Home > Categories > Books > Kids - General > Spirit Animals #3: Blood Ties review
The adventure continues in this third book of the epic multiplatform fantasy series.
Erdas is a land of balance. A rare link, the spirit animal bond, bridges the human and animal worlds. Conor, Abeke, Meilin and Rollan each have this gift - and the grave responsibility that comes with it. But the Conquerors are trying to destroy this balance. They are setting the world on fire, swallowing whole cities in their rush for power - including Meilin's home.
Fed up with waiting and ready to fight, Meilin has set off into enemy territory with her spirit animal, a panda named Jhi. Her friends aren't far behind ... but they're not the only ones.
The enemy is everywhere
Product reviews...
I couldn't wait to read this book, the last book was great but the ending was a bit unexpected so I'm glad I had this one to read. Some of the characters are trying to prove themselves after making some mistakes and having to deal with guilty feelings. The kids continue to grow in their abilities and learn how to trust the animals and work with the animals to get the answers they want or need. The story moved along at a good pace so it never got boring but not so fast that you lost the general idea of what is happening.
I haven't played the game, I had problems signing up and getting it to work but that doesn't stop me from really enjoying the books, I mean who wouldn't want their very own spirit animal? I should give the game a go at some stage but might wait until the books are finished so that I don't get ahead of myself.
I'm glad to see that although some "serious" mistakes were made when the kids realised their error and came back to help the others that there were no grudges held against them. The others might have been annoyed (thinking of a stronger word here but not wanting to use "bad language" just to get a point across) but they realised that the only way they are going to move forward is to work together.
There was a mention of more Great Beasts and a hint of where to find one so I'm eagerly looking forward to the next book and will be buying it as soon as I can.
Ever since the conclusion of the previous book, I was kept in suspense as well as curiosity over just what would happen in book 3, having read this book I have to say that my expectations have been lived up to with flying colours! The events which went on in the fictional world contained between the covers of this book allowed me to get a more complex understanding of how the bond between a person and his/her spirit animal works.
I haven't played the game for a while, but unlike the series The Infinity Ring, the game for this series does not tie into the book series itself, so thankfully not playing the game did not prevent me from enjoying the book, thankfully. I have noticed that as this series goes on, the storyline maintains it's overall structure, but the difference between the intensity level at the start to the level at the end becomes larger, as it was, in this book the ending looked very close to something that usually happens at the END of a series, so if this is what the ending of the third book is, I would love to see just how epic the SERIES conclusion is!
The storyline smoothly transitioned between events, so my mind didn't get my mind all tangled up in knots, which is something I always hate, the storyline was very moving, and it was descriptive enough for me to be able to easily visualize the environment and events in my head, which is an aspect I always include in book reviews. The price is moderate, well within the boundaries of too pricey and too cheap. To sum things up, I think that this is a book worth reading, and is suitable for people over the age of 12, and I really think that this is a book not to miss!
From the moment my daughter set eyes on the pre release advertising for this series she was hooked and had to have it so I was very pleased to be chosen to review the first book wild born. As I was reviewing the book I too got hooked on the series and have subsequently received both the second and now this the third book in the series and I am dead set on reading the final four books to complete the set. It is an easy series to find yourself drawn into.
In previous books we see the children call on their spirit animals and begin to start their adventure to save erdas from the conquerors by collecting Talisman's from the great beasts of the spirit animal world. In the previous books this hasn't always gone to plan with the children Rollan, Meilin, Conor, and Abeke all making their own mistakes as they learn how to work with their spirit animals and find their strengths. In this third book we see that bond grow ever stronger as well as the bond and friendship of the children themselves become complete with past mis trust forgotten.
To begin as we ended in the last book Meilin has left the group in search of her Dad in the land of Zhong but she soon learns that she is being hunted and the whole land of Zhong is under threat, with the guidance of her Dad she is reminded that the only way she can help is to carry on with the quest with the other children and the four fallen spirit animals to save erdas from the conquerors. Meeting back up with the rest of the four the adventure begins.
Searching for the next talisman proves to be the toughest battle yet with some of the Green Cloaks and others from the Zhong family falling in battle. The children do well to fight their battle and once more hold of the conquerors at least for now with the help of the Elephant. It was a battle full of suspense and full of heartbreak, it definitely kept you flicking the pages and hoping that things would end happily. For a moment it felt as if we would lose one of our favourite characters which definitely made you urge the author to come through as you flicked through the pages.
I can now not wait for the fourth addition to the series, with only four books to go it is exciting to see how the children collect the remaining talismans of the great beasts and how they will be able to use these to defeat the conquerors to regain peace in Erdas once more. For now it is un known how they will be able to defeat such a strong and ever growing force with the worry of who is going to be lost along the way....
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If you loved Donovan Bixley's bestselling LOOKY BOOK, you will adore THE CHRISTMAS LOOKY BOOK - a hilarious 24-page festive puzzle book with hours of quality fun for readers aged five and up.
Spot the difference: Santa has been and changed around the Christmas decorations; match the New Zealanders to their presents; how many reindeer can you find in the Christmas lights?
THE CHRISTMAS LOOKY BOOK features 11 huge puzzles all with colourful New Zealand landscapes, birds and animals - and a Christmas theme! From bestselling NZ children's illustrator Donovan Bixley.
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