My #bookreveiw of GRAN-SDUR: The Games by Jan Raymond
BLURB:
“Gran-sdur: The Games” is the second book in the Pha-yul trilogy.
Millions of years ago, people from Padim, a planet in another galaxy took refuge on Earth. They still live among us. Children, born with the Padimite gene, sometimes, manifest superhuman abilities.
Sam, Cassie, Ryan, Sebastian and Maya who discovered their powers during a freak lightening storm, are still discovering their potential, in Pha-yul, where they are guided by new mentors – experts in the particular power that each kid possesses. Training with other youngsters of Padimite origin, they realize how little they know and how much more they must learn. Between their training and classes, they explore Pha-yul, the beautiful and isolated location that their ancestors had chosen as their home.
Adding to the pressure, they find out that they are to participate in the Gran-sdur, a competition that is held annually in Pha-yul. Here they would face the best and most skilled teams from communities around the world. With Mr. Harris’ guidance, the youngsters train hard, but will they be good enough to hold their own against equally or more talented contestants? Mr. Harris thinks they will, but the five are not so sure.
When the Games begin, the kids realise that they are not just trying to win, but are actually fighting for their lives. Will they win, or will they go down fighting? Will all five make it to the end? Or will the circle shatter?
Circle of Five, the first book of the Pha-yul trilogy is available on Amazon.
MY REVIEW:
This is book 2 of the Pha-yul triology. If you haven’t read the first one, Circle of Five, you’d most likely be lost. This isn’t a series you can just waltz into the middle of. Read my review HERE.
Now that the kids have spent over a year with Mr. Harris honing their special abilities, he takes them to Pha-yul for the summer to continue their training for the upcoming Gran-sdur. Here, the children learn they’re descended from a race called Padimites. Through their eyes and lessons, the author fills in the background of whom the Padimites are and why they came to Earth. Their teachers paint a rosy picture of their race, and most of them look down at the mere humans they inhabit Earth with. The kids take pretty much everything told to them at face-value, except Sam, the doubting Thomas. If the Padimites are so peaceful and superior to humans, why did Pha-yul splinter into different communities and factions?
The kids become friends with some of the other children training for the Gran-sdur. And once the games begin, it’s every team for itself. Faced with betrayal and possible death, Sam, Cassie, Maya, Seb & Ryan bond together as never before just to survive the games.
There’s a lot of world-building in this book, so it’s slow going for over half the book. But once the games started, I couldn’t put the book down. There were a few questions I didn’t think were addressed, like the recessive Padimite genes. What are the odds of the gene showing up decades later in siblings? This story takes place in our modern world, so why haven’t the different communities of Padimites been discovered? I realize they find the most remote areas to hide at, but our technology would find them. If they’re using some type of cloaking technology, that’s something we as the readers have to assume.
In my review of The Circle of Five, I criticized the author’s lack of editing. It has improved somewhat in this book and I know she’s working at correcting her mistakes.
All in all, I loved this book and can’t wait for the final installment. Where are Seb and The Book? I highly recommend this story for all ages. I give it 4 feathers.
CLICK ON THE COVER TO READ A PREVIEW, OR TO BUY YOUR COPY TODAY:
