The Pilgrims of Rayne (Pendragon Series) [Audiobook, Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

D. J. MacHale (Author), William Dufris (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007 | Grade Level: 7 and up | Series: Pendragon Series (Book 8)

When Bobby Pendragon first arrives on the tropical world of Ibara, he finds paradise. As he works to uncover clues about the turning point this seemingly idyllic territory will soon face, all he can determine is that the people of Ibara are blissfully happy. It’s not long before Bobby discovers, however, that they are blissfully . . . oblivious. The leaders of Ibara are keeping a devastating secret from their people, one that gives Saint Dane all the opportunity he needs to launch his final assault on Halla.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

D. J. MacHale is a writer, director, and producer of several popular television series and movies that include Flight 29 Down; Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective; Tower of Terror; and Ghostwriter. Pendragon, his first book series, is a #1 New York Times bestselling series. He lives in southern California with his wife, Evangeline; his daughter, Keaton; a golden retriever, Maggie; and a kitten, Kaboodle.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Journal #28

FIRST EARTH

The future isn't what it used to be.

I know that makes no sense. What else is new? There isn't a whole lot that has made sense since I left home three years ago to try and stop a shape-shifting demon who is bent on destroying all humanity. At least I think it was three years ago. It's hard to tell when you're out of your mind. And space. And time. My name is Bobby Pendragon. I'm a Traveler. The lead Traveler, in fact. The Travelers' job is to stop this guy named Saint Dane from changing the natural destiny of the ten territories of Halla and plunging them into chaos.

Do I have your attention yet? Stick around. It gets worse.

The Travelers' mission is to protect Halla. Halla is everything. The normal and the exceptional, the common and the impossible. Halla is all that ever was and all that will be. I know, sounds like a bad sci-fi movie. I'd think so too if I weren't living it. Every day. When I left home I was an ordinary fourteen-year-old guy whose biggest worry was whether or not Courtney Chetwynde liked me...and if she'd notice the zit that erupted in the middle of my forehead like some third freakin' eye. Now I'm seventeen and the leader of a group that must protect the well-being of eternity. The future is in my hands. The past is in my hands. There's nobody else who can stop Saint Dane.

Kind of makes the whole zit-on-the-forehead thing seem kind of lame, doesn't it?

Why Saint Dane calls himself "Saint" is a mystery to me. He is anything but. He isn't even human. At first I thought he was pure evil, just for evil's sake. But the more I learn about him, the more I realize there's something else that drives him. It's hard to explain because I don't understand it myself, but I've come to think that for some twisted reason, Saint Dane believes what he's doing is right. I know, how can a guy who is pushing societies toward cataclysmic disaster possibly believe what he's doing could be justified? When I find that answer, I'll unravel the entire mystery of what has happened to me. Why was I chosen to be a Traveler? What happened to my family? Where did Saint Dane come from? Why does he have these incredible shape-shifting powers? What did he mean when he said all the Travelers were illusions? (I've lost sleep over that one.) What is this all leading to?

Saint Dane talks about something called the "Convergence." I have no idea what it is, and I'm not entirely sure I want to. But I have to. Is it something Saint Dane is creating or was it destined to happen anyway? No clue. The only thing I know is that it's up to the Travelers to make sure whatever the Convergence is, it won't come out the way Saint Dane wants it to. It's the only way to be sure that Halla will continue to exist the way we know it. The way it was supposed to be.

I write these journals for two reasons. One is to document what has happened to me for the ages. You know, history and all that. A thousand -- no, a million years from now I believe it will be important for people to know what happened. The other reason is to let my best friends from back home know what's going on with me. Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde are the only people from Second Earth who know the truth.

But things have changed. Mark is missing. Worse, I'm afraid he started a chain reaction that caused serious damage throughout Halla. The cultures of the territories are not supposed to be mixed. I've learned that the hard way more than once. Okay, a lot more than once. Territories have their own distinct destinies that must be played out. Mixing the territories creates havoc. Saint Dane likes havoc. He's mixed the territories at every opportunity, and I believe he has gotten Mark to unwittingly help him do it again. At least I hope it's been unwitting. The alternative is unthinkable. I wish I had never gotten my friend involved in all this by sending him my journals.

