Customer Reviews

The Soldiers of Halla (Pendragon Series)

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have been infatuated with the adventures of Bobby Pendragon since I bought the first books in the series and read them to my son back in 2005. Even after my son decided he was too old to read YA books, I continued buying every one of them as soon as they came out, and devouring them all by myself.

I don't know exactly why I love these books. I love the characters and I love the complexity of the story. Each book is a complete adventure and stands on its own. But at the same time each book advances a story arch, bigger in scope than any of the individual stories. You could say each book is a block, together they build a castle.

I found the "castle", the complete picture of Halla that emerges in this tenth volume quite satisfying. I totally bought into the premise of Halla and Solara and of Saint Dane's origin and self-delusion.

Pendragon: The Soldiers of Halla works well as an independent book too. In the year that took for this final volume to be published, my recollection of many of the events in the previous ones was sketchy at best. Yet, I never got lost. D.J. MacHale does a great job bringing the reader up to speed, giving the information needed to follow the story in a timely, not intruding way. He also provides the right balance between fast-paced adventure and metaphysical explanations.

Thus my five stars.

SPOILERS ALERT

Only once I lost my suspension of disbelief and that was when several thousands of people disappeared suddenly from Black Water. I don't mean through the flume. I get that. I mean, how could Pendragon miss their leaving?

My other complain, and this one is huge, is that I hate, really hate, the Epilogue.

Yes, I wanted Bobby and Courtney to end up together, but not like that. Not in Second Earth, because you see, according to the story, Second Earth changed from the moment Bobby became a traveler at age 14. Which means Bobby, Mark and Courtney's lives in Second Earth could never have continued as it is described in the epilogue. And what about Bobby's parents and sister are they allowed to go back to Earth too?

The spirits of Solara, we have been told repeatedly in this last book, do not change the real world. So where does this "fake" Second Earth come from?

So D.J. MacHale, if you ever read this, please, please, cut this epilogue in future editions.

If you want to give Bobby and Courtney a future together why not let Bobby live his human life on Third Earth after the battle has been won? It would make much more sense and they would be themselves. Because, you see, the characters we have grown to love are not the two kids we met in the first book, but the people they have become because of their struggle to save Halla and their confrontation with Saint Dane. Without their memories of these events, they are as good as dead.

I loved this book!!! but...

Spoilers

The epiloge didn't make any sense at all. It contradicted a big part of the story. I also didn't like that Bobby and Courtney got together, it might be just me but I thought Mark and Courtney should have gotten together because the author seemed to be leading up to it. And, come on, they're cute together! Also another thing I didn't like was how Saint Dane went down begging. I LOVE how the people were why he failed but he shouldn't have gone down crying. I also felt that the bit about no good and evil was contradicting itself especially with the positive and negative thing. Other then that I loved the book and I am looking forward to reading it again, I'm just going to get my scissors and cut out the epilogue because THATS the way it was meant to be.

This book, simply put, was fantastic. I've been a Pendragon fanatic ever since The Merchant of Death, and every book continues to engross me. The only other time I've ever felt so anxious to know what will happen to fictional characters is in the Harry Potter series. This book was a great closing to the end of the series. DJ MacHale couldn't do better than this even if he tried.

Indeed, this is the last book to the ten book Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale. For those of you who have read the previous stories, I believe you will not be disappointed. For all others, do not skip the adventure! This is a very confusing world if you jump in at the wrong time. Read the others first!! If your debating between buying or borrowing this book, defiantly buy it. You'll be glad to have it and look back. So, in all, a terrific book. Twists, turns, the unexpected (as always:), surprises, and conclusion. Everything is completed and everything comes together, like any good book ending, but there's still enough room for your own imagination. Enjoy!

Exciting and "past midnight" reading, the Pendragon series has been good to very good, in my opinion. My only complaint has been that the writing seems to be somewhat flat and juvenile. However, this is excusable because the point of view is Bobby's.

I expected more of the same from this book. Lo and behold! I have been blown away by the ending!

SPOILERS:

I have seen many complaints about the epilogue in this forum. Some reviewers seem to feel that Mr. MacHale deviated from his own stated laws in his universe by allowing Bobby to go back in time to relive a life without being a traveler. I found myself wondering, however, if the ending is all that it appears to be. Has Bobby really gone back in time? In my mind, there are several possibilities. Has Bobby actually gone back to Solara to experience this alternate reality? Uncle Press tells Bobby that each spirit "sees" Solara in different ways. Has Bobby been experiencing an alternate reality through the virtual machines on Veelox? I realize that Veelox is no longer functioning, but perhaps Uncle Press was able to repair and utilize the machines for the ten travelers? Or has Uncle Press allowed the travelers to relive their lives without being a traveler because he wants them to see the richness and importance of their lives as travelers?

It has been interesting for me to speculate as to what really happened in the ending, if the laws Mr. MacHale established were actually not broken. What has happened to Courtney and Mark, if the ending has only occurred in Bobby's alternate reality? Hopefully, they managed to obtain some happiness without their friend, Bobby.

As such, I believe this last book made the series for me because I felt that his ending left much to the imagination. I don't believe the ending was black and white, because Mr. MacHale clearly stated the laws of his universe several times. The only explanation for the "reversal" of established laws is that no laws were broken. And if no laws were broken, then these last events had to have taken place in an alternate universe. I felt Mr. MacHale clearly made his point that the life of Bobby as a traveler was more significant than his life as a non-traveler. This is why Uncle Press sent the travelers their journals at the end of their alternate life, so that they would have a greater appreciation of their lives as travelers.

You know what makes a great book? Authors who aren't afraid to get dirty; authors who don't hold back on tragedy. This is especially true in adventure books -- if your characters are frequently put in dangerous situations, bad things should happen. Yes, maybe they're able to get out of those bad situations and rise above it, but it shouldn't be easy for them. D.J. MacHale is one author who definitely doesn't hold back and definitely doesn't make it easy for his characters in the final battle.

I am very satisfied with the conclusion of this series. All the characters showed tremendous growth and the final battle was pretty awesome. MacHale did some careful planning with this series, because I noticed things that tied back to clues given in previous books, which was fun. This is the point I was waiting for throughout the entire series, and like I said, MacHale doesn't hold back. The stakes are high and it gets dangerous for Bobby and his friends.

The only thing I didn't like was the explanation of what makes them all Travelers and how the gates were formed. I know it's a fantasy/science fiction novel, but it was just a little too far-fetched for me. I'm not going to go into detail due to spoilers, I'll just say that I think there could be far better explanations to the one MacHale chose.

However, this was a satisfying ending. It got kind of shaky for me around book 6 (The Rivers of Zadaa), but I continued with it because I was invested in the characters by that point. Around book 8 (The Pilgrims of Rayne), I was feeling it again, and now I'm glad I stuck with it. Soldiers of Halla is a great book full of excitement, danger, adventure, friendship, and everything that I love about the Pendragon series. Honestly, I think it's the best book of the series because the stakes are raised so high and the characters really have to struggle.

I recommend this entire series to lovers of young adult adventure/fantasy. They're imaginative, exciting books that don't disappoint.

Im a fan of all the pendragon books. They are totally awesome. This book was no diffrent. But you know how all the books start out with Bobby looking back and saying this is how it all began, well if the epilogue had been in the beginning I would have thrown the book down, before I had even started. Thats how much it felt off. So the story went in a diffrent direction towards the end but oh well, it was still good and deserved 5 Stars. That was until you read the epilogue. I actually went back and reread it twice and then thought. Wow. That was not what I expected. I hope that in future versions of Pendragon that the epilogue is not included. It just makes you go HUH, I read these books for how many years to end up with a.... a... since of blah. "This is not the way it was meant to be".

This book & series is great. My son has reached a spot in the book where all the pages are out of order. He's on about p 40 and it jumps to p 500 and so on. I'll need a new copy as this is a printing issue.

I found out about this series from a friend who suggested it to me on our way home from school. I became interested and went to the library that day. After finishing the first one, I was very intrigued. Within a few weeks I had finished the series. Most of the books kept me up until late at night - couldn't put them down. The way the author portrays emotions, morals, and weaknesses while keeping a very realistic storyline makes this one of the best books I've read in my life (and I've read quite a few). After finishing the very last one, I felt that the ending was well thought out and appropriate - but left me thinking about it for a while.

I would recommend this series to anybody interested in adventure, fantasy, and thrills mixed in between.

As for this book, I would give it a 5/5 (and the other 9 books).

one of the best series but the epilogue was terrible. i dont think bobby and courtney should have got back together. and saint dane went down begging what the heck.