Excellent sequel to The Reluctant Assassin. It starts out a little confusingly, however, because our heroine Chevie has come back from the past into an alternate future--and she's not the Chevie we know from the first book. Her personality has changed because of her new timeline; yet there's a part of her consciousness, what she calls "Traitor Chevie", that is trying to break through and regain control of her body. Sounds confusing, but it makes sense after you read it. Chevie and Riley, who's still in 1899, eventually get together to fight against the evil Colonel Box, who has come from the future (his future, where he runs an evil empire) to start creating his empire in Victorian London. Lots of action, humor, time traveling confusion, and two lunkhead characters named Thundercats who are comic relief and also provide muscle and danger. Great book, I love Colfer's stuff! The story: Riley and Chevie are back, but there are complications: on her return from Victorian London, Chevie finds herself in the wrong world--a world where an evil plan hatched by WARP agents in 1890s London brought a brutal regime to power, a government that controls everything a hundred years later. Can two kids figure out what happened and prevent it? Possibly--but it'll take some help from the Battering Rams and their king, Otto Malarkey...which could easily end up making everything worse!June Cleaver's ratings: Language PG; Violence R; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance abuse PG; magic and the occult G; GLBT content G; adult themes (brutal dictatorships) PG; overall rating PG-13.Liz's comments: Here's another sequel that was okay, but which in my opinion didn't turn out quite as well as the original. Riley and Chevie are operating in their separate worlds for a long time before being reunited, and the story finally gets around to being good once that happens. Once again, there's a lot of violent action here, so those who are opposed to the idea of a gang-style massacre with weapons imported from the future will need to look elsewhere!Annotation: Riley, at home where he belongs in 1890s London, is getting ready to open his first show at the theatre he "inherited" from Albert Garrick (currently lost in a time warp, although possibly not dead!). Unexpectedly, Otto Malarkey and a group of Rams leadership show up the afternoon before the show and remind him that "once a Ram, always a Ram", and that they expect a cut--like, 50%--of his take from the show. They're involved in this discussion when Farley (the tattoo artist from the previous story) opens up with a machine pistol and mows down just about everyone there, including Malarkey's brother Barnabus. Otto and Riley are saved only by luck and the judicious use of Riley's talent of distraction.In the meantime, Cehvie Savano knows something is wrong inside her head. In 2014, she's a soldier in the Thundercats, a group of elite troops in the Boxite government, which currently runs much of the world. Turns out that an agent from WARP, Clayton Box, figured out while stationed in London in the 1890s that he could stage his own revolution and change the course of world events into a path he found more to his taste. Chevie's problem is that she hears a voice in her head, which she calls Traitor Chevie, telling her that this is all a mistake, and that the world has taken a turn in the wrong direction. Because she's viewed by those above her as talented but warped, she's sent on a mission to prove her dedication to the Boxite cause--and that mission is to kill Charles Smart, the inventor of the time machine. When she gets to his apartment, she can't do it; instead, Smart has time to activate the time machine he's built in his apartment, and Chevie, along with two died-in-the-wool female Thundercat soldiers, Lunka Witmeyer and Clover Vallicose, are sent back to 1898 London, the site of "Emergence Day."In the alternate world that sprang up under Colonel Box, "Emergence Day" happened when he and his troops, armed with weapons that they had either smuggled in from the future or fabricated themselves, came up from the sewers where they'd been headquartered and captured, then executed, Queen Victoria. London falls first, and pretty much the rest of the world shortly after it. While Box claims to have prevented both World War 1 and 2, he kills millions of people to establish his empire--so in Chevie's mind, he's no different than Hitler.Clover recognizes the place and time immediately, as she's a true believer who is dedicated to the Boxite cause (which conveniently is also a religion, with Box as the god who can do no wrong). Clover's biggest goal from here on out is to find Colonel Box and join up as an original henchman, doing all she can to further his success and assure her place in