As for Courtney Chetwynde, she's with me now. Together we've got to find Mark and try to undo the damage. Courtney and I have come a long way since we were childhood rivals. She is my acolyte and she is one of my best friends. Same as with Mark, I wish she weren't involved in any of this. She's been through hell. But we can't look back. We've got to keep moving ahead, which in some ways means looking back. Don't worry, that will make sense as you keep reading. I think.

With Mark missing and Courtney with me, I have no one to send these journals to. But I have to keep writing. For history's sake, as well as my own. Yes, there's a third reason why I write them. They help keep me sane. They allow me to look back and try to make sense of it all. The whole "making sense" part hasn't worked so well, but the keeping me sane part is a good thing.

I don't know who you are, reader, or how my journal ended up in your hands. I hope that you've already seen my earlier journals, because I'm not going to repeat everything that has happened. Those early journals, starting with #1 (duh), contain the whole story. If you haven't seen them, go to the National Bank of Stony Brook in Stony Brook, Connecticut. Second Earth. My hometown. There's a safe-deposit box there registered to Bobby Pendragon. That's where my journals are kept. Find a way to get them and guard them with your life. They contain a story that, when complete, will tell of the events leading up to the destruction or the salvation of all that exists. Of Halla. It's a real page-turner, if I do say so myself.

As I write this, Courtney and I have traveled to Third Earth. Our home world in the year 5010. That's three thousand years in the future from the time when we were born. This is where we hope to find answers. This is where we hope to find Mark. After being here for only a short time, we've quickly discovered a scary fact.

The future isn't what it used to be.

This is where the next chapter in my adventure begins.

And so we go.

Copyright © 2007 by D. J. MacHale

Journal #28

((Continued))

FIRST EARTH

I hope I haven't made a huge mistake by leaving Second Earth with Courtney Chetwynde.

She isn't a Traveler. Only Travelers are supposed to use the flumes -- the highways between territories. I learned that lesson when Mark and Courtney traveled to Eelong on their own. The flume there collapsed, trapping the Travelers Spader and Gunny and killing the Traveler Kasha. Since then I learned that as long as someone uses the flume with a Traveler, nothing bad will happen. At least, nothing bad to the flume. What happens to the future of a territory once a non-Traveler gets there is a whole nother issue. Like I wrote, territories are not supposed to be mixed.

Which is exactly why Saint Dane has been doing it.

He's deliberately brought people and technology and even animals from one territory to another. I don't know if that has been his plan all along, but he's definitely going for it now, and things are getting whacked. When he won Quillan, I'm afraid he tipped the balance of the war for Halla. He's winning. I feel it. It's not that I'm getting desperate, but it's time to level the playing field. Maybe I've waited too long already. Why do the good guys always have to play by the rules while the bad guy does whatever he wants? Where is that written? It's not like I want to start messing with the territories randomly. No way. But if I can gain an advantage over Saint Dane by bringing an element from one territory to another, I'm going to do it.

Right now, that element is Courtney Chetwynde.

Things have gone strange on Second Earth. History has changed. Technology has changed. Whatever caused it has something to do with Saint Dane's plan for our home territory. Courtney is the one person who can help unravel the mystery of what happened. Together we're going to learn the truth and try to make things right. The future of Halla is at stake. The future of Second Earth is at stake.

The future of Mark Dimond is at stake.

Am I making a mistake by bringing her? I don't know. Uncle Press always warned me about mixing the territories, but he isn't here anymore. Is it the right choice? I won't know until the ultimate battle is over and the Travelers have won.

Or lost.

During the journey, Courtney and I floated next to each other on the magical cushion of air that sped us through the flume. We both wore jeans, low hikers, and T-shirts. You know, your basic Second Earth uniform. I had to admit, Courtney never looked better. She'd grown up since I saw her last. I guess we all have. Her incredibly long brown hair was tied back in a practical braid. Her big gray eyes sparkled, reflecting the light from the stars beyond the crystal walls of the flume. I remembered the very first time I saw her. It was at recess the first day of kindergarten. I decided to pick up the dodgeball she had been playing with. She decided to punch me in the head.

"Don't touch my stuff," she scolded, and grabbed the ball back.

