Book Review: Blue Sea Burning by Geoff Rodkey (Chronicles of Egg #3)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Great story and characters continue from previous books

Cons: Ends the series, so no more to look forward to reading

The Bottom Line:

Pirates and danger

As Egg fights to save the day

A great final book

Egg's Final Thrilling Adventure

Pirates, true love, adventure, and a bit of comedy.  No, I'm not talking about The Princess Bride (although that qualifies).  I'm talking about Blue Sea Burning, the final book in the Chronicles of Egg middle grade adventure trilogy.  I just finished the book, and it sends the series off with a bang.

If you haven't found this series yet, it's set in a non-magical alternative world.  There are natives and pirates and countries we've never heard of.  No magic, but it doesn't need it to spin a wild and wonderful tale.

Just don't start here.  This book assumes you've read the first two.  There's just enough background to jog my memory, but not enough to fill in a new comer.  Not only will you be lost, but some of the twists of the previous two books will be spoiled.  Now, you'd hate for that to happen, wouldn't you?  But the ride is well worth it.

This book picks up where the last one ended.  Egg and his friends are on the ship of the pirate Burn Healy.  Fortunately, Burn has just saved Egg from being killed by the greedy slave owner Roger Pembroke (you know, Egg's true love Millicent's father).  Unfortunately, the ship is sinking and they are being chased by ships determined to finish them off.

Even if Egg survives that crisis, he still needs to figure out how to defeat Pembroke once and for all.  Considering his connections and wealth, that is going to be much harder than it sounds.  Meanwhile, he meets Cyril, the other contender for Millicent's heart.  How will it all end?

Honestly, even as the end of the book was drawing near, I kept asking that question.  Nothing comes easy for Egg, and the twists keep coming until the very end.  However, all the plot threads from the series are wrapped up by the time we reach the end.  Along the way, there were multiple scenes that had me turning pages as quickly as I could.

The characters have always been fun, and here they are no exception.  Once again, there is some growth in and between them, and I enjoyed the time I spent around them.

And there are some nice bits of humor in the book as well.  One character in particular had me cracking up near the beginning with his attempts to be more polite.  There are other funny bits scattered throughout that made me grin if not outright laugh.

At almost 400 pages, this is the longest in the series.  I found the pages flew by, and I'm sure the target audience will as well.

Whether you are in middle school or not, I recommend Blue Sea Burning to anyone looking for a fun ride.  Just be sure you start with the first one.  You'll be smiling as you finish this book before you know it.

This is an entry in Marvelous Middle Grade Monday.  Check out Shannon Messenger's Blog to find other entries in this weekly event.