Nightrise by Anthony Horowitz
May. 25th, 2009 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Darkness covers the earth.
The Old Ones have returned.
The battle must begin.
Fourteen-year-old twins Scott and Jamie Tyler have never known who they are or where they came from, but they have always known that they possess extraordinary powers. When Scott is kidnapped by the sinister Nightrise Corporation and Jamie is framed for murder, they realize that they must use those powers if they are going to survive.
But Jamie is catapulted thousands of years into the past, bringing him face to face with the full horror of the Old Ones. Here Jamie learns that he is one of five Gatekeepers whose power is all that stands in the way of eternal chaos. Together at last, the Five must fight the massed forces of evil. And they must win.
The third in Horowitz’s Power of Five series sees the action move to Nevada where Scott and Jamie Tyler perform a mind-reading act to bored casino audiences. Only their act is real and one night they are ambushed by two mysterious men who kidnap Scott and frame Jamie for murder. Jamie escapes with the help of Alicia McGuire, a former aide to Presidential nominee Senator John Trelawney who has been searching for her son, Danny. Together they discover that children all over the country have been disappearing – children with strange abilities – and all roads lead back to the sinister Nightrise Corporation. To find Scott, Jamie must go undercover into a youth detention centre that’s run by Nightrise. Doing so will place Jamie in terrible danger, danger that that will send him back 10,000 and put him in the middle of the first fight between the Gatekeepers and the Old Ones.
This is a terrifically paced read, full of thrills, fights and perilous situations. Horowitz does well to convey Jamie’s confusion at what is happening to him and his fear of his extraordinary ability and Jamie grows from being in need of his brother’s protection to becoming his brother’s protector. There’s a strong political backdrop to events, with Trelawney’s Presidential campaign likely to draw a wry smile from adults. Horowitz also throws in some scenes from the side of the Old Ones, helping to flesh out what is happening among their supporters.
There is very much a sense of story strands coming together in this novel and Horowitz ends his tale with a teaser that will leave readers desperate to read the next in the series. This is a deeply enjoyable series with a strong fantasy element and I look forward to finding out what happens next.
The Verdict:
I think this series is a much more satisfying read than Horowitz’s Alex Rider series full of adventure and action and likely to appeal to girls and boys alike.
The Old Ones have returned.
The battle must begin.
Fourteen-year-old twins Scott and Jamie Tyler have never known who they are or where they came from, but they have always known that they possess extraordinary powers. When Scott is kidnapped by the sinister Nightrise Corporation and Jamie is framed for murder, they realize that they must use those powers if they are going to survive.
But Jamie is catapulted thousands of years into the past, bringing him face to face with the full horror of the Old Ones. Here Jamie learns that he is one of five Gatekeepers whose power is all that stands in the way of eternal chaos. Together at last, the Five must fight the massed forces of evil. And they must win.
The third in Horowitz’s Power of Five series sees the action move to Nevada where Scott and Jamie Tyler perform a mind-reading act to bored casino audiences. Only their act is real and one night they are ambushed by two mysterious men who kidnap Scott and frame Jamie for murder. Jamie escapes with the help of Alicia McGuire, a former aide to Presidential nominee Senator John Trelawney who has been searching for her son, Danny. Together they discover that children all over the country have been disappearing – children with strange abilities – and all roads lead back to the sinister Nightrise Corporation. To find Scott, Jamie must go undercover into a youth detention centre that’s run by Nightrise. Doing so will place Jamie in terrible danger, danger that that will send him back 10,000 and put him in the middle of the first fight between the Gatekeepers and the Old Ones.
This is a terrifically paced read, full of thrills, fights and perilous situations. Horowitz does well to convey Jamie’s confusion at what is happening to him and his fear of his extraordinary ability and Jamie grows from being in need of his brother’s protection to becoming his brother’s protector. There’s a strong political backdrop to events, with Trelawney’s Presidential campaign likely to draw a wry smile from adults. Horowitz also throws in some scenes from the side of the Old Ones, helping to flesh out what is happening among their supporters.
There is very much a sense of story strands coming together in this novel and Horowitz ends his tale with a teaser that will leave readers desperate to read the next in the series. This is a deeply enjoyable series with a strong fantasy element and I look forward to finding out what happens next.
The Verdict:
I think this series is a much more satisfying read than Horowitz’s Alex Rider series full of adventure and action and likely to appeal to girls and boys alike.
