Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
The Underland Chronicles: Book Two - Gregor and the prophecy of bane Audio
Fiction
For ages 12 and up
Unabridged audiobook (Digital)
Performed/read by: Paul Boehmer
Listening Library, 2005
Gregor had hoped that after he returned home with his father and sister from the Underland, that life would go back to being the way it was before his father disappeared. Unfortunately, this is not what happens. Gregor’s father is ill and unable to work, and the family is struggling to make ends meet. Life is hard for everyone, except perhaps for little Boots, who gaily goes about chattering and keeping everyone on their toes. Gregor does feel badly that Boots does not get out to play that much, which is what prompts him to take her sledding in Central Park.
Gregor and Boots have barely started to play together in the snowy park when Boots disappears. Again. Too late Gregor remembers that one of the passages to the Underland has an opening in Central Park. Gregor once again plunges into the darkness of the tunnels that lead down to the world that lies underground, to the Underland where humans, rats, cockroaches, and spiders battle to find their place in the scheme of things.
On arriving in the Underland capital city, Gregor is quickly reunited with his precious little sister who is delighted to be back with her “bug” friends, the cockroaches. Gregor is very angry about his sister’s ‘abduction’ until he learns that the rats are seeking her; that the rats want to kill her. Somehow, once again, Gregor and Boots are part of an Underlander prophecy. This time, in order to protect Boots and the humans who live in the Underland, Gregor must battle a mysterious and enormous white rat. The rat, called “The Bane,” threatens to undermine the power structure of the entire underground world.
Thus it is that Gregor, with Boots in tow, once again sets out on a quest. With allies and friends by his side, he hopes to be able to defeat the great rat and thus restore the status quo in the Underland. As the adventure unfolds Gregor makes many surprising discoveries about himself, his companions, his values, and about the very prophecy that sent him on the quest in the first place.
This second Gregor adventure is full of surprising plot twists, revelations, and fascinating character development. We are left wondering when Gregor will return to the Underland, for return he must.
