Spirit Animals event and Review of Hunted

Hi everyone. I would've done this post yesterday. However I had homework I needed to do. Anyway, this Tuesday I went with my brothers Jonathan and Michael to see the book party for the Spirit Animals series from Scholastic. I was walking up to go in and I realized the person standing right next to me was none other than Brandon Mull himself. That was a surprise. That was the first time I ever entered the room the same time as an author. The other authors of the Spirit Animals series were also there: Maggie Stiefvater, Garth Nix, and Sean Williams. They talked about their lives and their works, and we saw some funny pictures and videos (Maggie's video of her goats was especially funny). I learned that Garth Nix plays the tie-in computer game. They even did a little presentation for some kids chosen from the audience by allowing them to use their imagination to bond with Spirit Animals. Perhaps I need to explain the series a little bit before continuing.
Spirit Animals is a fantasy series that takes place in the world of Erdas, which is like another version of Earth. There are four main continents as well as a mysterious fifth continent. In Erdas there aren't any magical creatures that we would think of. Translation: No dragons, no unicorns, no elves, no dwarves, etc. However there is still plenty of mystical stuff. When a child reaches a certain age in Erdas they are allowed to drink a special nectar that will allow them to summon a Spirit Animal. Not everyone can do it though. As to what a Spirit Animal is, they're animals that bond with humans and allow their human partners to gain special abilities like healing, incredible eyesight, agility, etc. According to legend a long time ago an evil known as the Devourer sought to conquer the entire world, but was stopped by the Great Beasts. The Great Beasts are the most powerful of all the Spirit Animals and guard special talismans. However the victory against the Devourer was costly, for four of the Great Beasts, known as the Four Fallen, paid with their lives to stop him. However in the series the four main characters, separated by great distances, have summoned all four of the Fallen. Now they must learn to work together and travel the world to find the other Great Beasts and collect their talismans before the enemy can.
I've been enjoying the series and I enjoyed meeting all four authors. Brandon Mull has said that he thinks his Spirit Animal would probably be a dolphin. Now on to the review:

In Hunted we get a little more of a story to show the bond between the humans and their Spirit Animals. Conor and his friends are still working on developing their bond with their Spirit Animals when they learn of the location of the next Great Beast. However when returning home to Eura Conor finds things have changed greatly. The Conquerors, who work for the Devourer, have developed a means of forcing a bond to be made and many in Conor's village have turned as a result. Not only must they get to the Talisman first, but they have to prove that they're the heroes and not the Conquerers. This book was one that made me want to keep reading instead of doing things I needed to do. I kept thinking to myself that what the Conquerers did wasn't creating a bond, it was enslaving animals. Essentially their method of bonding requires no teamwork and no trust. The human has all control while the animal does simply what it's told. It's little more than an organic robot in my opinion. A great story about trust and friendship.
Caution:
Kids are in peril and threatened. Some mild blood.
Lessons:
When we act out of pride, we often do terrible things that hurt others and ourselves. True friendship and teamwork comes from trust. We can be so much more than what we think. Losing a loved one is extremely painful. When we stop and think about our options we can see other choices around us.
Rating: Five out of Five Stars