End of Time (review and giveaway)

The End of Time (Books of Umber)

P. W. Catanese (Author), David Ho (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Hardcover: 432 pages

Publisher: Aladdin (February 8, 2011)
Language: English

List Price: $16.99

This is where it ends: The End of Time.

Product Description: The third book in P.W. Catanese's Books of Umber trilogy concludes the imaginative, page-turning adventures of Umber and Hap.

Hap is still unable to control the powers he must master to save Umber's old world from destruction. And now Umber is under siege from dangers near and far. Suddenly the fate of two worlds is at stake. For Hap to fulfill his destiny, he must survive a life-or-death battle with more than one mighty enemy. And he may be forced to abandon everything he holds most dear...


The memorable characters, fantastic creatures, and fast-paced action readers embraced in Happenstance Found and Dragon Games are all here in The End of Time, the heart-stopping conclusion to the acclaimed The Books of Umber trilogy.

My take: Let me take you back to the beginning....to my review of Happenstance Found (The Books of Umber) , whereby I fell in love with P.W. Catanese - at least, with his writing.  No matter that his books are considered "Young Adult" novels and I'm a 40 year old mom.   Didn't matter in the slightest because these characters and this story appeals to a wide sprectrum of readers.  I was hooked, I tell you, hooked! 

Now, my favorite books usually are those with sequels - part 2, 3, 4 and so on.  Because in a really good book, I become vested with the characters and really want to know what happens to them.  One book is seldom enough to satiate my curiosity.  However, can I tell you what I hate about such series?  Having to wait (and wait and wait) for each follow up book - because I tend to forget details and minor characters in between.  And secondly, I abhor that terrible moment when I finish the last book.  Gah!  After all the time I've got invested in these chacters and the author dares to take it all away from me?!  Now THAT is the sign of an EXCELLENT author and an EXELLENT series.  Like The Books of Umber.  The End of Time is an excellent conclusion to the exciting series which began with Happenstance Found and continued with Dragon Games.  There is even a nice epilogue at the end to tidy up lose ends to the story (doesn't mean I'm not still going to mourn the end of the series though...I'm nothing if not loyal). 

Be sure to check out the entire series: The Books of Umber (3 books)

About the Author: P. W. (Paul William) Catanese was born in New York and grew up in Connecticut, where he lives with his wife and three children. When he's not writing books, he draws cartoons and works for an advertising agency. Interestingly, the letters in "P. W. Catanese" can be rearranged to spell "want escape?" Paul figures that's why people read books like his.

The giveaway: One lucky winner will win his or her own copy of The End of Time, courtesy of ME!! [I had already preordered it (duh! I've been waiting on pins and needles for its release) when Simon and Schuster sent me a copy for review so you get my brand new copy from Amazon.com - US Addresses only please as postage is on my dime!]

To win: Leave a comment here telling me the name of one of YOUR favorite books (single book or a series of books). Be sure to leave your email address with your comment if you are not a blogger or your email is not easily found on your blog. This giveaway is open until 11:59 p.m., EST, Tuesday, March 15, 2011. Good Luck!

Bonus entries: Get up to 9 extra entries for a total of 10 entries (please leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

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This review was sponsored by the Simon and Schuster Publishing who provided the book for review. I was not compensated in any way except for the complimentary book.