RSS
Home
Hunter Brown-Secret of the Shadow-Codebearer Series, By The Miller Brothers
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.jpg)
.jpg)
Three average ninth-graders, Hunter, Stretch, and Stubbs, knew their thirteenth and most intricate prank of the school year would be their best. Each previous trick had been recorded and placed online for their classmates to enjoy. Their subscriber list had grown exponentially with each new posting. Their 13th prank, Project Fireball, scheduled for the last day of school,would give Destiny Hills High School's notorious bully, Cranton, some well-deserved payback.
Now, camera running in the school lunchroom, the tricksters squirmed and giggled. Impatient for Cranton's first bite into the tainted brownie laced with Stu’s Unreasonably Wicked Hot Sauce,
Cranton believed his girlfriend had made.
Seconds later, an enraged Cranton “half-spit, half-puked the searing sweets” across the lunchroom table. He spotted the boys with the camera and roared with rage. The boys charged from the lunchroom, in fear for their lives, with Cranton hot on their heels. Hunter, Stretch, and Stubbs, raced around the corner, and catapulted into the nearby school dumpster, then quickly pulled the lid shut. Each one held their breath until they heard Cranton's footsteps pound past.
The next time the dumpster lid opened, the boys would meet an old, white-haired gentleman in need of a favor, find a mysterious bookstore, an ancient book of magical writings and a supernatural golden key. But, for now, the boy's best last day of school had turned into "the worst last day ever," the first chapter of, Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow.
This refreshingly original Codebearer series, by the Miller brothers, skilled Seattle animators, authors, and founders of Lumination Studios, take readers to a parallel universe called Solandria. A land ruled by the Shadows, who hold Solandria captive. Where churches are safe-houses, Author is a king in exile, and the Codebearers, a band of resistance warriors, fight to break the Shadows grip on their world. Where Hunter learns the ways of the Code of Life, but is called for a mission that puts his very soul in peril before his training is finished. Add hideous monsters, dinosaur-like birds, strange visions, and startling revelations, and you have a narrative that I feel, surpasses the Potter books.
This series reminded me of C.S. Lewis's, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, with added sci-fi elements from Star Wars and Pilgrim's Progress. The captivating story carries multiple double meanings, similar to the writing's of Lewis. The story is a fantasy, and the authors use youthful language to connect with readers. Not only is it an exciting. creative, well-characterized adventure, the underlying spiritual truth is integral to the story, with themes of sin, redemption, and forgiveness.
I enjoyed this spell-binding, teen fiction book, and believe it provides an exciting alternative to other popular books that support magic and witchcraft. The Codebearers carries a clear Christian message to Christian readers, but otherwise provides a great crossover juvenile novel and a good, clean read for anyone.
This title comes with a "good read" guarantee. If you don't like the book, the authors will buy it back. The first book in the series, Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow can be read free online at www.codebearers.com/READTHEBOOKS/tabid/255/Default.aspx.
Readers are invited to sign up and become Codebearer members, join the Resistance, and play Codebearer challenges online, "a series of tests and tasks designed to expand your knowledge of the Code of Life and reveal hidden things yet unknown." There is no charge. The prize is a $400 Best Buy gift card. Youth under thirteen need parents' permission.
Hunter Brown and the Secret of the Shadow, The Codebearer Series, book one, by Allan Miller & Christopher Miller, Warner Press, 2008, Ages 9-12, 366 Pages, ISBN-13: 978-1593173289, $13.99
Hunter Brown and the Consuming Fire, scheduled to release in September 2009, continues the series, this time, with Hunter's friends, Trista, Rob, and a furry creature named Boojum. Hunter suspects the Shadows followed him home. His suspicions and unanswered questions lead him into all kinds of trouble. Trouble that can only be solved if Hunter, Trista, Rob, and Boojum return to Solandria. On their arrival in the Land of the Shadows, the group finds the Resistance weak and without leadership, and the Codebearer's scattered. They find and follow a mysterious flame, hoping to find Hope, and the Seven, mentioned in the Author's Writ. Instead they meet Xaul, a brutal adversary intent on stealing the flame, endangering them all.
The last and final book of the Codebearer series, yet untitled, is scheduled to release fall of 2010.
More About:
Children & Young Adult
Related Articles:
Comments
Hitchcock didn't write this book to frighten anyone, but to remind readers, "God gave us the astounding prophecies about the last days not to …
The Encarta dictionary defines "mosaic" as "a picture or design made with small pieces of colored material such as glass or tile stuck …
