Review - Seeds of Rebellion (Beyonders #2) by Brandon Mull

Title: Seeds of Rebelllion

Author: Brandon Mull

Series: 2nd (A World Without Heroes)

Pages: 512

Published:  March 13th 2012 by Aladdin

ISBN: 9781416997948

Source: Library

Description: After the cliffhanger ending of A World Without Heroes, Jason is back in the world he’s always known—yet for all his efforts to get home, he finds himself itching to return to Lyrian. Jason knows that the shocking truth he learned from Maldor is precious information that all of his friends in Lyrian, including Rachel, need if they have any hope of surviving and defeating the evil emperor.  Meanwhile, Rachel and the others have discovered new enemies—as well as new abilities that could turn the tide of the entire quest. And as soon as Jason succeeds in crossing over to Lyrian, he’s in more danger than ever. Once the group reunites, they strive to convince their most-needed ally to join the war and form a rebellion strong enough to triumph over Maldor. At the center of it all, Jason and Rachel realize what roles they’re meant to play—and the answers are as surprising as they are gripping.

I Give This ...

I'm a huge Brandon Mull fan.  If you haven't read any of his books, you really need to do so soon!   However, I was a tad disappointed in this book.  It just didn't really live up to the first book in the series and feel short of my love for his other series.

All our characters are back, and for that I soldiered on through this book.  Jason ends up back in Lyrian.  It doesn't take him long to find Rachel.  And the little band of rebels marches forward with a plan.   There are bits of the story that I really enjoyed.  Rachel has a far higher purpose that I could have ever imagined.  Tie that in with her affinity for magic and I eagerly await where this story might take her.  We learn some extremely interesting facts about Galloran.  After everything we've learned, he's the one I would want on my side to take down Maldor.  There are some secondary characters that are interesting including a Maldor traitor that I really have no idea if I trust or not.  Interestingly enough, he's not sure he can be trusted either.   I'm not sure how that works.

I wanted to like it so much that I never gave up on the story.  And it seriously dragged.  Remember how there were quite a few complaints about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows feeling like a never ending camping trip?  That's kind of how this one felt as well.  There are numerous location changes with endless time in between.  A lot of time is spent discussing what they should do next, who the traitor might be, and how to stay ahead of Maldor's spies.  There are definitely interesting things that happen when they get there, and those moments are worth the journey.   I just sometimes wished it wasn't so wordy.  I think the story could have been told is quite a few less pages.

Despite all that, I can guarantee that I will still read the last book in this series.  I know how fantastic Mull is at world building, and I want to see how this epic land handles a rebellion.