Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane

by Suzanne Collins

Paperback, 2005

Call number

JF COL

Genres

Publication

Scholastic Paperbacks (2005), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages

Description

In his second adventure, eleven-year-old Gregor returns to the world beneath New York City to rescue his kidnapped sister, Boots, and fulfill a prophecy that will restore peace to the people, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders who populate the underworld.

User reviews

LibraryThing member willsl
This is the second book in the Gregor series. In this book, Gregor finds himself with a choice to make. To save his friends by killing an innocent baby (the Bane) or to save just his friends. Gregor has to make alliances with some of the weirdest creatures in this book. A must read after the first
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book.
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LibraryThing member lollypop917
Very pleased with the second book of the Underland Chronicles! I'm not going to go into detail about the plot, other reviews did a great job with this. I will say that this book has much more suspense and is much more difficult to put down than the first in the series. I'm really loving where the
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author is taking this series and am anxious to pick up the next. Highly recommend!
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LibraryThing member mariaft
In his second adventure, eleven-year-old Gregor returns to the world beneath New York City to rescue his kidnapped sister, Boots, and fulfill a prophecy that will restore peace to the people, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders who populate the underworld.

Thumbs up!
LibraryThing member BrianD8
This is book 2 of the underland chronicles, the first being"Gregor the Overlander" He must head back to the underland after they kidnapped his sister Boots, because they know this will bring him back down. They need him to play another part in a prophecy. He must kill a Big white rat called the
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bane, as they other rats are trying to kill his siter boots.
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LibraryThing member 99sheriff
they say the sequel's always better. this one sure is!
LibraryThing member JerrodYoung
Today I am reviewing Gregor overlander and the prophecy of Bane!This book was written by Suzanne Collins. I decided to read this book because my librarian suguested it to me. I thought this book was a thriller.

From the begining of the book action happens! As soon as you open the book Gregor (the
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main character) loses his sister! She gets taken down to the underland and Gregor has to save her! Gregor learns of a prophecy saying that he must kill a large rat or the underland will be taken over by rats! But in the end Gregor doesn't kill it in the end because its a BABY!!!

Gregor Overlander is a very good book and I recomend this book to everyone who enjoys a good fiction story! This book most definitly met my expectations!!!!!
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LibraryThing member TigerLMS
Gregor is still recovering from his first adventure in the underland when he takes Boots out for a mid-December sledding adventure in Central Park. But Boots disappears, and he realizes that she has been captured by a crawler (aka Big Bug, or giant cockroack) and taken back to the underworld.
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Gregor calls home to let his dad know he's going after boots, and with almost no supplies he dives into his second underland adventure. This time, Gregor discovers the Prophecy of Bane, which predicts the warrior will fight a white rat (the Bane) and that a baby will die, destroying the warrior's heart. Gregor of course reads this to mean Boots will die-- and his fears seem to come true when Boots, Luxa, and Luxa's bat drown during a battle with serpents. As with the first book, Collins has written an action-packed, moral-dilemna filled adventure that begs for a sequel (and there is one). This is appropriate for upper elementary and middle school. High schoolers might enjoy it, but the cover will turn most kids away.
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LibraryThing member krau0098
This is the second book in the Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. While I still didn't find this book to be as good as her novel The Hunger Games, I thought that this book was better than the first one in this series. If you liked the first book, you are sure to like this one.

Gregor is
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struggling to deal with life after returning with his father from the first book in the Underland Chronicles. His dad is sick and can't work so his family is struggling to make ends meet. In an effort to give his little 2 yr old sister Boots so semblance of a normal childhood he decides to take her out sledding in Central Park. He looks away for a second and next thing he knows Boots has been kidnapped back into the Underland. Gregor follows her kidnappers and finds that she has been kidnapped to in order to ensure her safety. Apparently him and Boots are part of the next Underland prophecy; one in which all is lost if the baby dies and one in which Gregor is supposed to single handidly destroy the evil white rat called the Bane.

I thought that the character development was better in this book and that in general the book was paced better with more engaging action sequences. This book wasn't wrapped up as nicely as the first book; there were still unresolved issues with missing people and stuff like that. A very solid children's book again, with easy vocab, and some violence and scary parts. I liked two of the new characters introduced; both Howard and the rat the accompanies Gregor (I am drawing a blank on her name) really add to the story and are developed as great characters.

My only complaints again would be that this isn't the most creative story. It is also a very straighforward story; there was a small twist at the end but it was nothing that couldn't be foreseen. I wish the plots of these books were a bit more complex. I suppose there is some charm in the simplicity of it too and I guess *it is* a children's book.

