The Truth (Lionboy Trilogy #3)

This is a great book with lots of action to grab the attention of teens. Well written and age appropriate for teens and tweens.

Liked these books so much that I bought them for myself even though my kids are too old for them. the originality is great!

The Lionboy trilogy is a breath of fresh air in a domain currently dominated by fantasy. Set in an imaginative post-environmental-disaster Europe, the hero, 10-year-old Charlie, sets out to find his parents who have been kidnapped, embarking on a rolicking set of adventures across the English Channel, France, Venice, the Mediterranean, Africa and the Caribbean. While the first book takes a while to gain momentum, by the time you hit the second and third (Lionboy: The Truth) the adventure whips you along, full of twists and turns, breathtaking escapes and unexpected discoveries. The characters (which include lions, cats, a nasty evil corporation, gondoliers, and a Bulgarian king) are beautifully crafted and the hero's gritty determination is something with which any child (and adult, too) will relate. The animals are a sheer delight. The books are interspersed with detailed, charming illustrations that enhance the sheer pleasure of the experience. These are books to be read aloud or to savour under the bedcovers at night.

With the humor and tight plotting of LIONBOY, the thrill, excitement, and, yes, more humor of LIONBOY: THE CHASE, this last book came off just kind of...dry. Charlie isn't as interesting, the humor falls short, there is more of Africa and less of Venice (I've got nothing against Africa, of course, and the story wouldn't have worked without it, but the Venetian setting was just perfect in the second book. I mean, lions in Venice?), Charlie's parents are more brusque and dumb than they seemed when they were portrayed as caring, brilliant people, and the ending was much too tidy, even resorting to checking off loose ends and telling what happened. I didn't really mind that so much; the author's style fit it. It was the other flaws that kept staring me in the face. When you strip away the technical details, LIONBOY: THE TRUTH just wasn't as fun, as funny, as exciting as the previous books, with hardly any convincing new characters and the flattening of the old good ones. King Boris and a few others made the second book the best, in my opinion, and he hardly get any screen time (or, I suppose, page time) in this one.About halfway through the book I realized I was reading it for the sole purpose of getting it off my To-Read shelf, something I'd never felt when zipping through the previous two. I don't like circus books, but I loved the first book, LIONBOY. What does that tell you?My advice is to read the first two and skip this one. If you're desperate for a conclusion (even though it's one everyone saw from a mile away) then read it, but don't expect it to be anywhere near the quality of the first two.2 1/2 stars.P.S. Why does EVERYONE love Charlie?! It's incredibly unrealistic, and in this book I ended up trying to pick him apart for something to DISLIKE. I much prefer it when characters -- or even ONE character -- bad-mouth the main character, making you want to stick up for them. This technique is employed masterfully in Harry Potter with Harry and Snape -- why can't Corder just insert an anti-Charlie who happens to be neutral, not with the bad guys? Not everyone's going to like someone.Rating: Average

Well written, pacy, and gripping. As an English teacher I'm always on the look out for books to recommend to my students and I have sung the praises of this one! The main character, Charlie, can speak Cat (domestic and wild), and the story traces his attempt to find his parents who have been kidnapped by the sinister Corpocracy. On the way he joins a circus (fantastic descriptions!) and clashes with Rafi, a vicious henchman of the Corp.Charlie is an eminently charming and likeable hero and Corder's description of a post-energy crisis London (be warned people, this is a very likely future... no cars, no streetlights, the city deserted) is just enough like, but not like, our world to give the story another element of interest.I loved it and have bought the trilogy for my own pleasure... will lend it to my students only if they are VERY VERY trustworthy so I can be sure I'll get it back!