Customer Reviews

The Hourglass of Souls (Max and the Gatekeeper Book II)

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I have made it no secret that The Hourglass of Souls by James Todd, the sequel to Max and the Gatekeeper is one of my most anticipated books of the year. Now that I have had a chance to take this book for a spin, I am compelled to share my thoughts on it. The big question is, how does The Hourglass of Souls compare to Max and the Gatekeeper? To put it simply, not only is The Hourglass of Souls a worthy sequel to Max and the Gatekeeper. It actually surpasses it.

Now bear in mind that this is no small feat considering that Max and the Gatekeeper, like many first books, is not only a labor of love, but also a completely original and compelling story which introduces us to a whole new universe conjured from the fertile imagination of Cochrane. More often than not, sequels tend to lose the unique flavor that of the introductory tale in order to venture off in some strange, new unexplored territory. Although I must admit, that there were times when I had to wonder if the sequel hadn't lost some of the magic of the original book, the story kicked itself into overdrive in the second half of the book and delivers a riveting and very satisfying tale.

In The Hourglass of Souls, thirteen year old Max Rigdon's mother is kidnapped by the evil forces of Hudich who wants him to steal the key which will unlock the magic-dampening collar which was placed around Hudich's neck in Max and the Gatekeeper. To ensure that Max carries out Hudich's will, both Max and his mother are subjected to cruel torture. Max fears for his mother's life and is convinced that he must steal the key to Hudich's collar from his Grandpa and use it as a bargaining chip to save her. Max's plight becomes much more complicated when he learns that Hudich has discovered a magical gateway by which he can enter any world in the universe. If Hudich is able to remove the collar from his neck, he will regain his deadly magical powers. Everything that Max and his friends suffered to defeat Hudich in Max and the Gatekeeper will have been for nothing if an all-powerful Hudich and his forces are able to use this new gateway to invade other worlds. Max must find a way to rescue his mother from Hudich without giving up the key.

From the harrowing plot it is obvious that The Hourglass of Souls is much darker tale than Max and the Gatekeeper. Cochrane has raised the stakes for Max in this sequel and in the process draws his readers more deeply into the explosive conflict of his book. To be certain, there is no lack of action in this excellent sequel. However, the area where I think The Hourglass of Souls doesn't quite match up to the original is in the sheer scope of its imagination. Although The Hourglass of Souls, which is the namesake of this book, is a quite creative plot device, the overall story seems to be lacking the wow-factor which blew me away in the original book. This is not to say that The Hourglass of Souls doesn't feature its own cleverness. I think much of the way the story shapes itself has to do with the darker, more violent tone of this new story. Cochrane is not pulling any punches in The Hourglass of Souls and it is clear to see that he is weaving a tale that is not only more frightening, but also quite emotional.

I definitely enjoyed reading this book and am now an official fan of the author. I recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a wonderful tale of adventure. Better still, if you like your fantasy stories to have a bit of substance to go along with the spectacle, look no further than The Hourglass of Souls.

This book is the second book featuring Max Rigdon, his mother, grandfather, his best friend Cindy, and an assorted cast of others, including a number of enemies. In the first book, "Max and the Gatekeeper," we learn that Max's grandfather has been protecting a gateway between worlds from various beings that would use the gateway to conquer other planets. In this book, author Cochrane has raised the ante by revealing that the enemy has obtained their own gateway.

There are several obvious differences between the evil side and the good side. The evil side, led by a being called Hudich, wants to conquer the universe. The good side is interested in letting planets determine their own fate. The evil side also has a tendency to do things we generally think are undesirable, such as torture, murder and eating thinking creatures, all because they enjoy doing these things. Generally, it is reasonably easy to figure out on which side each character belongs.

Early in this story, enemy forces intent on getting a key to a collar on Hudich kidnap Max's mother and his uncle. The collar prevents Hudich from performing magic. Releasing Hudich would permit the forces of the enemy to expand their attacks on innocent planets. Alan, one of the leaders of the enemy forces, tells Max that he must find and turn over the key or his mother and uncle will be tortured in horrific ways. Max needs to free his mother, yet he also has significant respect for his grandfather. How can Max accomplish the one without losing the other?

While Max is going through his personal crisis, the enemy is on the move, preparing to launch an attack on an innocent world. Another problem that arises is that someone is anticipating the movements of Max, his grandfather, and the others who would prevent the forces of evil from controlling the universe. Is there a traitor in their midst? In the previous story, a highly trusted person turned out to be a spy. Has another spy infiltrated the close-knit group around Max and his grandfather?

As though the story was insufficiently complicated, someone is murdering people in the town where Max, his family and friends live. More than just murder, the someone, or something, is also eating portions of the victims. Max and his family must be vigilant to remain safe. Even better would be to stop this being from continuing to kill.

Author James Todd Cochrane has increased the complexity of his universe in this story. Max's responsibilities have expanded, and the danger to Max, his family and friends has expanded as well. Once author Cochrane launches the action in this novel, it is nearly constant from beginning to end.

