Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods: Book Three in the Underland Chronicles [Hardcover]

I don't give too many things five stars and I had to think this one over a bit, but upon reflection, I think it deserves it. Although you do have to read the first two not just for the backstory, but to see why it rates higher, the way it's more developed, the writing more mature.

While the first book had a focus on us getting to know Gregor and the Underland, the second on Gregor's growth emotionally and mentally, this one is all about disillusionment, the realities of politics and human greed, and Gregor truly leaving most of his childhood behind.

The Underlanders, for all that they look different are, inside, no different from the rest of humanity. That's the lesson I came out with, anyway, and it's a good one. In this latest quest, any remaining illusions Gregor (or the readers) might've had about Underland are irreversibly shattered. The human Underlanders are mostly decent people, the same as the rest of humanity as we know it, but there are enough bad apples in power there to make them all look bad, the same as here in the Overland. There's prejudice, blind, unthinking hatred, rifts between families, murder, malicious deception, pure greed, and it all gives the story such a good feel of reality. In a world filled with giant creatures, that touch of reality grounds the story and makes it easier for the reader to relate to, makes the suspension of disbelief much easier to maintain.

A plague is mowing its way through the warmbloods of Underland and yet another prophecy says that Gregor and Boots must be there to stop it. Only this time, their mother isn't letting them go alone.

Her inclusion, and the way she's yanked suddenly from the story by contracting the plague, I found particularly interesting. Gregor is afraid of how it will make him look, the "warrior" with his mother hovering over him. And then she's not there and he's on his own again, put in the position of rescuing her, as he once had done for his father. I see this as the final severing of Gregor's ties to his childhood. He's truly the caretaker here, his own person with his mother out of the picture for almost the entire story. And he fills the roll well.

Gregor's an old hand at questing now and knows how to deal with it. Yes, he makes a few mistakes along the way, but that's a lack of experience and wisdom. Both of which he gains at a heavy price. And throughout the journey he reinforces in his own mind (and ours) that he's not a child anymore, no longer one of the "pups." It's something that you can see visibly saddens the adults around him, but it's also something they accept, because what's done is done and this was necessary.

The ending isn't truly a surprise, not if you read one of the characters right in the beginning, but it's disheartening and you can really feel for the ones who were betrayed. All of them, even the non-humans. It's also a good bit of social commentary, sobering when you look at it.

Gregor's return to the Overland and the problems left for him and his family aren't glossed over, I was happy to see. In fact, things are worse off now than before he left. It paves the way towards a decision I thought he was wise to make. But I suppose we'll have to wait for the next book to see how that one pans out.

The writing continues to improve with each book, as does the pacing and the character development. As Gregor matures, so does the text. He's twelve now, at the end of this story. Twelve fast going on thirty, and while you're sad for him, it's what has to happen, and what will undoubtedly get him through whatever comes next in the Underland.

Following "Gregor the Overlander" and "Gregor and the Phrophecy of Bane", this third story is truly one that will leave readers in awe of how Collins sculpts such a creation to life.

Oddly enough, though, "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods" is truly a darker story than the previous two, at times being eerily exciting. There's action, and Gregor's newfound Rager-instincts are taking their toll at the most unpredictable moments possible.

And who would expect in the middle of this inspiring adventure. . .a little family reunion?

Things are never what they seem.

The third book in the Gregor series picks up shortly after the last one ends and quickly tosses the reader into familiar territory. Once again, Gregor takes up a task underground in order to save a family member. In the first book it was his father, in book two his sister Boots, and now it's his mother, who in accompanying him down to the underground contracted a seemingly fatal disease that threatens to wipe out the warmbloods.

As foretold by a prophecy (another familiar element from the other books), Gregor joins a group made up of rats, crawlers, humans, and bats who have put aside (somewhat) their hatred for each other to seek the cure to this plague that strikes them all. The quest will take them deep into a dangerous forest, the only place where the plant that supposedly holds the cure grows.

The strengths of book three are the same as the earlier books. The story moves along smoothly at a quick pace with almost no lagging moments. The main characters continue to grow in complexity, maturing with age and experience as well as revealing previously concealed aspects of personality and experience. The new characters obviously don't have the same depth, but are also fully drawn as Collins manages to avoid the flatness of character that mars so many other young adult fantasy books, even those that are three times the length and so should have time for more complex characters.

The setting remains somewhat too vague for my liking; as in books one and two I wish Collins had sacrificed a little speed of story for a more vivid sense of place. The plotting in this one is not quite as strong as in the others--a bit more straightforward (though with a nice darkly cynical twist at the end) and containing a few scenes that seem a bit sketchy, not quite fully thought out or drawn out. As in previous books, death is not simply an insincere threat hanging over a quest where you know all will survive. Characters die in this book as they have in others and though Collins in my mind glosses over one a bit too easily, others have more impact, some surprisingly so.

The end of the underground section seems a bit abrupt, but as is usual, Collins doesn't neatly tie things off in a happy bow. Some questions from book two have been answered, others have not. Some characters have survived but not untouched (Gregor's father, for instance, has still not fully recovered from the events of book one, a welcome bit of realistic shading). And new questions and problems have arisen. There is at least one more book to come obviously, but there is no sense of padding an over-worked story. The characters and problems remain interesting and in some cases have grown more so. Strongly recommended for older young readers. Younger readers won't have a problem with following plot, but may be truly frightened by an early vivid scene involving rats in the walls and also may be upset by the deaths that take place.

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