Arena 13 started off rather slowly, making it hard to really get into the story, however now that I have read the entire book I understand why the prologue was there, as it refers back to it near the end, and that it needed to start a little slow so that all of the new words (such as ‘lac’, ‘Nym’ and ‘wurde’) could register in someone’s brain properly.
Another thing that I liked was the ‘Rules of Arena 13’ at the very start of the book, which instantly made me feel intrigued as I had originally thought that it would be quite like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and the glossary at the end of the book, which helped to understand any new words Joseph Delany had thought up.
Arena 13 tells the story of a young boy named Leif who has a winning ticket and goes to Tyron to learn how to fight in Arena 13. It has many characters, making it a very interesting story, including Leif and Tyron (obviously), Palm, Deinon, Kwin, Hob and many more. The book is so well written that you do feel what Leif feels - for example, when Kwin first shows Leif the city after dark, you feel quite uncomfortable.
It is set in the future, when the humans, who have become too clever for their own good, and who have invented the ‘djinnis’ who were used in battle. The ‘djinnis’ rebelled and now have full control over the humans, who are now confined to Midgard by the Barrier, and are now ruled by the evil ‘djinni’, called Hob. As the book ends, you get the feeling that there has to be a sequel, as there are too many loose ends to tie up. Overall, Arena 13 was a good, well written book, that made you empathise with the characters.
- Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
