The Underland Chronicles: Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

The Underland Chronicles:
Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-545-31796-2

I initially found this book by accident while looking on OverDrive for an eBook version of 'The Hunger Games,' and for the most part, it was a really good read. 

At first, I was skeptical of the premise and also nervous about skipping ahead one book in the series (this is book number two), but as I kept reading it, the book felt that it really stood out on its own, and only every once in a while when the book referenced an event that I hadn't heard of did I feel as though I missed out by not starting with the first novel.

The book covers the lives of Gregor, his family, as well as a bunch of different characters (known as "Underlanders" that live below the surface of the earth (the Underland--hence the term 'Underlander.')

I am going to spoil the big plot twist now, because I feel that it is crucial to reviewing the book. The title refers to a prophecy in which Gregor is, for lack of a better word, "foreordained" to slay a large underground sewer rat. Along the way, he learns a lot about himself, including the fact that he has a "raging" instinct, not unlike a bezerker orc, found in Dungeons and Dragons. Besides the natural instinct to fight a battle head on, he also finds out that this also means that he is naturally gifted in the art of sword fighting. 

At any rate, along the way, he meets several different underground creatures and humans, who both help and hinder him along his quest. There are also a few tragedies along the way, including a couple of members of Gregor's party that are apparently major characters.

During the course of reading the book, I had a few brief thoughts. The first was the speed of the story and initially how it wasn't able to hold my attention. However, as the book progressed, more started happening, and the book itself got better. By the end of the book, I was going through my mind regarding how it could be adapted into a movie, and who should be the one to do it. 

This story has a somewhat different feel to it than 'The Hunger Games,' and my first thought was if it had been printed a couple of decades earlier, we could have seen something else where Jim Henson could seriously have worked his creative genius. A lot of the Underland plot points reminded me of 'Labryinth' with David Bowie, and while I can't say that I would have cast him in this movie, the way the scenes in the book were described definitely had that kind of feel to it, with a little splash of 'Goonies' mixed in.

Would I read this book again? That is one thing that I have not quite decided on. Probably my next move after this review is done would be to see if I can snag a copy of its predecessor and start on it instead. I would definitely say that it is worth a look though, especially if 'Adventure' is your favorite movie genre.