Gregor And The Code Of Claw Underland Chronicles

Customer Reviews

Gregor and the Code of Claw

2008-01-14
Hello my name is Jacob Griffith. I read the book Gregor and the Code of Claw. It is about a boy named Gregor and he wants to see the final prophecy (the prophecy of time), but no one wants him to see it. The prophecy has something awful in it. The prophecy basically calls for the warrior's death. Gregor is the warrior so it said he is going to die. There is a whole army of rats heading towards him and his mom, sister and boots are still hiding in regalia. He was terrified of the prophecy, but he new that he had to protect regalia and get his family back home safe. Gregor new that his task was not going to be easy. The whole fate of the underland is in Gregor hand. Gregors mission was to keep the regalia safe and bring peace. Gregor had his mine set on a lot of things. There was also a new princess that Gregor had to put up with her name was luxa. She likes Gregor a lot. There is also a war that's supposed to end all wars. There are many books in this series and I read a few of them. They were all action packed and kept me interested. I don't want to give away the ending so read it and find out if Gregor and his family make it home safe.

Bloody but compelling......

2007-11-13
DISCLAIMER: This review assumes that you have read the first four books in the series or are at least familiar with the basic outline of the story.

"Gregor and The Code of Claw" picks up immediately after the cliffhanger ending of the previous volume, "Gregor and The Marks of Secret". All-out war between the humans and the rats has been declared, and the other races in the Underland are taking sides and making a stand. Gregor is again caught up in a series of events that seem to be beyond his control, namely another one of the prophetic rhymes that have driven the events forward in the series to this point. The only difference is that this particular prophesy calls for his demise in the final battle that will determine the Underland's fate. Whew! Got it so far? (Look, I did state at the beginning of the review that you had to be familar with the series to this point for ANY of this to make sense. If you haven't read these books, then don't start here!)

Suzanne Collins has created quite a universe here. The characters are well developed and fairly believable, and the writing is straightforward and clear. There is little in the way of exposition here though, so you'll be lost if you're not thoroughly familiar with the surroundings.

I do think that Collins kind of jumped the shark a little bit in terms of the level of violence in this volume, though. Her characters take a tremendous beating during the battle sequences, and the blood flows freely. Collins has never shied away from death in the series, and I'll warn you now, gentle reader, that she once again doesn't disappoint. The sense of darkness that pervaded the previous book goes into overdrive in this one.

The ending is pretty open-ended. There is certainly room to begin a new series if Collins decides to continue on with this character set. I know that my daughter would love to see more adventures, as she's the one who recommended this series to me. I liked it for sure, although I'm still a little surprised at the wanton bloodshed in the final two volumes. I wouldn't recommend for younger readers, but those who are 9 and up should do ok.

Great Book for 4th graders and up

2007-11-06
My daughter loves this series. Has some great vocabulary words in it. I'll give it to her for Christmas to complete her set.

the best

2007-10-17
This is the best book I have ever read it is dramatic with lots of action. Each chapter make you wonder and is hard to stop reading. If you like action and a tiny bit of love that will make you cry from happieness then get this book!!!!

Wonderful Conclusion

2007-07-10
This book wrapped up many things in the Underland and ended this fantastic series adequately. With the warrior's death prophesized and an impending doom on gregor and all of the underland this book captured emotion through suspence, action, and saying goodbye, whilling to sacrifice for the ones you love. To be honest every time gregor said goodbye to one of his friends I cried, just knowing he'd accepted that he was going to die made tears come to my eyes. The only reason I gave this book four stars was because of the ending, how he just decided to leave, what about Luxa?? HELLO??

But other than that I thought it was a great book that wrapped up the story with style. I am going to miss this series.

Underland Chronicles- Code of the Claw

2008-06-23
One of her best books. My son had it read in about 4 days! He loved it and wished there were more to follow.

Cool series form Collins!

