Today we are returning to the Underland with Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane. This is the second book in the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. It opens on Gregor once again taking care of his family the best he can as they struggle to get by in New York City. He helps watch Boots and Lizzie and tries to make sure his still sick father doesn’t overdo it while trying to figure out how his family can afford to celebrate Christmas. One day while watching Boots in Central Park he loses sight of her for a minute only to discover that she was taken back to the Underland by the crawlers, or cockroaches, that live down there. After letting his father know what happened he goes down after her, only to immediately be attacked by gnawers, or rats, and then to be rescued by Ares, the flier that he had bonded to at the end of the first book. Ares quickly takes Gregor to Regalia to meet up with Boots who had been taken there by the crawlers to protect her from the gnawers. Once there, Gregor is informed there is a second prophecy about him that states he will need to hunt down and kill a gnawer known only as the Bane, a pure white rat. Though reluctant to do so he agrees to go on the quest to kill the Bane thinking it will stop the gnawers from trying to attack Boots. He soon sets out with a group of both old and new friends as they work to track down where the Bane is currently at.
This book continues the adventures of Gregor, and Boots, in the Underland and provides more explanation of the culture and climate of the Underland. I say this because we learn more about the human culture in Regalia and how they train to fight with a sword as well as how the culture expects people to act or not act when Ares discusses how he was not sentenced to exile but might as well have been. At the same time, we also get to see more new races in the Underland as we are introduced to their version of a firefly in the form of Photos Glow-Glow and Zap. These details work to create a more fleshed out world in the Underland than was presented in the previous book. There are other things that were also introduced in this book that add some interesting layers as well. One of these was the appearance of special abilities that some of the characters can have. There is a new gnawer that was introduced named Twitchtip who is a scentseer. This basically means that her sense of smell is heightened even more than the average gnawer. So much so, that she can track the Bane from what seems to be halfway across the Underland simply by tracking the color of his pelt. A second ability that is introduced, and one that I think we will see reappear in later books, is what is referred to as a rager. A rager is basically someone who has extremely heightened battlefield reflexes, more so than a trained soldier or fighter who had been training for decades. Considering the characters revealed to be ragers, I am curious to see how this ability will play out in the later books in the series. There was one thing that was a bit of a big difference between this book and the first book though. Gregor agreed to the quest to protect his sister, which was similar to his reasoning behind agreeing to the quest in the first book. However, he is no longer the reluctant warrior that he was in the first book. Gregor actually attends a few training sessions with Mareth prior to leaving on the quest and then carries a sword and even uses it at times while on the quest. It may have only been six months since he first found out he is the destined warrior of the Underland but he seems to be doing his best to step up to the plate and fill those shoes. I give this a good four out of five stars.
Overall, this book helps set this series up to be pretty great, at least in my opinion. This book is primarily for younger readers, that is older kids and young teens considering Gregor’s age is only eleven or twelve throughout the series. However, I would also suggest that teens in general might appreciate and enjoy the series as well. That being said, I am not sure how well the series would appeal to adult readers, even those who are fantasy fans. If it sounds like you might enjoy then I suggest you go ahead and try it as the series is well worth the read. There is violence throughout the book, much like with the previous book, but it is toned down enough that it should still be suitable for readers no younger than about the same age as Gregor. As always feel free to share your thoughts about the book and the series in the comments.