I should have been ticked, but something about her playful smile told me she wasn't your typical playground bully. I held back my tears, smiled, and said, "Don't start a fight you can't win." I grabbed the ball and ran away. She took off after me and chased me through the busy playground for the next ten minutes. By the time we stopped, exhausted, we were laughing. That began a love-hate relationship that has lasted to this day. We were always friendly rivals, trying to outdo each other in sports. Sometimes she'd win, other times it would be me. Neither of us really felt superior, but that didn't stop us from trying. The strange thing was that over those years our rivalry turned into serious affection. The night I left home with Uncle Press to become a Traveler, Courtney and I kissed for the first time.

So much had happened since that night. We were different people. As we floated through the flume, I saw it in her eyes -- she was older. But "older" didn't really cover it. We'd both seen things that no kid should have to. No adult, either. The fourteen-year-old kids who k... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio Unabridged (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597372919
• ISBN-13: 978-1597372916
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)

More About the Author

D. J. MacHale is a writer, director, and producer of several popular television series and movies that include Flight 29 Down; Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective; Tower of Terror; and Ghostwriter. Pendragon, his first book series, is a #1 New York Times bestselling series. He lives in southern California with his wife, Evangeline; his daughter, Keaton; a golden retriever, Maggie; and a kitten, Kaboodle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bobby Pendragon Returns With a Vengeance...Literally, May 13, 2007

By 

Jarrod T Thompson "Young Adult Author" (Junction City, KS) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Pilgrims of Rayne (Pendragon) (Hardcover)

Bobby Pendragon is back and he is older, more passionate and Halla is more complex than ever before. Welcome to the latest edition of the Pendragon series. The Pilgrims of Rayne is the best installment thus far, and there will be more to follow!

We know that the territories all have a turning point, but we have never seen anything like what happens in the latest installment. Do you miss Loor and Gunny and Spader? How about Alder? The Pilgrims of Rayne does not disappoint. MacHale gives us everything we want this time around. I mean everything. If you ever thought, "Why doesn't Bobby do this, or that?" It is all in here. The territories have been mixed and nothing is what it once was.

Make a wish, choose an adventure you would like to see, revisit territories, feel like everything is under control and all Halla breaks loose.

Sit back and enjoy the ride as Bobby Pendragon discovers more about who he is, what he is, what he can do, what he should be doing, and for the first time, what he might do without his closest friends who are no longer what they once were either.

The Pilgrims of Rayne is the best yet! The new Harry Potter has a lot to live up to.

Hobey ho, let's go!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another thrilling addition to the Pendragon series, May 31, 2007

By 

Melanie Edwards "book worm" (Commerce, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pilgrims of Rayne (Pendragon) (Hardcover)

in the Pilgrims of Rayne, we join Bobby Pendragon and friends in another adventure threw time and space. after a huge defeat on Quillian, Bobby is more determined then ever to stop Saint Dane and rescue Mark from his clutches. he follows Saint Dane to the tropical world of Ibara and the island city of Rayne, where the people live a carefree and happy life but underneath this seemingly peacfull comminity lies a dark secret. the leaders of Rayne are keeping a dark secret from their people, a secret off their past, a secret so devistating it would change everything on Rayne. and it is up to Bobby to figure this secret out before the gathering storm threatens to destroy the people of Rayne. meanwhile, Courtney travels to First Earth and teams up with Gunny's acolyte Dodger. they are on a quest to save Mark who has come to this territory with intents of changing the future. as time counts down, can Courtney save Mark? and can Bobby stop Saint Dane from claiming his third territory? the action comes fast in this book, with a good plenty of plot-twist that simply urge the reader on and with a diabolic cliff-hanger, it will have fans eagirly awaiting the ninth book.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars MacHale is Back!, May 13, 2007

By 

Peggy T. Feeney "gaerelle" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Pilgrims of Rayne (Pendragon) (Hardcover)

Quillan Games was so disappointing, I almost didn't buy Pilgrims, but, wow, am I glad I did! Suspense, excitement, drama, melodrama; it was all here. I'm expecially glad that Courtney, Mark, and Bobby are exhibiting more maturity intheir thoughts and deeds. It's about time these heros started acting rather than re-acting. Great read! I can't wait for # 9!