2008-06-06
You have to read this book. It may be the final book of the interesting series of the Underland Chronicles it's still one of my favorite out of the series. It ended with Gregor going home and death of many he loved and cared but now he worried about his new life in the overland like how can he explain his deep scar and wound from the wars he fought. Also what he missed the most is Luxa his special friend well overland word girl friend. The book also mentioned Ripred the rat's sad stories and his disbelief to Sandwich's prophecies. I would recommend this book to anyone with a good reading ability even kids. You would love it. Trust me!

A Good Finish

2008-05-05
When an author sets out to write a series, it takes a special writer to finish with style. Not many authors keep you wanting more through an entire series. Suzanne Collins not only finished the series with a magnificent book it had an amazing voice. While you may finish it, wishing and hoping she'll write more, you can feel at ease that Gregor and the Underland are safe.

A fitting if not quite-as-strong-as-previous-books finale.

2008-02-08
Gregor and the Code of Claw

This is the fifth and series-ending (I shy from ever using the word "final" with regard to fantasy nowadays) book in the Gregor series, one of the most original and powerful young adult fantasy series now in recent years. It is not a standalone book, so if you haven't read the first four, you should start. Assuming you have, however, how does Code stack up?
I have to admit to some disappointment. While much of what has made Gregor such a strong series can be found here: strongly distinct characters, a quick pacing, truly moving scenes, a realistic approach to violence and its consequences seldom seen in most books (young adult or not), Code doesn't quite match the quality of the earlier books.
Code picks up at the end of the fourth book. The war between the humans and their allies (bats, crawlers, nibblers, etc.) and gnawers has ratcheted up to peak level as the humans fight a major early battle against the rat army, then prepare for a siege, all the while trying to frantically break the "Code of Claw" that the rat army is employing to communicate. Gregor is in the middle of it all, of course, all while trying to forget about the prophecy saying he (The Warrior) will die.
Much of the plot is expected from previous books--The Bane makes an appearance, tension deepens between human factions, the relationship between Gregor and Luxa continues to grow. There are a few surprises in terms of plot. The battle scenes are bloody (as usual) and major characters are not spared war's deadly consequences (also as usual).
Typically for Collins, the story moves along quickly, but here I think it moves too quickly. Much of the book felt a bit rushed--plot and character elements are introduced and then resolved too quickly or, if not resolved, pushed back by another fast-moving plot/character development. It would have felt rushed no matte where in the series this took place, but coming in the final book, one especially wanted some time to savor some of the developments, allowing them to deepen and allowing the reader to become somewhat more invested. It's by no means a fatal flaw, Code is still a pretty good book, but it had the potential to be much more, especially based on previous books.
In the end, it's a fitting close, if a slightly flawed or disappointing one. But that doesn't take away from the accomplishments of the series as whole, which is highly recommended, although parents should be aware that it is not for younger kids--too many scenes that are truly frightening, too many meaningful, painful deaths, and a lot of blood. But for older YA readers, it's an exhilarating, moving ride.

Amazing Piece of Art

2008-01-22
After reading 'Gregor and the Code of Claw', I found myself weeping for hours. But not wanting to ruin the ending for all those avid readers who have yet to read the book, I will only say that this book was amazing. However, it would be a lie to say that the rest of the series wasn't amazing either. Suzanne Collins makes her characters come to lives, right off the pages.
Throughout the books, my favorite characters were Ripred and Ares, and I could practically hear Ripred's snide remarks echoing through my ears. This book is a great conclusion to the wonderful series. When I first spotted the first book in the series beside the others, I found myself thinking that this looked odd. Giant cockroaches, spiders, bats, and rats? A world underground? But bored, I began to read, and found that I could not stop. Suzanne Collins is a master of her art, only perhaps matched with J.K. Rowling, who's masterpieces still astound me.
There is adventure to be found in every chapter, though admittedly grief is strewn along the books. Still, the reader will find that this book is a very good read for all ages.