Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods
 The cover of the boxed set edition. | |
| Author | Suzanne Collins |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Daniel Craig |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Underland Chronicles |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Scholastic |
Publication date | July 1, 2005 |
| Pages | 356 |
| ISBN | 0-439-65623-0 |
| OCLC | 56686615 |
| LC Class | PZ7.C6837 Gp 2005 |
| Preceded by | Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane |
| Followed by | Gregor and the Marks of Secret |
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods is an epic fantasy novel, and the third book in The Underland Chronicles by Suzanne Collins. Scholastic has rated its "grade level equivalent" as 5.3;[1] its lexile score is 710L.[2] It has been praised as an excellent sequel to the preceding two books, though reviews such as StorySnoop's have warned, "if you have a sensitive reader, be aware that there are a few gory descriptions...and the characters encounter some things that are potentially scary."[3] The novel has been made into an audiobook, read by Paul Boehmer.[4]
Plot summary
Despite the difficulties it has caused for his family, Gregor finds it hard to distance himself from the Underland. When he receives word that a plague has broken out and his bond Ares is one of the victims, he is more than willing to help save his friends by participating in yet another of Bartholomew of Sandwich's prophecies. His mother, however, is far less open to her children's return. She is finally coerced into allowing Boots and Gregor below with the conditions that they do nothing more than attend a short meeting and that she comes with them. The humans' plague expert, Dr. Neveeve, explains that there is a plant called starshade growing deep in the Vineyard of Eyes which can be distilled into a cure. In the midst of the meeting, a dying bat infected with the plague inadvertently infects a few of the delegates—Gregor's mother included.
Though he knows his mother will hate the idea, Gregor feels compelled to join a group of creatures on a quest to find the starshade, as described in "The Prophecy of Blood". The current queen Nerissa informs the group that she has arranged a guide for them, which turns out to be Hamnet, the estranged son of Solovet and Vikus. The pacifist Underlander, his Halflander son Hazard, and their hisser companion Frill reluctantly agree to lead the motley crew so through the extremely dangerous Jungle. The questers experience several setbacks, including an invasion of poison dart frogs which renders nearly all their food and water inedible and an attack by carnivorous plants that kill the rat Mange. During a near-death experience with a pool of quicksand, the group encounters Luxa, the heir apparent of Regalia who was assumed to be dead after the quest in Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane. She and her bond Aurora were trapped in the Jungle when Aurora dislocated her wing, and had been living there in a colony of nibblers (mice). After Hamnet fixes Aurora's wing, the bonds accompany the quest.
They arrive at the Vineyard of Eyes, but an army of cutters (ants, who would like to see all warm-blooded creatures gone) destroys the starshade and kills Hamnet and Frill. The group's hopes are crushed until an offhand comment by the cockroach Temp causes them to realize a new possibility: that the plague was developed by the humans as a biological agent to be used against the rats. Knowing that their theory will be proved true if the humans have developed a cure during their absence, the group hastens home. Their theory is proved correct, and Luxa furiously exposes the covert military project. Dr. Neveeve is executed for her participation and Solovet, the project's head, is imprisoned in preparation for a trial. Following up on a promise to Ripred, Luxa sends doses of the cure to the gnawers while the Regalian hospital treats as many human and bat victims as possible. Though she is healing, Gregor's mother is too weak to go home, and so the book ends with Gregor confiding in his neighbor Mrs. Cormaci.[5]
The Prophecy of Blood
The "Prophecy of Blood" is unusual in two ways: it is the first of Bartholomew of Sandwich's prophecies to feature a repeating "refrain"; and it is carved backwards in a tight corner of the prophecy room, so that a mirror is required to read it. It goes as follows:
Warmblood now a bloodborne death,
Will rob your body of its breath,
Mark your skin, and seal your fate.
The Underland becomes a plate.
Meaning This stanza refers to the spread of a dangerous plague which creates purple pustules on the skin of the infected, and which only affects warm-blooded creatures.
Refrain:
Turn and turn and turn again.
You see the what but not the when.
Remedy and wrong entwine,
And so they form a single vine.
Meaning: The cryptic "refrain" of the prophecy confuses generations of Underland scholars until the quest group interprets it to describe how the humans were both the creators and curers of the plague. The first line implies that, no matter which direction the questers turn, they will not have the cure until they have returned to their starting place (Turning 180° three times, as Boots does in a special dance she makes up to go along with the prophecy, results in one facing one's starting direction.) The second line refers to how the Underlanders see the "what", the plague, but not its "when", or when its first victim was infected. At first they believe the plague was first transmitted to the flier Ares when he was bitten by carnivorous mites, when in reality he was infected during an accident in Dr. Neveve's laboratory much later. The final two lines are, similarly, first interpreted to be a rephrasing of the third verse telling them the "vine" which both caused and cured the disease comes from the same place, though the Regalians later realize it hints at the humans' involvement as both the aggressors and peacemakers of the conflict caused by the plague. Gregor hypothesizes that Sandwich included a repeating segment in the prophecy to drum the meaning of these lines into the heads of his readers, or to emphasize their importance.[5]
Bring the warrior from above
If yet his heart is swayed by love.
