Customer Reviews

Everworld #10: Understand The Unknown

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Trapped in an underwater city, David and company must try to find their way to the surface. But how can they when the only thing keeping them alive is the temperamental Roman god of the sea, Neptune. Neptune has them in his own little underwater world and the only way for them to stay alive there is for them to make Neptune happy. David doesn't know what to do and to add to his problems Merlin is there looking for Senna. The only thing David knows is that he can't let Merlin get Senna. Also back in the real world he meets that strange lady who told him to "close the gateway" and finds out who she really is. We get to understand David a lot better and see how he is willing to do anything to save Senna and be a hero. Understand the Unknown was a gook book but definitely not the best in the series. At the end we get another cliffhanger and are left to wonder what happens.

Trapped in an underwater city, David and company must try find their way to the surface. But how can they when the only thing keeping them alive is the tempermental Roman god of the sea, Neptune. Neptune has them in his own little underwater world and the only way for them to stay alive there is for them to make Neptune happy. David doesn't know what to do and to add to his problems Merlin is there looking for Senna. The only thing David knows is that he can't let Merlin get Senna. Also back in the real world he meets that strange lady who told him to "close the gateway" and finds out who she really is. We get to understand David a lot better and see how he is willing to do anything to save Senna and be a hero. Understand the Unknown was a gook book but definitely not the best in the series. At the end we get another cliffhanger and are left to wonder what happens.

This series was going so well, I don't understand what happened to this one. I didn't found it suspenceful nor interesting. The plot was weak.... I gave 2 stars only because the ending gave some really interesting info. ....Thank [goodness]that the next book (Book #11) was beyond cool and rewarding.

Understanding the Unknown begins with David telling the tail of how him and his four friends get shipwrecked and fall to Neptune's world. Here they must kill sharks, tell jokes, and do daring feets to find their way back to land. They start out by gitting on Neptune's good side and sabotozing Merlin's plan to take Senna. They then steal water carriages from Mermen and try to make it to the surface again. They find themsilves in Atlantis where they end up in court for illegal entry into Atlantis. They tell their tai and go to the surface to then find another moster awaiting for them.
Everworld 10, or Understanding the Unknown is a well written book that deserves to be read again and again with all the rest of the books written by K.A. Applegates, because of its' great word choice, descriptive tones and being hooked on it within the first 2 paragraphs. Though Understanding theUnhnown is not the "ultimate" reading material K.A. Applegates has put forth into writting, it is will worth the 4 to 6 hours of reading you put forth. If you want to git to know the team better (David, Jalil, Cgristopher, Senna, and April) I would suggest reading the other Everorld books before or after this one.

While all of the books in this series are exciting, this one I really didn't want to put down! While I didn't think it was better than the previous one, Inside the Illusion, this was definatelly worth the read. What made this book special was actually what originally gave the series it's charm, and what's been missing for several books. The hilarious interactions between the main characters! At times I was laughing out loud! Anyway, David narrates this time as the kids try to make their way back to Olympus by tagging along with a few Romans on their ship. A storm strikes suddenly, courtesy of Neptune, the angry Roman god of oceans, and when their boat sinks out from under them, they find themselves in the middle of Atlantis, caught in a war between Neptune and Poseidon. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend this book if you haven't read the others, or to kids younger than thirteen or so, since it gets pretty intense at times.

Reading EverWorld is like reading a soap opera, you know it's not great literature, but you get sucked into it and can't leave! All the books are excellent, fast reading, and a great diversion from the everyday doldrums.

While not as good as the previous book, "Inside the Illusion", this is very good for Everworld. "Understand the Unknown" is exceptional for a number of reasons.

Firstly is the story. One of the problems with the Everworld series has been little effort done to develop the overall story arc beyond the immediate adventures of the four. This one, however, had the most power in the overall myth arc than I've seen since "Search for Senna." There area a number of plot developments that I was very, very excited and gratified to finally learn of. Reading this book fleshed out everything and cast the events of the previous books in a new light.

The first of these was David's reencounter with the old woman he'd met in "Discover the Destroyer" who told him to "close the gateway." She finally reveals who she is and what she's been doing, along with her connections to certain other characters, and why she wants the gateway closed.

Also, later in the book, we learn of another person from the Old World in Everworld, and of a very important item known as the "Great Scroll of the Gods", which simultaneously offers some great possibilities and some very real dangers.

There is the first mention of how April's parents(Senna's father and stepmother) are currently doing in the Old World, though it is pretty brief and vague.

"Understand the Unknown" is again narrated by David Levin. I guess that after Senna interrupted the "wheel" of the four narrating, it goes back to the beginning. So far the pattern has been David, Christopher, April, Jalil, David, Christopher, April, Jalil, Senna, and now David again. I guess that means that one of the four is going to have to have one less book to narrate than the others. I hope it'll be Jalil, the least interesting one, and the pattern does indicate that.

We get to see some more development of David, who's personality is coming across quite clearly now. We get to see a little of his thoughts about Senna from his own account for the first time since their parting in the fifth book. The best of these are probably the comparisons he makes between Senna and her dynamically opposed half-sister.

The only real problem, besides the Everworld standard briskness, is the ending. A very, very good potential ending was set up and it had me on the edge of my seat . . . but then it abruptly cut off with the worst sort of cliffhanger that hits you right in the middle of the action. In sort, the end of this book absolutely sucked.

"Understand the Unknown" lays the groundwork for the concluding two novels of the series, which I will be reading shortly. It is a good installment for Everworld, better than most of the books, the fourth best after "Inside the Illusion", "Discover the Destroyer", and "Enter the Enchanted."

3.5 stars.

The group of five make it out of Egypt and to the ocean where they are passengers on a ship. The ship is destroyed by the bad tempered Neptune and the group finds themselves in an underwater city where there are air bubbles to breathe in and even when there are no air bubbles present they find they can breathe water. The group soon realize that their host is the ever grouchy Neptune and realize that they must escape soon. They set out only to find Neptune and his army of mermen hot on their tail. They find another underwater city. This turns out to be Atlantis and to there great surprise it is governed by another person from the real world. How did this person get here and can they ever make it back to dry land?

Applegate's Animorphs are great so don't get me wrong but these books are soo much more interesting. They do not go by the same plot-line as her other books: find out plan, attack, escape, and then worry if they did the right thing. They have an originality to them. I advise everyone to read this book.

I started reading the book awhile ago and it wasn't as good as the other nine books, so I quit reading it. I just got it again and finally finished it. It was better then I thought it would be. The series is about five kids trapped in Everworld, a world of ancient gods and their domains. Each book is about a different place in Everworld. "Understand the Unknown" is about an underwater world with the god, Neptune. David, one of the five, narrated the story which is about the kids trying to get to the surface. I thought the book was 'just average' because there wasn't much adventure and it was hard to get into it. When I finally got into it, it was better. The series is great.