Overall this book is a quick read and it is engaging. A great children's book that I think adult fans of fantasy would like too. I am looking forward to the third book.
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LibraryThing member andrewfahler
very good....almost cried when his sister died
LibraryThing member porch_reader
This is Book #2 in The Underland Chronicles. Gregor and his sister Boots return to the Underland and once again embark on another quest. Like in the first book, there are allies and foes, danger and heroics. Gregor continues to learn more about himself and grow throughout his experiences in the
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underland. And there are more than a few loose ends that make me want to read the next book in the series soon.

I listened to this book on audio, and it was very well done. If you are looking for a good book for a car trip that will appeal to kids and adults alike, this is a series that I highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member zeegirl
Gregor returns to the Underland searching for his sister, Boots. He learns of yet another prophecy and dicovers what is truly in his heart.
LibraryThing member wenxin
This is book 2, a continuation of book 1. I read it merely because I was proud that I had book 1. However after this I gave up and pulled out from purchasing book 3.
LibraryThing member ammie
This book was a fun and quick read. (I read it from midnight to 3 AM last night, while knitting a hat! It sure kept me awake and energized.)

I love the characters--their fullness and complexity as well as their variety, and the types of social and familial themes these varieties enable the books to
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explore.

Book 1 GREGOR THE OVERLANDER SPOILER ALERT!!
For instance, family life is not made perfect upon the return of Gregor's father, but the father is still a valuable, interesting character. Other adults, like Vikus and Mrs. Cormaci are also strong adult roll models and helps. (We wait with bated breath for Gregor to discover this trust.) Also, I think Collins handles the toddling Boots quite well: she is neither precocious or adult-like nor absent or uninvolved.
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LibraryThing member cenneidigh
Loved this series, each book was better then the last and I hope that she writes more. Gregor is quite amazing for how young he is, but he has had to be the man of the house for quite sometime. Great series for any age.
LibraryThing member jfoster_sf
The second book gets even better, mainly I think because you get to know the character's more- they are more complex and you can relate to them and care about them more. This was an exciting read and I am officially hooked to the series=)
LibraryThing member ChrisNelsonsmartkid
Gregor is in for another adventure with the Underland. Gregor must kill a rare white coated rat called the Bane. The rat is bent on destroying all of humans in the Underland.
Gregor, Luxa, Boots, bats, annoying fireflies, one of Luxa’s cousins and a rat that can leas then to the Bane are going on
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a quest to kill the Bane. They ran into a maelstrom and nearly drown and Gregor is almost drowned by giant squid that has poison mucus. When they were almost to the destination, they find an island that has water, food and shelter. Unfortunately, one of the bats was eaten alive by millions of tiny mites. When they got there, the rats were waiting for them and they awoke the deadly sea serpents. Supposedly Luxa, her bat, Boots and a coachroach were killed by the sea serpents. Only Gregor, his bat and the rat were left to kill the Bane. When they reach it, its just a baby and Gregor didn’t kill him. When they got back, Gregor and his bat were put on trial of treason. They were eventually cleared of all charges. Boots was alive after all, her and the bug were the only ones.
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LibraryThing member sylvatica
(Whole series) When Gregor falls through the hole in his laundry room, he ends up in a world under New York, populated by giant cockroaches, rats, bats, and very pale humans. Collins says she set out to write an urban Alice in Wonderland, and she generally succeeded. The series is fairly formulaic
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– Gregor gets a prophecy at the end of each book that gives us a hint for the next book. Not to be a spoiler, but the ending is fairly predictable and a little disappointing. But the characters are great (even the roaches!), and the adventures are real and engaging. (pannarrens)
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LibraryThing member AmandaCharland
Surprisingly, book 2 in the Gregor the Overlander series was as good as a second book can get. It kept up the momentum of the first installment, was action packed, carried a consistent 'overlander' story line while the underland story took shape. Given my dislike for fantasy and science fiction, I
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am impressed by how much I'm enjoying reading the series. The prophecy in this story was alluded to in the first book, so it came as no surprise that this novel is based off of Underland founder Sandwich's second prophecy. If you like talking bats, spiders, roaches and rats, then this series is for you!
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LibraryThing member AshRyan
In this second book in the Underland Chronicles series, Gregor wrestles with the issues of whether prophecy should be blindly followed or whether he should follow his own judgment of right and wrong. This is interesting material for juvenile fiction to take on, and in this book Gregor does the
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right thing. But it turns out later in the course of the series that it might not have been the right thing after all, as each successive book becomes ever darker and more gruesome as a result of his choice. So I liked this book, but the rest of the series kind of ruined it for me.
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LibraryThing member CourtneyCrawford
In this thriving second book in the Underland Chronicles, Gregor takes his sister Boots out sledding in Central Park. When he takes his eyes off of her for one minute, she is gone. He learns that she was taken through the Central Park enrance to the Underland and he goes down to save her. Boots was
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really only taken because everyone knew that Gregor would go anywhere to find Boots and they needed him for a prophecy.
Soon enough it is time to leave to fufill his role. Regalia is on the brink of war with the gnawers (giant underland rats.) His job is to find the Bane, which is presumably in the center in a series of mazes called the Labrinth, and kill it. Throughout their journey a bat gets eaten alive by mites. Sea serpents take the lives of Boots, Luxa, Aurora, and Temp. And in the end Gregor finds the Bane. But how could he kill it when it was only a pup?
Gregor lets the Bane live and returns to Regalia. He is set to die along with his bat bond Ares because they did not fufill the prophecy. Later they are found not guilty because if they would have killed the Bane, they would have been at war with the gnawers. Boots and Temp are found alive and all ends well...for now.
I liked this book a lot. I never really thought that Boots was dead because it just couldnt happen. They really got me with Luxa not coming back and all. But that's what makes books like this good. I think the author brought edge of the seat suspence and really did well with this book. I would reccommend anyone with sense of imagination to read, and love, this book.
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: After rescuing his sister and his father from the Underland, Gregor had sworn he'd never go back. But then his sister Boots is taken by a group of cockroaches, and Gregor is left with no choice but to follow. Once he returns to the underground city of Regalia, he finds Boots safe, but a
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new prophecy that hints that she's in deadly danger from the rats, and that Gregor must find and kill the Bane, an mysterious and evil white rat. To keep Boots safe, Gregor will head once more into danger, traveling the Waterway in search of the Bane. But once again, not only his sister's safety but the future of the Underland is riding on his shoulders, and he doesn't know which of his companions he can trust, or when - or even if - he'll see the surface world again.

