Daniel Johnston is a sixteen year old book lover who runs a kids book website.
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The 39 Clues Book 3: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis Review
When The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis came out all the way in early 2009, I was super excited to read it.I had greatly enjoyed the first two novels in The 39 Clues kids series, the last one being One False Note by Gordon Korman, and the series was coming along well. Excellent plot, terrific mystery, along with fantastic characters. What more could a young ten-year old want?
The 39 Clues is a multi-author series written by extremely well-liked, bestselling authors about orphans Dan and Amy Cahill. It is not until their grandmother Grace dies that they learn they are members of the most powerful family in the history of mankind. The source of their families power is spread across the world in the form of thirty-nine special clues. Whosoever locates all of the clues will then become the most powerful person in the history of mankind.
Dan and Amy Cahill, naturally, are definitely not the only ones who want the prize. Their treacherous, back-stabbing family will do anything they can to find the clues 1st.
As with all of the early novels in The 39 Clues, I completed reading The Sword Thief the same day that I got it. While it was an interesting book and helped to move the plot along, I remember not being very impressed with this addition.
Summary
During the conclusion of One False Note, Dan and Amy discover samurai swords at the location of the clue. They put two and two together and head to Japan. Before they are able to get there, however, their cousins, Ian and Natalie Kabra, trick them and leave them stranded in the airport.
After that, their uncle Alistair Oh offers to help Amy and Dan and make a partnership. After all, Alistair has money and property in Seoul, and he possesses wisdom and old age. Amy and Dan do not totally have faith in him, but they agree to come together for the present time.
Amy, Dan, and Alastair realize that the clue is hidden in the history of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, an excellent Japanese warrior and first descendant of Thomas Cahill, the man who founded the Tomas branch.
The Holt family, however, are also eager to find the clue and manage to lure them into a subway trap. It seems as though it is about to be curtains for Dan and Amy, but Alastair rescues them before they are killed. We get to see the relatable side of the Holtkids as they balk at the prospect of killing Dan and Amy.
Unfortunately, the 3 of them by mistake enter into the home of sword-wielding Yakuza, or Japanese warriors. Nellie, their au pair, is able to save them, alongside Ian and Natalie Kabra. Amy, Dan, and Alastair agree to form a partnership with Ian and Natalie. They do that somewhat because Amy hasalmost a crush on Ian, and Ian is acting as though it's both ways.
The clues point to South korea, and the group of six go to Alastair's house. We learn a ton of information about the Ekaterina branch and also regarding Bae Oh, Alastair's uncle and person in charge of the Ekaterina branch. After Alastair's Dad died, he lived miserably for years under his uncle. While traveling to Korea, however, he learns for the 1st time that Bae Oh arranged for Alastair's dad to be killed.
At Alastair's house, he offers some of his own info with the others. We learn lots more concerning the clue hunt, in particular that the 39 clues are thirty-nine elements that when mixed together will create a sort of philosopher's stone. They travel to the mountain Pukhansan, and Dan tricks the others in regards to the location of the clue.
The conclusion is an exciting andtreacherous saga, where we discover the actual motives of Amy and Dan’s counterparts. Will Ian and Natalie swipe the clue, or will Amy and Dan outwit them once again? More importantly, will Alastair Oh live?
Review
Like I said before, I think of this as one of the poorest books in the series. Although Gordon Korman mentioned how he used The Maze of Bones as basically his bible in composing One False Note, Peter Lerangis obviously didn't do the same. The book is crafted in a very different style in comparison to the rest of the book series. The other 39 clues books are authored in an exilerating, detached, and realistic way. This book is considerably more relaxed, the tone is more informal, and it is also not close to as much action-packed. In addition, it is kind of hard to understand. For that reason, the book loses some of its educational benefit and I don't really recall any of the historical info, quite different from the other books in the series.
Whilst a few of my friends who were reading the series when this book hit the shelves told me that they liked the break from the action, every one of them stopped reading The 39 Clues after this book. Not one of my friends who started out the seriesending up reading the fourth book. Additionally, books 1 and 2 were both #1 on the bestseller list for quite a while. This book was on the bestseller list for a short time, but didn't hit #1. Not one of the subsequent additions to the series did, either.
There are some good parts to the way Lerangis writes, however. He introduces the idea a possible romance between Ian and Amy that has continued throughout the series to the current books with different boyfriends and hints of crushes. This was in fact the subject most usually talked about among clue hunters throughout the Cahills vs. Vespers storyline, and was in my view a valuable addition to the series.
This book has some good info regarding the clue hunt that moves the story along, so it's a necessity for committed clue hunters going back through the early books to read it. In general, though, the writing is not close to as good as in the rest of the series and on its own I would not recommend it.
If you want to read my review of another popular kids book, check out my article Swindle by Gordon Korman Review.
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