Fraser, Tom, Beth, Ethan, Jess T and Jess P from Warblington School tell us what they think of The Game of Death, volume six of The Darksmith Legacy - a linked series of novels with additional online elements. CONTAINS SPOILERS!
What was the story about?
Jess T: The Doctor and Gisella travelled to the Silver Devastation to play the game of death, a grim game of which the winner will win a fortune. They have to find out who the nocturne is as it camouflages itself as a human in order to survive and destroy the eternity crystal.
Tom: The plot for this story is very good and original; it is almost a life-sized version of Cluedo.
What are the characters like?
Jess T: The characters were the best set out of all of the books so far. They were all very different and you could easily remember them so not to get confused. There were not too few, but not too many.
Ethan: The characters in this book are fairly normal, with a few stronger characters as well as some weaker, less detailed ones. A few of them are actually different to what you might originally think with a few surprises to do with their identities.
Tom: They are described better than in previous books, but the descriptions could still be improved. For example, Miss Birch is described as "an old woman with sharp thin features and hard little eyes". I don't think this is really enough to really bring the character to life.
Jess P: The characters are described in more detail than in the other books.
Beth: That said, they could still have had more description of the guests.
Was it exciting?
Jess T: Very exciting. The pace was just right. It gave detail, but kept moving.
Beth: There were lots of exciting bits, but strangely there were bits where it was too slow.
Fraser: I found this book more exciting than some of the previous stories.
Ethan: This book was exciting for me, mainly because it included more suspense than some of the other books. It had some interesting plot twists to make me want to read on and continue with the series.
Were there any particular highlights?
Jess T: From when they started playing the game of death onwards!! This was without a doubt the best book so far!
Ethan: One of my favourite parts was when one of the characters (I won't say who!) is revealed to be more than meets the eye.
Jess P: When the Doctor is trapped with three Nocturnes
Beth: I liked the monsters and the idea of a "Game of Death"
Fraser: One of my favourite parts was when they meet another guest and it says he smiled and the smile got wider until he turned into a monster.
Were there any particular lowlights?
Jess P: It got a bit slow at the very beginning of the game
Ethan: The book had no real low points for me, although a few slower sections prevented it from being as gripping as it might have been.
Fraser: I found it repetitive when they fought the agent at the end and escaped on a cliff-hanger again. The fact page about the Silver Devastation was interesting, but you have to be a decent Doctor Who fan to know who some of the characters mentioned are.
Does this book make you want to read on?
Jess T: Of course!! I can't wait to see what obstacle the Darksmiths put in front off the Doctor and Gisella next!
Jess P: YES!!!
Would you recommend it?
Jess T: Yes to both girls and boys around the age of 11/12. This was not as good for 6/7 year olds, as I would have been a bit scared reading this at 6!
Jess P: I'd say confident 10 year olds or bigger
Ethan: I would recommended it to children aged 10+
Tom: I would recommend this book to anyone as it fits into the series or it could be a stand-alone novel.
What do you think of the website
Jess T: This really needs to change now or people are not going to log on. It's so repetitive and never changes.
Beth: It seemed a little different, with questions about the book, not just about what is on the website.
What score would you give the book?
Jess T: 9.875 out of 10
Jess P: 8/10 for the good monster descriptions.
Ethan: I would give it 8/10
Beth: Me too - 8/10.
Tom: I would give it 9/10 because it was well-thought out and original. It loses the final mark for me for its descriptions and because in places it seemed slightly rushed. This is my favourite book of the series so far! However the activity pages are too dark!
