Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read the whole series to my seven year old son and I'd be hard-pressed to think of a book with more memorable characters or hilarious dialogue. It also gives an incredibly visceral and emotional depiction of the horrors of war. The books follow an 11 year old boy, Gregor after he has fallen miles underground with his exuberant 2 year old sister Boots. He is drawn into complicated interspecies conflict between multiple groups of huge talking animals and humans. The humans were brought underground centuries ago by a leader "Earl of Sandwich" who had visions of the future which he carved into the stones as prophesies. Gregor and his sister seem to be named in the prophesies. Of the books themes which seemed to impact my son were: 1. The responsibility of taking care of the vulnerable (This is also some of the funniest scenes in the books as he tries to look after Boots) 2. How much can be solved if you can communicate with others. (A gifted child is able to speak the languages of several of the creatures and avoid disaster) 3. Nothing is inevitable, especially war. The writing is beautiful.. this is the author that went on to write the Hunger Games/Catching Fire. (In that way I wouldn't compare it to the pedestrian Lightning Thief). A closer analogy would be Garth Nix. A word of caution. Some of the battle scenes are truly horrifying and I did end up skipping some sentences for my son's benefit. Also, major characters do die. While some would complain about the lack of a truly happy ending (it's happy enough, considering all that happens) I found it more satisfying and realistic than most YA books.