Assassin’s Creed Last Descendants
Matthew J. Kirby
Cole wants to exonerate his dad of a crime, and he thinks the answer might be in his DNA. The Animus offered to him by the IT guy at school might give him access to his dad’s memory of the day. Unfortunately, instead Cole gets caught up with finding the Trident of Eden – and being hunted down by both Assassins and the Templars.
The novel’s characters didn’t fill out for me. I remember Sean’s name. That’s it. I had to recheck the blurb to remember the other characters, even the ‘main’ character, Cole.
This read really oddly to me. The story felt empty, with a plot that played out very simply. I can’t explain my feelings exactly, but for me, I think this novel was too opaque to work. As far as I can see, it is written for the very specific audience of people who have played the video game of this.
I don’t know how this fits into the Assassin’s Creed universe, but other reviewers have talked passionately enough about how epic the video games are, and how epically well this novel fits into the universe. I’d strongly advise checking out some other reviews on this one.
This is aimed at YA readers officially, but to me it was more of a teenage fiction novel. There just wasn’t enough depth in any of the characters, and the hints of romance and violence that would make it necessary to classify this as a YA novel were not big enough.
I’m certain this novel has a place somewhere, it’s just not with me. Maybe for fans of the game that don’t recognise reading as a valid past-time? I wouldn’t recommend it for a strong reader, it doesn’t have enough sustenance for them. I”m giving it 3 stars – well written, but just not compelling.
Scholastic | 1st September 2016 | AU $19.99 | Paperback
Sabriel has always been an established Abhorson in my eyes, but here we see Lirael grow into what she should be. When she returns to the Glacier where she grew up, it is obvious that there has been some serious character growth coming on. We get to see more of that in this novel too, as well as Sameth (who I hold a personal soft spot for) and Nick.
This novel lets its main character develop the way I would want, but could have left a bit more time for other characters to put their own 2 cents in. I would have liked to have more of everything, the world as it was many years before the rest of the series, and the state of society.
Bad guys never give up do they? This novel offers a satisfying plot with twists that I certainly didn’t see coming. Bam! Nothing like having sociopaths on the loose. Even if some successful scientists are likely also sociopaths. The ultimate question is whether removing those genes will be sustainable and what might happen next.
It was a bit convenient how there just happened to be 4 brilliant ‘munies that could be used to help design the maze. Then again, the whole thing was amazingly orchestrated by WICKED. Not having read The Scorch Trials, I didn’t know that there had been two communities in the mazes (male-only and female-only).
This book had me hooked, right up until the last three chapters. I couldn’t fathom what might happen next, but it wasn’t what eventually came out as the truth! For me, the truth didn’t hold through what had happened in the rest of the book, despite the hints that would have supported this outcome.
I spent a lot of the novel being confused by who was who and which sides people were on. I seriously needed a character list to keep things straight, and I kept flicking back to the Prologue in the hopes I would be able to work out who the ‘bad guys’ were.
Austin thinks that smoking weed is a good idea. He smokes cigarettes, which basically makes him drop out as any sort of good character for a teenager to read. And he never turns up to things on time. And he is making out with every girl he can get his hands on. And yet, he’s not the cool kid or the jock. He’s just an idiot that I was irritated by the whole novel. Even his ‘true-ness’ to Josey is a fake.
I really liked the nifty symbols and I think the author had a lot of fun coming up with them. It likely took a bit of research on his behalf, and it shows nicely. I’m loving the Signmaker and I think lots of teenage readers are going to be able to get into this novel.
I’m not exactly certain what to say about this book. It looks quite unflinchingly at the conditions at some chicken and pig primary production farms, but also shows the positive side of eating meat! I felt like I was wandering around the English countryside with Louise the whole way, which was fascinating just in itself.