Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I finished listening to The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Riddle of Ages tonight, which means I’m done with the series–unless Trenton Lee Stewart decides to add to it ten more years down the road.  Who knows?  For now, however, I can pass Riddle of Ages along to my oldest and turn my attention to other things.  As for how I liked it, well–I think, tonight, you get a list review.  Because my food storage/guest room is beautifully cleaned up, 3.5 quarts of tomatoes have been blanched, peeled, cut, and frozen, and children have been taxied to all of their various activities for the day…and I’m poopered.

1.   I did enjoy this more than the prequel, but it feels a little unfair to compare the two.  In many ways, they’re different sorts of books entirely, whereas the four main Benedict books are the same sort.  Also, does a prequel count as part of a quintet, or is it a quartet with a prequel on the side?
2.   The different-because-the-kids-have-aged dynamic of the group was interesting.  Not badly done, either.
3.   To be honest, I wasn’t excited about Mr. Curtain and the Ten Men being the villains again.  That said, it wasn’t actually as annoying as I feared, due mostly to the different setup of the plot.
4.   I’m terribly glad that Stewart recognized the need to approach the Society’s conflict with McCracken differently this time.  He’s done all that can possibly be done (depending on my mood, I might say AND MORE!) with the Milligan-and/or-Kate-vs.-McCracken in an epic battle idea, and I was actually dreading having to go through it again.
5.   I liked the growth of the characters.  And the ending.

There you go, folks.  A must for series fans, although the series really must be read in order.  And for not-yet-fans who like the close-knit-kid-group-saving-the-world idea, the Benedict books are definitely for you!