11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
3rd in an ever-increasingly good series!!, June 18, 2001
This review is from: Enter the Enchanted (Everworld #3) (Paperback)
Everworld is a strange and dangerous place for 4 teens from the modern world. Vikings, wizards, dragons and ancient Aztec gods who require human sacrifice all inhabit this strange place where the gods and myths of ancient Earth have gone. Four teenagers, Christopher, Jalil, April and David, were all pulled into this place by a fifth-- Senna-- who somehow opened some sort of gateway in the fabric of reality and sucked them in.
The second book in the series concerned the foursome's capture and eventual escape from a gang of fierce, bloodthirsty Aztecs and ended with a dragon attack. The third book, "Enter the Enchanted" picks up right where the second left off. Typical to the series, the book grabs you by the throat within the first pages and doesn't let go of you until the last. This time, the teens are joining forces with the legendary knights of King Arthur, while trying to escape the dangers of Merlin the magician.
At the heart of the battles between god and wizard lies Senna, the strange girl who is somehow attached in some way to all four of the teenagers and who seems to be the key to getting back home. Problem is, of course, Senna is some kind of witch, and very much wanted by both the powerful Merlin and Loki, the Norse god of destruction. The four teens are stuck in the middle, still trying to just UNDERSTAND Everworld, and struggling to somehow get out of it before they succumb to the evils and dangers of this strange place they're in.
K.A. Applegate is the author of the popular "Animorphs" series and has outdone herself with this, the Everworld series. Consisting of 12 books, each character narrates one of the stories in turn. In "Enter the Enchanted", April, the half-sister of Senna, tells the story. We are therefore able to get deeper into each character, explore their personality and motivations in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Subtle connections are made when we learn more about each character, and this allows the reader to know them well and it makes them so much more believable, more real.
The series moves at a lightning fast pace which will keep even reluctant teen readers going. It plays out in the mind like a high-adrenaline adventure movie, keeping you on the edge of your seat and keeping you guessing not only what will happen next, but what is the very nature of this place called Everworld?
Fights happen, blood is shed, people die, and the 4 teens make sharp wisecracks at each other, so there is plenty of action to keep your interest. However, the violence is not gratuitous, it's realistic. When battling ancient gods that require human sacrifice or going head to head with snakes the size of an el-train, there is going to be a certain amount of mildly foul language and bloodshed. Too little of it and the book is goody-goody, not realistic and the reader looses interest. Too much, and it becomes offensive or simply gross spatterpunk and is a turn-off. Applegate nicely balances everything out to keep us reading.
By the third book, the nature of Everworld is becoming clearer, but not crystal. Senna has a nasty habit of appearing and disappearing as it suits her plans, and the teens still aren't sure exactly how they feel about her. Applegate does an excellent job of capturing the hot and cold running emotions of young adults caught in a dangerous, impossible situation where their lives, to say nothing of their sanity, is threatened at every turn. The only way to get OUT of Everworld, it would seem, is with Senna's help. IF they live to find her. IF Senna herself is willing to help. IF Senna wants to go back to the real world, and doesn't have any plans of her own. Some rather big IF's.
I used the first book in the series in a reading class I teach, and was somewhat shocked to see how fast my students devoured it-- my students who normally don't read unless they're absolutely forced to. Though we've stopped reading the series as a class after the second novel, most of those students have gone on to devour the rest of the books (one of my lowest-motivated students is actually closing in on the last book). Clearly, there is something here to hold the readers interest, and I know a good many adults who are clipping through Ms. Applegate's series as well. This universal appeal to both the target and non-target audiences is perhaps the most powerful recommendation that could be made for any book. The language and violence may be a bit much for some readers, though I would argue that it's no worse than the stuff that is regularly trotted out on TV and in movies. Perhaps less so, even. Still, if you enjoy a good adventure with some fantasy, mythology and science fiction thrown in for good measure, you can't go wrong to begin on the Everworld series.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting..., October 3, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Enter the Enchanted (Everworld #3) (Paperback)
This book...SO COOL! If they where to make a television series they'd have about three seasons worth of adventures in only one book! That's how exciting this series is. I read the Animorphs and those are excellent. So I had to try these out, and K.A. has out done herself. Let me get to the summary...April is the narrator. They find the Knights of the Round Table and..du..du..du..da...SENNA! (Corny I know) Well she just gets them into more trouble, cause duh she's a witch. April meets Galahad and they kind of have a short lived romance. But I'm getting the feeling that April is starting to like Jalil. Which is cool. Okay, I'm taking up a lot of space. READ THIS BOOK!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Everworld#3:enter the enchanted, October 5, 2005
A Kid's Review
This review is from: Enter the Enchanted (Everworld #3) (Paperback)
In this third sequel to the Ever world series, the characters David, Chris, Jalil, April, and the witch Senna, are still trapped in the world of ever world. They have finally caught up to Senna ,and soon enough find themselves in more trouble. After being attacked by a dragon sent by the wizard Merlin, they come across the worlds perfect Knight Galahad. They come to his castle where a meeting is being held over the witch Senna. The god of hate Loki wants to take Senna and use her so he can leave ever world and escape the wrath of Ka Anor.
The great wizard Merlin has plans to keep Senna so the gods of evil don't escape on to the mortal world and cause much destruction. A war starts between the good of Merlin and the Knight Galahad verses the evil god Loki, all ending up with the fate of both worlds.
All of this madness seems to involve Senna in some way or not. In fact the whole war started because of Senna. April, Jalil, Christopher, and David will have to decide whether Seena is good or evil, for their own sakes if they ever want to escape Everworld. While they have to do this they still have to keep there sanity.
I think that this book shows a good example of friendship, how though they have they're arguments, and disagreements they still manage to be very good friends and stick together in the awful situation they are in! I think that this book was narrated perfectly and was an excellent page turner!
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