Pillage (Obert Skye)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Is that a dragon carrying a mailbox on the front cover?

Yes it is! Handsome dragon, isn't it? Pity it's also barking mad and very dangerous. Because guess what? The dragons aren't the good guys again! Rather refreshing change, is it not? Back to the basics--until you get into some of the new, creative mythology Obert Skye has created for Pillage.

Beck Phillips could be what you call a "troubled kid". He's not unbalanced like his mum, but he isn't the ideal kid for a few different reasons, including the being kicked out of schools and beginning the story with a swearword said in the school ventilation system with a bag filled with bees waiting to be released to wreck some havoc.

He doesn't even get in trouble when he falls through and releases the bees. Because his mother just died. And now he's being carted off to the middle of nowhere, where his batty uncle lives. Where he can make vines drag people who threaten him out the window, and have lettuce learn to fly.

And that's just the beginning.

To start with, I love Obert Skye's Leven Thumps series. About as much as I love Pillage. It's creative, Beck is wonderful narrator, and he's completely open about his crush on Kate. The bad guys are honestly bad guys. The dragons aren't nice. The characters have depth, sure, but... well... alright, Beck and his uncle have depth. Milo, maybe. Kate, eh, kinda. The writing is basic and open, everything's out there--streamlines the process, puts more emphasis on the story. Occasionally I felt that information was skipped over in odd places, but only every now and then, and that may have been my own error from reading through so fast! It's a quick read, and a good story. The ending is great. Worth the read, and I can't wait for the library to get the second!