The measurements of the pendragon series is this: 10 books long, 7000 sum pages tall, and PENDRAGON wide. PENDRAGON is a lot of space to fill because Pendragon means “King of Dragons”. King Arthur’s last name was also Pendragon. Yet, this series is not about dragons, nor kings of old but well deserves it’s royal name.
First, Pendragon is Sci-Fi/Fantasy but foremost it is contrast. The name pendragon is the main character's family name. His first name is, somewhat nondescript, Bobby. he at first glance, has no quirks. he live large off his own work and mooching from parents. Above average he may be, but when towed to who knows where in the universe, you and him both lose stigmas just to simply be...Bobby. Relatable “when I was your age” lower teen kid with a worse problems than he thought, scarred Bobby. Brick sh*tting scared, normal, unheroic, Bobby.
This is a Fantasy book. This is a young adult book, make no mistake, but it reaches levels that a seven year old should not be reading. Not if you want a happy-go-lucky perfect ending. This is closer to reality than reality itself sometimes is, but it somethings with something totally cliché: travel through time and space through a tunnel to help people you’ve never met before who just happen to be human (and yes, with no last names too). Using this tunnel, save the universe. Maybe this could be considered some copycat version of Stargate , but there is no government conspiracy or malevolent alien races. There is no major role for tech or crushing thousands of aliens bearing down. The enemy is just one insane man grasping for power in a, well, dastardly way. Incidentally though, this man can shapeshift, or use a look to send a person on a suicide run over train tracks. No biggy.
Fast writing. Not the “What’s happening???” kind of fast, so straightforward could be a better word. It’s too straightforward at times, but the style carries like it should. The information isn’t complex, this isn’t The Matrix or Inception. The story is streamlined into a bullet train, such a speed that simple punctuation or the odd word can be used as speed bumps and completely derail the train. And that’s when everything simply...clicks.
The plot thickens further though as most of the storyline is set up as a journal. I said journal, not dairy. Difference. A record of events versus... worrying about making it to the cheerleading squad. This can be bad and it can be good but it still seems to lessen the overall quality. The full brunt of of the writing style will hit you toward the further end of the story. This slows down the books some because A) You have red herrings and other joke sprinkled through, but B) the transitions between characters is more rocky than need be. Still, this isn’t noticeable until you finish the journal part and get closer to the end of the series, as I said before.
I know I haven’t done the series justice but the mere fact that I feel I need to put this in. Pendragon cannot possibly be as good or bad as it could seem. Everything comes full circle when you’re on the fixed route that comes with a bullet train.