history. Witmeyer, on the other hand, is much more an opportunist, and doesn't particularly believe in the religion that Box has set up--so she's ready to go either way. For the moment, though, it's easier to follow along after Vallicose, her longtime partner. The two of them, dragging Chevie along with them, eventually make it to Box's headqurters, where their obvious knowledge of the plot gets them admitted into Box's presence, and finally lands the two Thundercats on his team of folks from the future.After Farley's attack, Riley and Otto manage to get away from the theatre and make it to Otto's house in Mayfair, where he lives an alternate life masquerading as a Commodore of the Fleet, aided and abetted by Figary, his leprechaun-sized majordomo. Reviewing history, they realize that the way Box succeeds in his takeover bid is by having Farley bring the now leaderless (as they suppose, since Otto was supposed to have been killed in the shootout at Riley's theatre) Battering Rams under his power, where they provide the muscle for the coup. Otto's group comes up with a plan that involves Figary and Riley sneaking into Rams' headquarters to suss things out, sow distraction, and hopefully derail the takeover. What they don't expect upon arrival is to find Chevie in Box's clutches--but there she is, tied up and a focal point for everyone. Between them, Figary and Riley manage to fire a cannon that literally brings down the house. Having taken the Rams out of the equation, they leave behind them a slightly different version of the day's events; now, they just need to rescue Chevie and change history altogether by making sure the rest of the events of Emergence Day don't go as planned.In a really disgusting sequence, Riley and Otto wade through the sewers (discussing the semi-solids and the floaters) and set a charge of plastic explosive on the far wall of Box's hideout. They've also paid the local waterworks guy to "flush" the tunnels promptly at five, thus giving them a huge quantity of water at the same time the explosive goes off, which will hopefully destroy Box's headquarters. But they're discovered by a party of Box's soldiers (because the Boxites have planted a tracking device in Otto's boots) while there, and just about wiped out--but Lunka Witmeyer sees this enormous bull of a man and instantly falls in love with him (and he with her) and when she throws her lot in with Malarkey and Riley, things change. They arrange a sewer cave-in that brings a torrent of man-eating rats down on the head of the party and kills Farley, who in a different iteration of history is known as the Hangman, and whose part in the events earned it the nickname of The Hangman's Revolution. But in THIS iteration, Farley gets eaten alive by cannibalistic rodents, which is pretty awful even for a bad guy.In the meantime, Emergence Day is about to begin as planned. Chevie has an opportunity to kill Box but can't bring herself to do it, even though she knows everything will probably fail because of her; however, Clover Vallicose, hearing Box dismiss her religion, which glorifies HIM, has no such problems. The Thundercat, losing her faith in Box, realizes that SHE would make a better leader than he does, and she dispatches him, albiet with great sadness, but knowing it's the best thing for the cause. This is right as the sewer flush happens, so the last Chevie sees of them is Clover cradling Box in a Pieta-like pose; Chevie has other things, like drowning, to worry about. She eventually escapes up a chimney and manages to stay alive; later, accidentally bumping into Riley and Otto, they make a quick getaway in a boat and head for the Houses of Parliament, where historically, the general insurgency is about to happen. They are there in time to prevent Clover, driving a tank, from taking out the seat of government (Big Ben isn't so lucky) and Otto finds himself, at the end of the day, in the enviable position of being hailed as the person who was on hand to foil the plot against Queen Vic and the government.On the down side, it appears that Box ordered the time portal on Half Moon Street to be destroyed, so Chevie is going to be stuck in 1898. The good news is that Winkle, Riley's assistant at the theatre, has turned up a lead on Tom, Riley's long-lost brother, and the last pages of the book have the kids planning to go and find him, satisfied that at least, they've saved the world from a religion made in the image of Clayton Box.
What do You think about Pyövelin Vallankumous (2014)?
Not a favourite story, but it was all right... Started off a bit slow, but better towards the end.
—Kaitlynmarie1415
Action packed but not quite as funny as the first in the series
—ilovemonkeys
Hyvä seikkailusarja, vinkkaan monelle eri luokka-asteelle.
—neoncat710
