264. The Children of the Lost by David Whitley

The Children of the Lost by David Whitley (Canada) - (US)
The Agora Trilogy, Book 2

Pages: 357
Ages: 12+
Finished: Dec. 3, 2011
First Published: Jan 18, 2011
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Genre: YA, fantasy
Rating: 5/5



First sentence:

Gradually, Lily became aware that she was being watched.

Acquired: Borrowed a copy from my local library.

Reason for Reading: next in the trilogy.

While The Midnight Charter was good I wasn't entirely thrilled with it but the ending left me eagerly anticipating what could possibly happen for our heroes in the next book.  So I requested my library purchase "The Children of the Lost" and I'd almost forgotten about it when I received the call that they had the book in for me.  It was with eager anticipation that I began to read and found myself immensely drawn into Lily and Mark's new world as they quest for exactly what they do not know except that they have been foretold for ages to be the ones to change the world (for the better most in the know seem to think, though there are adversaries to this line of thought).  I really don't want to get any deeper into the plot as it will ruin the ending of The Midnight Charter and many of the reveals in this book.  I think the publisher's summary gives way too much information on this one especially if you haven't read book 1.

A fantastic story.  Mark and Lily both grow as characters,  they are opposites in ideology and yet manage to remain friends and true to one another and these differences in each other help them to grow individually and together as friends.  While book 1 centres on political type issues, book 2 is more fun (for me) as it moves away from politics and takes the two into quest mode, reveals secrets and starts to bring sense together from all that we've learned so far.  A gripping tale, taking place in a fully realized world, which has not been entirely revealed yet.  The majority of the book finds the two friends together but as happens frequently in such quest stories they do separate and this brings us to an ending which while not exactly cliffhanging does leave the reader in limbo anxious to find out the turn of events.  I thoroughly enjoyed book 2 of the Agora Trilogy.