Chapter 17 - This chapter begins with Will and Chester finally making a massive breakthrough; they unearth a opening into a pitch black cave area. Will notes that he hears water dripping in this cave. They don't explore it, but agree that they will soon. Chester leaves, and then Will's mother calls him and Rebecca upstairs for a chat. She says that Will and Rebecca are being moved to their drunkard aunt Jean, as they have to sell the house with the lack of income. The chapter ends with an argument between Will and his mother, because if he moves there is no way that he can explore the cave.
Chapter 18 - Will and Chester enter the cave, and see that there a gears everywhere, scattered all over the floor. They see a white rat that has no eyes, as in the darkness there would be no need for eyes. The rat scurries away. The chapter ends with them discovering a rusty elevator leading into the depths.
Chapter 19 - Will and Chester go down the miner's elevator, and eventually find a exact replica of their street and (they assume) the entire town of Highfield. The street has every single external detail nailed perfectly. The break into a few of the houses and see that they are reminiscent to 1800's style houses (furnishings, pictures, things of that sort). They continue on down the street until they are suddenly pulled up by the scruffs of their necks by stout men in policemen uniforms, who say they are bringing them to prison for breaking and entering. The chapter ends with Will spotting one of the tall, slender, pale men in trenchcoats staring at him through the carriage window with a sadistic smile.
Chapter 20 - This is quite a massive chapter, so I will only briefly summarize the chapter. Will and Chester are locked up in the Prison's hold; they are interrogated by the pale men in trench coats (who we know learn are called the Styx, and they rule over this underground civilization), who use a terrifying invention called the 'Dark Light', that makes you feel like you are being compressed until eventually collapsing. After weeks of interrogations, Will is called to meet up with a man and his son, named Mr.Jerome and Caleb. Will becomes confused, as they claim that he is the son of Mr.Jerome, the brother of Caleb. After the constant torture that Will has been through, he snaps at Caleb, shouting that everything they are saying is bull. The chapter ends with Will being dragged back into his cell.
Review
One thing I have to say about this:
Honestly, these last few chapters have grown exponentially in length and interest. There is now a definite antagonist, and now the friendship between Will and Chester is being strained as they are put to the end of their wits. I am really getting excited for the next chapters. The dynamics between Caleb and Will are already extremely interesting, as Caleb has fond memories of Will, who can't even remember the underground civilization in the first place.
The Styx are menacing and conniving villains, who do whatever they want, when they want. I am really starting to enjoy this book, but I still have a few noticeable problems with it. Most of these are minor, so I won't list them, but there is one in particular that is really getting to me. That problem is the extreme excessiveness of description in this book. Now, I have nothing with a book that gives detail and life into the world that the characters are interacting with, but when they first discover the underground town, they spend a good thirty or so pages on talking about how: Spoooooooooky! It's a street! And there are houses! And lamposts! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH! I just find it funny how gruelling some of these descriptions are, and honestly it starts to drag on.
In fact, I think the best way for me to explain this is with me simply saying one thing: between chapters 17, 18, 19, and 20, there was about 205 pages. For what I put in my review, that is insane. Yes, a lot happens, but not enough to warrant the length of most children's book. Combined with the rest of the book that we have read so far, the total right now is at 318 pages. We still have 20 chapters to go, but I am becoming worried that these are going to be extremely compressed because there are only 180 or so pages left. Anyway. those are my two cents on this section of the book.
'Till Next Time Adventurers!
No comments:
Post a Comment