Friday, May 1, 2009

Book 26: The Yanti by Christopher Pike




Title:
The Yanti by Christopher Pike

Pages:
398

How it was obtained:
This book is a part of a series, and I bought it for Susan when it came out.

Time spent on the "to read" shelf:
2 years.

Days spent reading it:
3 days.

Why I read it:
I thought it was the final book in a trilogy. Turns out it is the third book in a series. But that's why I read it in the first place.

Brief review:
After a strong second book in the series, I was hoping for a solid third book. Instead it was a mediocre book, in the sense of not horrible, but not great either. The Yanti was an alright book, but it definitely was not as good as its predecessor.

The Yanti continues the story of Ali Warner as she battles the evil Shaktra that is attempting to destroy the world. My biggest gripe about this particular book is that the plot turned from interesting to lame in one fell swoop. The ultimate enemy is revealed and its honestly a little disappointing. "The Entity" is a conquering race that is without love. They are powerful but have no morals. And they are behind what's going on in the world of Ali Warner.

This book also became hazy in who or what the characters are. Pike is clearly attempting to appeal to a strange mysticism based in Buddhist, perhaps some Hindu, and New Age thinking. And he's also not so subtle with his environmental concerns. All of this makes a muddled novel that is not as clear or as fun as The Shaktra was. And Pike continues to use the annoying method of showing that some characters understand what is happening while refusing to tell the readers (or other main characters) what the heck is going on. Each question is pushed off for later. Nagging suspicions and moments of insight are alluded to, but not explained. I felt like Pike was writing to a 5 year old...This is important little boy, but I'm not going to tell you why just yet! JUST TELL ME YOU JERK!

Well, that about sums up The Yanti from my point of view. There is another book slotted to come out in this series, but given its up and down quality, I'll probably pass. And I would probably recommend passing on this series. Its alright for a little bit, but not worth the overall investment in my opinion.

Favorite quote:
(Not my favorite quote, actually, I probably could not disagree with it more, but it is most revealing about Pike's own beliefs I think)

"On Earth, each of your religions teaches that their holy books are the final word of God. In their minds, the truth is set in stone, and that makes most of your people comfortable. They can point to a source of inspiration and say to themselves, there, in that book, is the supreme truth."
"I prefer a set truth," Ra admitted.
"Well, you're an elf," Geea said. "Fairies prefer to see truth as fluid--more like a river that flows along twisting bends. We see truth as too sacred to define. It's one way today, different tomorrow."


Stars:
2.5 out of 5

Final Word:
Mediocre.