Anthony Horowitz became my favourite author a few years ago due to his incredible Alex Rider series. A little while ago I picked up Ravens Gate, the first book in another series of his called, The Power of Five. I was pleasantly surprised I must say, and it didn't take me long to find book two, Evil Star. But, can it live up to the previous book's greatness? Not really, but it's still an entertaining read.
For those of you who don't know, this series centres around Matt, a teenage boy who seems to have some form of supernatural power. It is written in prophecies that an evil, ancient race known as the Old Ones will emerge from so-called "gates" and will bring about the end of the world. Matt is what's known as a "gatekeeper" and he is one of "the five."
If you haven't heard of this series before, you really need to read the first book - the aforementioned Ravens Gate - before this one.
Evil Star picks up a short while after the events of Ravens Gate, and opens fantastically with a disturbing, yet exciting few chapters centering around Gwenda Davis, Matt's Aunt, no spoilers but it leads to some awesome events that hooks you in to the story nicely.
The story itself is good, although not quite as strong as Ravens Gate. It still has the imaginative, three-dimensional characters that are expected from one of Horowitz' books, but it suffers from some pacing problems mid-way which is a real shame, and I recommend readers who share my opinion to stick with it as things do pick up again.
However, I have to say the ending to this book isn't quite as good as previous Horowitz work either. But, I believe this to be because this book seems to be laying down groundwork for a bigger story, and any loose ends I'm sure will be tied up in the third entry in this series. However, if your not interested in a third book and just want a stand-alone read, then this book probably isn't for you.
I'm sure those people are the minority though, and if you're looking to keep with this series to its climax, then you'll like this book, and I recommend it. Overall, Evil Star is a flawed, but exciting read.
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