Customer Reviews

The Underland Chronicles: Books 1-5 Paperback Box Set

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading the first two books in the Hunger Game series (and waiting impatiently for Mockinjay), I decided to try Suzanne Collins' Gregor books. I LOVED this series! I had to make myself stop reading so I could get some sleep for work the next day. The characters were well-developed and the story was a wonderful fantasy. Both of my daughters in their twenties devoured these books too. I have come to the conclusion that books with young protagonists are classified as young adult, even though they are enjoyed by all ages. Don't hesitate to buy this series!

I read the whole series to my seven year old son and I'd be hard-pressed to think of a book with more memorable characters or hilarious dialogue. It also gives an incredibly visceral and emotional depiction of the horrors of war.

The books follow an 11 year old boy, Gregor after he has fallen miles underground with his exuberant 2 year old sister Boots. He is drawn into complicated interspecies conflict between multiple groups of huge talking animals and humans. The humans were brought underground centuries ago by a leader "Earl of Sandwich" who had visions of the future which he carved into the stones as prophesies. Gregor and his sister seem to be named in the prophesies.

Of the books themes which seemed to impact my son were:
1. The responsibility of taking care of the vulnerable (This is also some of the funniest scenes in the books as he tries to look after Boots)
2. How much can be solved if you can communicate with others. (A gifted child is able to speak the languages of several of the creatures and avoid disaster)
3. Nothing is inevitable, especially war.

The writing is beautiful.. this is the author that went on to write the Hunger Games/Catching Fire. (In that way I wouldn't compare it to the pedestrian Lightning Thief). A closer analogy would be Garth Nix.

A word of caution. Some of the battle scenes are truly horrifying and I did end up skipping some sentences for my son's benefit. Also, major characters do die. While some would complain about the lack of a truly happy ending (it's happy enough, considering all that happens) I found it more satisfying and realistic than most YA books.

This 5 book series reminds me very much of Rick Riordan's Percy and the Olympians series. Both are 5 book series created around an 11 year old boy. In both series each boy must face a series of "prophecies" or "quests" with his friends that appear in each book. The Underland Chronicles may be a bit more scary/exciting than the Olympians, but suitable for middle school kids 0just find. The Underland Chronicles is really fun for all ages, it's being passed around my family and co-workers now. It seems to me that it is for a slightly younger crowd than Suzanne Collins excellent trilogy "The Hunger Games". (I have book 3 on pre-order now) The Underland Chronicles is truly an excellent Adventure for all readers.

Suzanne Collins is the author of the phenomenally successful - and phenomenally good - young adult series, the Hunger Games, which began with The Hunger Games, continued in Catching Fire (The Second Book of the Hunger Games) and will conclude with Mockingjay (The Final Book of The Hunger Games), due in August, 2010. (Can't wait!) I hope fans of the Hunger Games series will be willing to give Collin's earlier series, offered here as a box set, a try. Though aimed at a slightly younger audience than the Hunger Games, the story is, IMHO, equally absorbing and unforgettable.

If someone would have told me that I would fall in love with a series of children's books featuring giant bats, giant rats and giant cockroaches among other creatures, I would have been very skeptical (to put it mildly). In fact, after I found the first book in the series, Gregor The Overlander (Underland Chronicles, Book 1), in a used bookstore and picked it up to see if it should be added to my growing library of children's books, it sat in my to-be-read pile for more than a year. When I finally sat down with it, though, I was less than half way through when I set it aside just long enough to drive to the bookstore so that I could buy the rest of the series. I knew that I would want them on hand so that I could finish the series in one big rush - which is exactly what I did. Then I ordered the entire set in hardcover for myself, gave them a prominent place on my keep forever shelf and mailed the paperback editions to my adult daughter for her to enjoy. She did. I am now sharing the series with my oldest grandchild, who is also loving it.

In the Underland Chronicles, Suzanne Collins has created a wonderful alternative world that exists side by side with our own. Well, okay, it exists underneath our own, far underneath. Collins is a master at describing that world, enabling me to perfectly envision each new landscape as our heroes move from one area of their diverse world to another. The vast sea, the poisonous jungle, the searing heat of the volcanic wastelands - everything still remains vivid in my mind. And Collins accomplishes this without taking pages and pages to do so.

There's a simplicity to the books - not only does Collins never over-describe the world, she allows readers to use their imaginations regarding the characters as well. In fact, I'm not quite sure if she ever gives a physical description of eleven year old Gregor at all. But just as as I could imagine the vistas, I could picture the wonderful characters - Boots, Ripred, Luxa, Ares and Temp among so many others - as well and very clearly.

There's love and caring in this series, family, friends, humor and sorrow, duty, prophecies, adventure and, of course, a world to save. The Underland Chronicles (which is sometimes referred to as the Gregor the Overlander series in recommendation threads) deals with war and does a very good job of forcing readers to look at both sides of the disputes underlying the conflict. (Parents should be cautioned that in the course of the series, more than one beloved character dies.)

