christinaale

Jake Ransom and the Skull King’s Shadow is a delightful combination of fantasy, mystery, history, and suspense, along with memorable characters, mystifying riddles, and marvelous creatures. The premise of the book is especially captivating: a world where all cultures coexist in one country, speaking the same language. Rollins takes advantage of this strange culture hodgepodge, introducing the reader to a variety of characters from all backgrounds, and all sorts of customs and people. In addition, the country has its own unique culture because of the setting, with dinosaurs and crystal alchemy. Readers of all ages will find this fascinating. The story has a cinematic feel, with vivid images of action and setting. The beginning is shocking, and gives the reader a strong curiosity to continue reading. The main characters are well-developed, admirable, and easy to relate to. There is strong empathy for Jake and Kady, and the reader hopes along with them that their parents are still alive, and that they will be found. The mystery involving the parents seems to be the driving motivation for the story, yet this seems to take a back seat for awhile during a good portion of the book. The book veered off to be about Calypsos and its troubles, and it dwelled there too long; long enough for me to wonder when the story was going to get moving again. But the story did get moving again, and at a fast pace, delving once more into the mystery of the missing parents, and making troubles with the Skull King seem important. The book does raise some skepticism for the reader, with unbelievable aspects of whatever world the children fall into, but before the story gets too far, Rollins brings up the questions himself, and answer them in a way that renew the book’s credibility. Rollins has a wonderful ability to know what the reader will be wondering, and either give reasons to quench it, or exploit it to keep the story engaging. This is a fun tale, with a good ending; resolved enough to keep the reader satisfied, but with enough unanswered questions to make them want to read the sequel.

2023-06-26 10:52