pry0citer

So having reviewed most of the books I got from the library (I can't review unwind as it would be nothing but praise) I finally got around to reading the maze runner. They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but so far that strategy seems to work for me. Based solely on covers i've found 2 of the greatest books i've ever read (voyage of the space beagle, Unwind) gotten back into a great series, and read a book that I really, really, hope gets a sequel. (rise of renegade X) so, did this strategy work with the maze runner?

Well first off reading the maze runner was sort of a knee jerk decision. Honestly the only reason I got it was because the cover reminded me of Enslaved: odyssey to the west, a game I have yet to get a hold of. (i'm saving my cash for a trip to New Vegas.) so, I really had no expectations for this, not like wrath of the bloodeye.

At first the Maze Runner is difficult to say the least. The book's protagonist is Thomas (no last name given) as he wakes up in the Glade, which is...i dunno. Describing the Glade in a few words is difficult. It's basically a massive area in the middle of a giant maze. The Glade is where this, for lack of a better term, Tribe of teenage boys live. They come in some sort of dark elevator, have no memory of where they come from, and are forced to live in the Glade.

At night the Glade's doors close to keep the Grievers out, which I imagine are like a cross between the Chu Chus from Zelda and sonic the hedgehog. Getting into the Maze Runner is difficult because the story never describes what exactly the Glade looks like. I mean, never a tone point does the story describe what exactly the Glade looks like.

On top of that the boys in the Glade have their own weird adjectives for things. Klunk, Slint, Shank, it's confusing from the start to try and figure out what these made up words mean. And I know shank is a real word and what it means, but klunk is the sound effect Atomic Robo makes when he trips over a nuclear warhead.

?klunk? is the only word that's actually explained, what is a shank and a slint? You'll have to figure that out yourself. Klunk is suppose to be a synonym for ****. You can't just write ****? Seriously, if your novel is directed toward teenagers I can almost guarantee they are well acquainted wit the word ****. The only reason they wouldn't say **** is if they didn't want to be rude in front of girls, and there aren't any girls in the Glade, (at least not in the beginning) or they didn't want to anger their parents, again not in the Glade. In Hindsight, knowing the purpose of the Glade I guess it makes sense they wouldn't swear and fight non stop, but having known these characters i'm not convinced they would make up their own words at all!

On top of that, the three words mean basically the same thing! The words shank, slint, and klunk, all mean ****. ?little shank?. ?slint head.? ?piece of klunk.? why give different words that mean exactly the same thing!? There are already several words for crap that would work just fine, just use those! And I wouldn't mind if it wasn't for the fact that this does make it more difficult to get into the novel.  It makes the whole thing feel alien, and the Glade doesn't hold enough mystery to make me want to read further. But of course I did, I wouldn't review a book if I only read the first 2 chapters. Just like I wouldn't criticize a game I only played 20 minutes of, YAHTZEE.

Anyway Maze Runner never really explains what the Glade is suppose to be. Because of this I didn't know the severity of the situation, so I couldn't feel sympathetic when they talk about leaving the Glade. I mean, what's so bad about it?

Everyone else in the Glade seems to have some concept of why the Glade is so evil, though no one really explains it to Thomas. The Grievers, those sonic chu chu things, are suppose to be what makes the Glade so bad, but the Glade closes off the monsters during the Night, the ONLY time the monsters are out.

However, there is a moment about 60% of the way through the book where Thomas is running through the maze, where he finds a silver plate that says ?WORLD IN CATASROPHY- KILLZONE EXPERIMENT INITIATED.? that intrigued me. What catastrophe is the world in? Where IS the Glade? What's the killzone experiment? Why's it called that? The only other thing  I know with the name killzone is bleak, filled with ash and blood and pelted with machine gun fire.

On top of this while I wasn't genuinely interested in the purpose of the Glade, but I was in the characters. This group of boys have banded together, and worked for two and a half years to try and get out of it.

There's also ?the creators.? whoever they are, there just something menacing about a group of people that have put a group of teenagers into a maze of monsters. Not only that, but there are lizard like robots that crawl along the walls, supposedly spying on the boys for these ?creators.? what makes it more ominous is that WICKED is written on the machines.

I know it sounds like i'm klunking all over the book here, but it genuinely does get really good later on. It's hard to get into the story early on, but as the story moves forward and I stopped obsessing over what the setting looked like and what the difference between a slint and a shank are, it got really good. The character of thomas isn't the standard goody two shoes hero, but he isn't as out landish as Damien in renegade X.

so yeah, as bad as I made the book sound, ti does get really good later on. Unfortunately I can't really tell you what makes it so good without spoiling it. so...yeah the maze runner, if you stick with it passed the first few chapters, is a really good book, and I look forward to the second book. Hopefully it won't take 2 years like this one did.