Review: When I'm tired or very busy or stressed out, I tend to gravitate towards YA/mid-grade fantasy adventures for my audiobooks. They're fast, so I feel like I'm accomplishing something, they're exciting, so that they can distract me temporarily from whatever I'm stressed about, they're absorbing, so I want to listen to more, and they don't usually require a lot of mental energy, but just pull me along for the ride. On all of those fronts, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane succeeded admirably - just as the first book in the series did when I read it. It was a quick listen, it kept me engaged, and it had a few surprises along the way. I also thought this book was a little more emotionally complex than the last one. Not unreasonably so for the target audience, but Gregor has to make some tougher choices this time around, and the interpersonal relationships likewise have a slightly more nuanced dynamic. Collins also keeps building upon her underground world, and there were some new and very interesting features that appeared in this book, both in terms of new creatures, and the Underland social structure and politics.

While I do tend to go for the audiobook version of books like this, I do wonder if maybe this series would have been better as a book. Paul Boehmer's narration is technically fine - well paced, good with voices, nice timbre, etc. - but something about his inflection makes it feel like this book is geared younger than it actually is. Maybe because the writing doesn't contain a lot of the things that typically annoy me about mid-grade books, the fact that the juvenile feeling is added back in by the narration stood out more. It's entirely idiosyncratic, and certainly not distracting enough to make me not want to listen to the rest of the series, but it is something I noticed. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: This book builds pretty strongly on the first one in the series. I'd recommend the series as a whole to fans of solid fast-paced fantasy adventure stories.
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LibraryThing member melydia
When cockroaches abscond with his baby sister, Gregor once again finds himself in the Underland, once again risking life and limb to fulfill a prophecy. Mostly this book was just okay. While I can see my younger self enjoying this, as an adult I found the prophecy angle far less interesting than it
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tried to be. Yes, the prophecy will come true but not in the way you expect it to. That's just how it always go. And I'd be more forgiving except that that's exactly what happened in the previous book in this series. I guess if you adored the first book and want that all over again, then you'll like this one. As for me, I think I'll be giving the rest of the series a miss.
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LibraryThing member MomsterBookworm
This second book in the 'Underland Chronicles' introduces (young) readers to how, if you want something to be 'destroyed' by general consensus and popular vote, you demonize it to a point that is larger than life. Once a belief like that (however, well-intentioned) is unleashed and goes viral, it
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feeds upon itself and grows exponentially. However, if and when, like when the young hero comes face to face with the bane and finds that it is not as (vicious as) has been proclaimed, which is the right thing to do: To follow through with the responsibility that has been relegated to him to perform, or does he follow his heart and instinct, and so risk incurring the ire of those who entrusted the task to him? A good story line, and written in a non-cliched manner.
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LibraryThing member StefanieGeeks
Still having fun with this series... definitely for its age group.
LibraryThing member DeweyEver
Great for young readers trying out their first YA. My seven year old is reading it and loving it but it will still work with middle school readers. May be a bit bland for teens and adults.

Awards

Sequoyah Book Award (Nominee — Children's — 2007)
Connecticut Book Award (Finalist — 2005)

Pages

304

ISBN

0439650763 / 9780439650762
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