I do have one minor complaint about this novel. Author Cochrane managed to allow a number of punctuation errors to creep into his novel. Most of the errors are comma abuse, including excessive comma use and sometimes failure to use a comma. At least one semicolon seems as though it should have been a comma. Though I did pause a few times to figure out why a sentence read strangely, the number of times was small enough that it was a minor annoyance. I think the reason I noticed the issue was that the first book contained virtually no such errors, at least that I recall.

Some people like comparisons to make it easier to understand how much they might like a particular book. Many people like to compare young adult fantasy books to Harry Potter, and there have been some comparisons between the Cochrane's first two books and those of J.K. Rowling. However, any such comparison is inappropriate because the characters and their circumstances are quite different. I do think that Cochrane's worlds have some similarities to Diane Duane's Young Wizard books, which began with "So You Want to Be a Wizard." I enjoyed the first eight books in that series (I have yet to read the ninth) and I think the first two "Max" books compare quite favorably with the Duane series. Therefore, if you liked the "Young Wizards" series, you will almost certainly enjoy "Max and the Gatekeeper" and "The Hourglass of Souls."

Author Cochrane has done a marvelous job of making the second book in this series more interesting than the first. He is continuing to develop his characters, and his story has reached epic proportions. The good news for fans of Max and Cindy is that their journey will continue, for their enemies remain strong and well armed.

Enjoy!

This is the great book for the series. Max is back at home with his mother and back in school when his mother gets kidnapped. Max most grow up fast and battle like an adult with his friends and family in the other worlds to save his mother. He also has some hard choices to make. This is the kind of action packed, roller coaster riding kind of book that I enjoy.

This sequel surpasses the original. The second book is alittle bit more grown up then the first but it is also even better then the first. With action, adventure, and curve ball surprises thrown at me here and there I was not able to put this book down. You get to see the characters grow up even more in this book also.

Thanks for giving me the chance to read both books. I would recommend them to anyone who is young at heart or just anyone who enjoys alot of action and adventure in a fast paced book.

In The Hour Glass of Souls, Mr. Cochrane brings back Max's adventure and the captivating world that he has created. While this story is more grown up than the first book, the sequel matches perfectly to the first book and even surpasses it. Max's story becomes more intriguing and captivating and the villains become more despicable than before. All the favorite characters comeback in this book, and watching them battle to save the world only makes you heart grow fonder of them. I recommend this book to all readers, regardless of age - it's a great book!

Max's adventures continue in the sequel, The Hour Glass of Souls. Again, Mr. Cochrane has brought back his captivating story full of magic, other worlds, and interesting creatures. A wonderful story for children, though it is a little more grown up than the previous story. Favorite characters from the first book make a welcome return, with a few new characters introduced. Villains also return, more despicable than before as you discover the lengths they would go to for power. I would recommend this book to any kid 10+, and also includes more elements in this story to keep an adult entertained as well. If you've read the first book in this series, you absolutely must read this one!

This book is great family entertainment! We read the first book, Max and the Gatekeeper and highly anticipated it's sequel. This book is very fast paced and packed with action. The Hour Glass of Souls grabs your attention and does a great job of keeping it. The entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking what a great movie this will make! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure. Max is a great character. The chemestry between him and the others in the book comes through very well. I thought that Cochrane did a fantastic job taking the story to the next level. Readers of all ages can find themselves lost in another world and get caught up in the pace of this story.It is a quick read for adults, but I happen to love that! Can't wait to read what Cochrane writes next.

It is always a pleasure to read a book in a series, and the follow up books are on par with or exceed the level of enjoyment created by the initial book. For me, the Hourglass of Souls exceeded the expectations I had of it.

I very much enjoyed Max and the Gatekeeper, and had high hopes for this one... I was not disappointed.

While I am an adult, I still enjoy reading books written for children. I think that this book is written well for younger children, but still written in a way that an adult will find it entertaining, captivating, and lose themselves in the world created by Mr. Cochrane. I would highly recommend this to anyone.

The Hourglass of Souls was a very nice follow-up to Max and the Gatekeeper. Once I started reading, the plot from the first book came right back to me and I remembered where the adventure left off. The action starts right away and draws you in. The middle was a bit slow for me, and it seemed to me like the plot was choppy. The character development was a bit lacking, such as with Cindy's mother and Max's aunt; I felt that these characters could have been described a bit better. I liked the addition of several sketches throughout the book to give you a sense of how a scene looks when you read it. It's a nice easy read for kids since there are no large words and it's easy to understand. All in all, I think kids and young teens will enjoy this book as a second installment to Cochrane's series and will be hungry for the next one!

I am writting this review with the understanding that this book's intended audience are young adults. What makes this an excellent choice for a young reader is it starts off with adventure and action and it just keeps coming at you. I admit that I enjoyed the first book, Max and the Gatekeeper, better but that is more due to the fact that this book is in the middle of a series so starts off where the first book ended and the ending leaves the reader hanging. This "young at heart" reader will definitely be looking forward to the next book.

My son (age 14) loves these books. He zipped through Max and the Gatekeeper and then proceeded to devour The Hourglass of Souls in it's wake. When he completed it, his first comment was "is the next book out yet?". The story is enticing; it reels you in! Totally captivating!