who is disabled, how everyone got to behave, and who is now going to jail!

As a conclusion to the initial 39 Clues series I found this book to be as engaging, detailed, and surprising as the entire series has proven to be. At the beginning of the series I was not sure about a series written by a variety of authors, but they have blended well and picked up the story with renewed enthusiasm with each new installment.

This book provides the reader with a quickly changing point of view which allows the reader/listener to hear from the characters as they made choices and debate what to do next. This was used effectively and made the book and characters more transparent and it was fun to hear my son, 7 years old, debate on who was really the "BAD GUY" and who was just trying to do what they thought was right. I really enjoyed the conversations that the book generated about good and bad . . . and how people sometimes do things that are bad without being really "BAD" people.

The book is full of challenges and attempted alliances and distrust amongst the branches, however, in the end the younger generation of Cahills (plus Alistar Oh) really come together to save the ones they love and make the best choices available to them.

We are excited to see what is going to come next after the foreshadowing that was heavy in the end of the book . . . Grace seems to have something MORE in mind than just reuniting the Cahill branches for Amy and Dan, those poor kids may never get a break! At least we hope not, we want another book!

This was a great end to the series...or so I thought! Until they decided to continue the story!!!! We will read book 11 as well.....good series for 10 - 12 year old children. Boys and Girls will enjoy the adventure. Sometimes the books can get scary. Life and death! Good vs. evil.

Five-starring to the series of The 39 Clues! Gotta see!!
In the front cover, there is a globe being shattered to pieces by a some kind of explosions. With the shattered glasses, there are five keys representing each branch. Wolves: Janus. Bear: Tomas. Snake: Lucian. Dragon: Eket. And finally, C: the Madrigals. After the cover, there are `The 39 clues' sign without the globe and surrounded by burning ashes. What can you get from this? Yep, this book is the final book. THE final book. The FINAL book. THE FINAL book. At first, I was like, totally disappointed. I thought the series should have been, like, 39 books you know(but now, I know that there is the eleventh book, but, I didn't notice then.). However, when I started to read the book, the thought disappeared like a mist in daylight.
The story in this book is mainly about William Shakespeare, the serum, and the wish of the Madrigals. Now, a pop quiz: was William Shakespeare a Janus? Yes, or No? No. He was a Madrigal. He led the Madrigals in an attempt to combine the whole serum, but they failed. But in this book, Amy and Dan success in making the Cahill's original serum and re-uniting the families together. After following and discovering many leads, Amy and Dan arrive in an island containing the original lab of Gildon cahill and the most important clue: the serum recipe. With the combined force of the four branches, Amy and Dan WIN the clue hunt and return to normal life.

This was a fantastic book. I love this seris and this book was no disappointment. It was filled with detail and adventure. There a lot of surprises in the last few chapters and excitement that made you feel just as much suspense as in a movie. The very ending left me wanting more and saying "it can end here!" and shortly after I found they were coming out with more. So if you haven't read the seris yet get started. I've been with it since the beginning, I awaited the release of every book. This is one of the best seris I have read, and my favorite book (collection).

We bought all the books and cards for our 11 years old. They are very exciting for him and keeps him reading and interested in reading for a long time instead of playing video games. I think that these kind of books are excellent tool for stimulating creative thinking analytical skill in kids. I recommend it.