The complete series is offered in this box set and should be read in order:
Gregor the Overlander
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
Gregor and the Marks of Secret
Gregor and the Code of Claw

My only complaint about the Underland Chronicles is that I found the ending of the series vaguely unsatisfactory. While I appreciate that, with what Collins has given me and how she left things, I can create my own future for the characters, I know I'd still love to read more stories set in this world, perhaps 15 years or so down the road. If Collins does not want to revisit these specific characters, I'd still enjoy another trip to this world, with a catch up as to the fate of the characters we met in these volumes revealed somehow as part of the Underland's history. I can only hope. :-)

In the growing number of fantasy series aimed at children, I would, if asked, place The Underland Chronicles firmly in third place, just behind Harry Potter and the wonderful Faeries of Dreamdark series (Blackbringer (Dreamdark) and Dreamdark: Silksinger (Faeries of Dreamdark) by Laini Taylor. (Psssst - if you haven't read these yet, run now and check them out - fabulous writing & storytelling with unforgettable characters!). I'm often surprised that the Underland Chronicles doesn't seem to be as well known as some of the other series currently crowding the shelves.

Very, very highly recommended.

*Contains Mild Spoilers*

All the positive reviews of this series are spot on, but I would throw out one caution to parents who are trying to decide allow this series for their children. The violence level in the books is about on par with the Harry Potter books (which I've allowed my son to read), but the ending lacked emotional resolution. Basically, Gregor returns from the "wars" the equivalent of a wounded veteran, suffering from what appears to be PTSD, and is left with an uncertain future.

On the one hand, it is a much more realistic than your typical fantasy novel, and I have to give the author credit for not glamourizing war. On the other hand, it left my then 8-year old son sobbing and ultimately very unsatisfied with the series. It's always been hard to find appropriate books for him, since he reads above his grade level, and I did read the first one all the way through before letting him read this series. Just wish I had jumped to the end - I would have held off on this a couple of years until his emotional maturity caught up with his reading skills.

I bought this set for my grandaughter who is an avid reader. I also read the set for myself. The books are smartly written and wildly entertaining.
The comic relief offered by Boots was fantastic.
Suzanne Collins is an amazing story teller.

My only concern is the Underland Chronicles, like The Hunger Games set, leaves one feeling so much empathy for the charactors. It makes you think about violence, conflicts, war in general in a real and frightening way.
As a military veteran and retired law enforcement officer I must say Collins hits the target on the emotional struggles involved in both war and conflict resolution. Somehow she manages to make one feel what most veterans can never express.

I wish more young people had the opportunity to read these books. Perhaps if they could empathize more with people living in poverty and on the brink of violence, they might one day find a way to put an end to both.

After reading the Percy Jackson Series (books 1 to 5)and the 39 Clues Series my 12 year old daughter wanted a new series to read. Although the Underland Chronicles have been published for a couple of years now , we just discovered them. Initially a reluctant reader, my daughter now enjoys reading very much. She has also read the the first two Hunger Game books by Suzanne Collins and can't wait for the third book to come out. The Underland Chronicles boxed set (books 1 to 5) is a great buy and fun reading for children 9 to 12 years old.

I love Gregor and enjoyed reading his adventures to my kids. I picked up this series, Collins's middle grades series, only after reading and loving the Hunger Games trilogy. Like Hunger Games, these are unflinchingly violent, though, in the Underland Chronicles, the most graphic accounts of violence are about spiders, rats, and bats, and the humans are spared somewhat. Collins writes great page-turners; every chapter ends with a "what's next?" hook. Gregor's struggle with violence is subtly portrayed. The series is neither screamingly pacifist nor a justification for war. It shows some of the complexity and human difficulty of the topic. Gregor's care for his fun and funny little sister Boots is a highlight of the series, making it sweetly human. My kids couldn't stop laughing when the cockroaches loved the smell of Boots's dirty diaper. Good reading!

This was a GREAT set of books! Written for kids but purchased for me; I loved the set!! I would recommend these books for all ages.

I recently read this series with my nine-year-old son. He loved them and thought the quests were very much like those of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in terms of descriptive detail, danger, gore, and beauty. I tend to agree, although the female characters are much stronger, and I thought the antagonists were far less scary (and much more age appropriate for my kid). There is definitely danger, gore, and death, though. I think I was moved to tears at least once in every book.

That's because the characters are rendered exceptionally sympathetically. Even the villains are loved by someone and have their good points (except, perhaps, for the fireflies). The language of the cockroaches is exquisite. The enormous bats and bugs are portrayed with the same kind of warmth Madeleine L'Engle used for Aunt Beast and Mrs. Whatsit.

The books read quickly, and there isn't much of a vocabulary stretch for a third or fourth grader, but there are lots of character twists and opportunities to talk about how easily language can be misinterpreted and characters can be misjudged. Highly, highly recommend.