About a week or two ago I went to the library intent on getting back into books. The 4 books I got were the maze runner, unwind, wrath of the bloodeye, and rise of renegade X. didn't finish maze runner, unwind wouldn't be a very good review (though the book is awesome), and I want to review the other last apprentice books before bloodeye. That just leaves Renegade X for reviewing. So how is it?


Well, let's start with the premise. Damien Locke lives in a world were superheroes and super villains are common place. A while back some scientists realized that super villains and superheroes tended to have certain genetic structures and powers, and created a virus that would turn their thumbprints into an H or a V when they turn 16. there's also rumors of a third letter that appears on those with both hero and villainous traits. But it's just a rumor. GUESS WHAT OUR HERO HAS!?

Yeah about one paragraph in it becomes clear where this is going. Anyway Damien's mom had a one night stand with a super hero that ended with Damien, making him half hero half villain. Apparently, this third letter (which is an X) will turn into either an H or a V depending on one's actions. Being brought up a villain he of course, has his heart set on being a villain.

However, there's a bump in the road. Villain's typically have one type of power while heroes have another, and if he gets a hero power it'd make him a villain outcast. Damien hopes he gets the laser eyes his mom has, cause no super hero has laser eyes, (superman) and sets out to find out who his father is to learn of his power. After a little bit of time Damien finds out his father is none other then the Crimson Flash, a goody two shoes hero who's power is the ability to fly. The catch? Damien has a crippling fear of heights! Oh irony your such a ****.

Anyway long story short Flash learns about Damien and makes his mother allow Damien to stay with him for awhile, so that he can choose what side he wants to be on. Now Damien is stuck in a house of super heroes (though three don't have powers) for six weeks and tries to stay sane during his stay. It's sort of an identity crisis for him, though he seems set on being a villain from the start.

Being a book the story is more about the **** up psychology of being a villain in training then about the action. It's a lot like the venture brothers in that aspect, if Rusty was the son of a super villain. And not entirely socially awkward. Well, it's similar in premise.

There's also a love triangle concept going on that works much better than you'd expect. Where most love triangle?s end exactly how you expect them too,  I honestly didn't know who he would end up with. I don't want to give too much away, but it's really well done.

There's also some messed up humor in the book. I don't know if it's just because the books I normally read have more serious tones, or because of the age group it's aimed at, but some of the humor is pretty dark for a teen novel. For example, it's made a point early no that Damien was conceived in a subway bathroom, and as such Damien is constantly hounding his dad, the super hero, for doing something not so...super, I suppose. At one point he even calls into the Flash's children show to ask if it's okay to ?shack up? in a subway bathroom.

This actually adds to the character of Damien, as he's kind of an ****. He says things that most people would never dream of saying, and does it without shame. Some of these actions include: kissing a boy to keep his friend from making a drunken mistake, charging a girl for looking through his clothes, and pretending to draw pleasure from sniffing the clothes of his step sister.

So yeah go ahead and take that as you want it.

Anyway my point is the book is really good. It delves into the minds of what it'd be like to be the son of a super villain and has a pretty interesting premise. The character of Damien is somewhat sadistic but still likable, in a very weird way. The love triangle aspect works better then most books do, and it's just all around great.

So if you don't mind some ?adult? humor or having a step sister sock sniffing protagonist, pick up Rise of Renegade X. it's really good.

Name one comment that was bad.

at the end of the blu ray argument you pretty much said "your wrong **** LOL". it was pretty ****ish. but other than that nothing bad. except under the bridge, but no one's good under the bridge. it's were hormonal teenagers go to do...things.

Calling people **** is for ***s

WOW. WOW rapidash i had no idea you were that racist.

How long is the book? I need a long read right about now.

roughly 350 pages, give or take a few. not particularly long, but i'm also reading a book called "the rise of renegade X" that's really good as well. it's a bit like the venture brothers if rusty was a teenager and the son of a supervillian and not a super hero.

i finished unwind. it's **** fantastic.

unwind. it's about this future where parents can basically have their kids stripped down for parts when they're teenagers. the books about three "unwinds" as they're on the run from being unwound.

no matter what music you set it too, he humps to the beat.

I enjoy, my +4, but the -1 is messed up. lol, it's probably that bot

yeah...the bot did it...

i wanna do things to her. there. i said it.




^ this to be exact.

holy **** it's blue here.