Will PetersonRezensionen

Interesting

A good story set in a small English village with links dating back hundreds of years. Enough intrigue to keep a younger audience interested without a great deal of violence or danger to the young stars of the story. It reminded me of Enid Blyton books of many years ago.

Posted to my Livejournal in January 2009:

The book jacket caught me on this one, both the cover and the description of the plot. And I liked the book, though I'm not exactly sure what the hell happened at every turn. I don't think authors should hit their readers over the head with What It All Means, but in this case, I needed the various mysteries to be tied together a little bit more. Twins Rachel and Adam are sent to stay in a tiny village in England with their grandmother while their parents divorce, and this village has a disturbing past which Rachel and Adam, because of their birth, seem destined to uncover for all to see. A preternatural young boy named Gabriel makes friends with the twins, but he has an agenda that is opposite of the villagers -- he wants to uncover the truth, they want to hide it. There's a three-sided blade called the triskellion, a chalk circle on a hill under which something important is buried, a TV crew angling to film an archeological dig of this hill, and villagers meeting in secret in the woods to do terrible things. Oh, and there are bees -- lots of bees. Sometimes, this really reminded me of The Wicker Man, but in a good way, not in a "Nicolas Cage running through through the woods like an idiot and falling into one incomprehensible plot hole after another" way. There's the whole bee thing, and the close-mouthed small town villagers with a dark secret, and the pagan rituals, and wow, this really is like The Wicker Man. Except this has an alien. I think. Like I said, I'm not sure what happened at the end. I wouldn't say this is an excellent read, because the writing was a little flat, but I did really find the mystery intriguing, and I liked the heavy, atmospheric mood, so if there is a second book like Amazon says there is, I'll read it .

I read this whole book hoping it would get better and it never did. The premise was intriguing enough (especially with the author note at the end), but it felt forced, especially when the twins discover what they have in common with Gabriel. It was simply, "Oh! You're like us!" and then everyone accepts it and moves on. No questions asked. The ending was a bit too cookie-cutter also and the last sentence made me roll my eyes. All in all, I wasn't very impressed.

This is the 3rd book in the Triskellion series. Adam and Rachel have been living in Australia having forgotten thier previous adventures. Then Gabriel turns up and it starts coming back to them. Once more they are on the move - this time to the US - where they discover their father has disappeared. Convinced he is being held by The Hope Project they set off into the desert. This book is just as exciting as the previous two but the first remain my favourite.

American twins Rachel and Adam have been sent to stay with their grandmother in a little English village called Triskellion. They start having dreams and meet a rather mysterious boy, Gabriel. They slowly start to discover some of the secrets of the village and become friends with an archeologist who is digging under the local chalk circle. This is the sort of book that will have turning the pages to find out what will happen and what it all means but at the end many question are still unanswered. This is the first book in a trilogy so hopefully all will be revealed by the end however I think Peterson may have tried to cram too many different threads into this book - archeology, Celtic myths, aliens, bees and psychic bond between twins.

This book is full of suspense and action. You should try reading it if you like science fiction and action!

Reviewed by Kira M for TeensReadToo.com

With the help of the mysterious Gabriel, Rachel and Adam have managed to escape from the village of Triskellion and their mysterious family heritage.

Soon, however, they are betrayed and captured by the mysterious Hope Agency and are experimented on and held prisoner. When more of their "special abilities" start surfacing, the twins realize that staying at the Hope Agency is not safe.

With the help of three other sets of twins, the two escape and are chased across Europe by the Hope Agency and others. Always in danger, the six hone their powers and learn to fight back, but soon realize that no one can be trusted and this flight is a fight for survival, possibly to the death.

Will Rachel and Adam be able to get away from the evildoers pursuing them? Will they learn to use their powers in time?

THE BURNING is a fast-paced adventure that's well worth the read. Readers will be on the edge of their seats on the race across Europe with Rachel and Adam. The plot is well done with lots of twists and turns that keep you guessing about what's really going on and where Rachel and Adam truly come from. The characters are appealing and interesting to follow throughout the story.

Those who like reading fantasy, adventure, science fiction, paranormal fiction, and books like THE LIGHTNING THIEF by Rick Riordan will enjoy reading this book. It is, however, recommended that you first read book one, TRISKELLION.

Wonderful book. Made me read it twice.

Reviewed by Cat for TeensReadToo.com

In the midst of their parents' ugly divorce, fourteen-year-old twins Adam and Rachel Newman are sent to their mother's home village in Great Britain to stay with their grandmother - but Triskellion proves to be no safe harbor amidst the storm.

From the moment of their arrival, the twins are treated with suspicion and hostility, with every building in town marked by a strange "symbol of three intersecting crescents forming a continuous pointed clover leaf, bound by a large circle." It is from this symbol (a triskellion) that the village takes its name.

Essentially cut off from civilization with no telephone, Internet, and hardly any television, the boys' suspicions deepen further after the pair meets Gabriel - a boy their age who seems to vanish at will. When a communiqué of the local beekeeper thrusts the isolated hamlet into the spotlight, Adam and Rachel discover there's more than a town's secret at stake as their entire world is rocked to its foundation.

Will Peterson makes his young adult debut with a page-turning, nail-biting, two-for-one special. Part paranormal, part mystery, TRISKELLION is unlike any other book in its genre. Peterson explores legends of the past, the psychic connection between twins, archaeology, and prophecy in one fell swoop.

While I still don't understand the significance of the bees, or how they're tied to certain characters' psychic abilities, and I was somewhat disappointed to find more questions than answers at the end, TRISKELLION kept me up for three nights straight, desperate to find out what happened. Good thing there's a sequel.

LIKED

LIKED

I was not impressed by this book. There were a few things that stood out, I liked the Celtic references and the bees, but the fundamentals of the book were lacking. Character development was non-existent and the plot was slow. Overall, I'm sure there are better written books in this genre to check out.

the 2nd triskellion book is better than the first.
the first book is too confusing.½

Interesting book. I have not read the first Triskellion, and I intend to secure a copy as soon as possible, but this one was intriguing.

-Philip Troy

I received this as an early reviewer copy and have not been able to read the first book. It is not in my local library and I am not currently in the position to buy new books. With that aside I really did not overly like it or immensely dislike it either. Maybe I would of liked it more if I had read the first one, but I don't know. I found it to be full of action and excitement at times but still some how managing to bore me after a few pages more. I might try rereading if I can get ahold of the first book...... Maybe.½

Wow. Where to begin.
It took me a whole day to finish this book and when I did the only thought in my head was "Okay, what was that?"
At first it was fine. It had all the makings of an average, paranormal/sci-fie/mystery story; you know, telepathic twins, strange boy dressed in black, a man that may or may not be crazy and an old town blah blah blah.
Then it added some other elements and symbols not used in a whole lot of the above genres of books. Bees, 'green men' and other celtic symbols.
I thought, 'oh this will be alright after all' but as I said, at the end, "What was that?"
The characters showed almost no devlopment throughout the story and it stayed pretty much one dimensional. That's acceptable, with a plot this convaluded some of the characters may suffer. However, Mr. Peterson let the characters character slide but he never made up for it with the plot or really any other aspect.
At the end I had a creepy feeling one of the characters was crushing on a dead ancestor that may or may not have been god or an angle.
All in all it seems like a good story left to the hands of an amature author who believed the more confused readers are the better the writing he's done.

This was definitely not what I expected. When I first received the book, all I knew was that it was a young adult mystery/sci-fi type book. The cover had me curious, yet almost worried. The first third of the book was a bit slow. I found I had a difficult time picking it up day after day until I hit the 2nd third of the book, and then it was a completely different experience. I couldn't put it down! I stayed up late finally to finish it. I would say this is a very good book for adults that are/were into The X-Files and for young adults that would have been into the X-Files if they were old enough to have enjoyed that. I definitely recommend.½

Although this book had a promising story line, the overall writing style and character development seemed to be severely lacking. The lack of depth made it more difficult to get through compared to other books I have read recently.

Also, there were numerous plot devices that just did not work which was highly aggravating. At one point the protagonists are falsely accused of something that has happened, with no regard for alibi or evidence whatsoever.

The first book dragged with too much information and too little action. I didn't have to kick up my heels to get over the tangled and thorny bushes of the wording. The allusions to space alien heritage in the human world is sure to appeal to X-Files fans. Fast pacing and fairly simple language makes this appropriate for middle school children and older. Having read the first book, I would say that you wouldn't miss much if you just started with The Burning. In fact, you might lose a few thriller readers who might be turned off by the lack of action in the first book.

I got book 2 in this series from the Early Reviewer's Group - read it, loved it. So I went and got book 1. I thought that I would not like it as well as the second one, seeing as I knew what the end would be, but I loved it. This is a great story. I love the mystery and the characters. It is well written, pulls you through to the end, leaves you waiting for the sequel, but doesn't leave you with an unfinished feeling. You get the whole story but are so into it that you want more. Having already read the sequel - I am left anticipating the third.

This was a really good read. Although confusing at parts, I feel that it will be further explained in the sequel. I lloved that this book was based in England and contained quite a lot of action/mystery. My full review can be found here:
http://anotherbookblogwhore.blogspot.com/2009/06/review-triskellion.html½

I was very disappointed in this sequel. While the first book had a fantasy feel to it, this book read more like a Da Vinci Code thriller with science fiction aspirations. It also seemed a very long chase with little payoff. I will stop here and not read the next one, and there is little doubt that there will be a next one.½

I enjoyed Triskellion I. It was an action packed solid Middle Grade book that I’d happily recommend to 6th graders. I did find the ending a little vague, but not enough to spoil my enjoyment of the book.

Triskellion II…..well, it’s still action packed and a very visual book – I can see this easily becoming a movie, but by necessity they’d have to fix some of the problems I had with Triskellion II. For one thing, the level of violence is increased by 10 fold, even including the “villains” deciding to torture a child (it’s still torture, even if the child doesn’t feel pain, the villains still decided to torture him.) The reading level is still a solid 6th grade level, however at 480 pages it’s getting a little long to be a good recommendation for this age level.

Some of the minor characters seem to have had a personality transplant in between books and while the vague ending from book I is cleared up early in book II, there still seems to be some ambiguousness on exactly what the ‘mysterious character’ is. In the beginning he seems to be an Ancestor, then maybe he’s an Alien, then maybe an Angel. (wait, they all begin with A…..maybe he’s really an AARDVARK!)

I can’t really recommend this book to young readers, maybe reluctant older readers who can handle the added violence and aren’t bothered by the inconsistent story.

This is an Early Reviewers book. I was a little nervous about it being book 2, but I didn't want to wait to start it until I had gone out and gotten book 1. I saw that the story started with a short blurb about book 1 so I hoped I wouldn't be lost. The story caught me from the start. After reading the Dragon of Trelain I didn't think anything else would hold my interest for long - I was pleasantly wrong about that. I enjoyed the story very much. The characters are built well and the idea of aliens went over great with me. I didn't feel lost because I haven't read book one, which is appealing to me from a library point of view - I can easily recommend this book to students without worrying about the order of the books. Before I was half done with the story I went on amazon and ordered book one - which is soon to be in paperback, and now that I have finished the story I can't wait to see what happens next. The suspense is great! The story hooks you and you just keep reading to see what else will go on for the kids. I really liked the "powers" that each of the different twins had. I was sad to see that some things didn't work out happily ever after for all the sets of twins, but I can't wait to see what happens with the "leave you hanging" ending