Bring the princess or despair,
No crawlers care without her there.
Meaning The second "verse" mandates the return of the "warrior", Gregor, to help the people he cares about. It also tells the Regalians to bring down Gregor's sister Boots, the "princess", to gain the allegiance of the crawlers. The crawlers are cold-blooded and as such have no interest in a cure for the plague, except for protecting their precious princess.
Those whose blood runs red and hot
Must join to seek the healing spot.
In the cradle find the cure
For that which makes the blood impure.
Meaning: This stanza reiterates the need for the warmbloods of the Underland to unite to find the cure. It states that the "cradle", or birthplace, of the plague is also where the "impurity of the blood" will be cured. When the warmbloods first assume that starshade is the cure, they also make the assumption that the plague must have originated in the Vineyard of Eyes. It is later learned that the "cradle" is actually Dr. Neveeve's lab back in Regalia when she produces the cure in the same location.
Gnawer, human, set aside
The hatreds that reside inside.
If the flames of war are fanned,
All Warmbloods lose the Underland.
Meaning: The final stanza Gregor refers to as "Sandwich's usual prediction that if things didn't work out, there would be total destruction and everybody would end up dead"[5] because of how it warns that the outbreak of the plague represents an all-too-easy opportunity to start a war between the humans and rats. The humans later interpret this stanza as reinforcement for Queen Luxa's decision to send aid to the rats.
Characters
Quest Members
- Gregor: A young Overlander and "rager", said to be the warrior mentioned in "The Prophecy of Blood".
- Boots (Margaret): Boots is Gregor's toddler sister. She is called the "princess" by the crawlers, and has a knack for recognizing different insects.
- Hamnet: A former soldier and son of Solovet and Vikus, who leads the questers through the Jungle until his death.
- Hazard: The child of Hamnet and an unnamed Overlander woman. Hazard is gifted with languages.
- Ripred: A gnawer (rat) and rager like Gregor.
- Mange: A male rat who is eaten by a carnivorous plant. He is Lapblood's mate and the father of her pups.
- Lapblood: Mange's mate, desperately trying to save her pups from the plague.
- Temp: The crawlers' representative on the quest. He is endlessly patient and brave, especially with his "princess". He also has an uncanny knack to recognize danger before other questers, though his warnings are often ignored.
- Frill: A hisser who has been living with Hamnet and Hazard. She dies fighting the cutters.
- Nike: A black and white flier (bat) who helps Gregor while Ares is incapacitated. She is the daughter of the fliers' queen, and has a permanently optimistic disposition.
- Solovet and Ajax: Originally planned to be quest members, but banned from participating by Hamnet. Solovet tried to force her son to be a warrior even after he turned to pacifism, and so he resents her and her bond Ajax.
- Luxa: An unofficial member of the quest who joins the group after she learns of the plague. She was trapped in the Jungle when her bond's wing was dislocated, and is at first untrusting of the group because of her hatred for the rats.
- Aurora: A golden flier who is bonded to Luxa. She incapacitated and delirious from pain after her wing is dislocated during a battle with some twisters, but recovers with help from Hamnet and Gregor.
Reception
Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods has been positively reviewed, for the most part. As of September 2015, the book was given 4.8/5 stars on Amazon. Many reviews, including that of School Library Journal, cite the book particularly as an excellent sequel to the first two of the series.[6][7] Sarah Stewart of Goodreads said in her review, "It was such a relief to be in the hands of an author who knows what they are doing and can create satisfying story that stands on its own two feet even when it is part of a series."[8] Though these reviews praise the novel as a continuation, they also occasionally criticize aspects of the novel which are not as discussed in reviews of other installments. For example, Amazon reviewer B. Capossere states "The plotting in this one is not quite as strong as in the others--a bit more straightforward (though with a nice darkly cynical twist at the end) and containing a few scenes that seem a bit sketchy, not quite fully thought out or drawn out."[6] Other reviews have made similar claims about the novel's setting, character development, and "quest-based" storyline.[9]
A few reviews cited the novel's dark plot as a reason to limit this book to older readers only. Its Kirkus review, for example, read: "This offering takes on an even darker tone than the earlier ones, delving into meaty questions of territorial expansion and its justification."[10][11] The book's author, Suzanne Collins, has said, "I'd like to take topics like war and introduce them at an earlier age. If you look at "Gregor," it has all kinds of topics. There's biological warfare, there's genocide, there's military intelligence. But it's in a fantasy."[12] Horn Book's review of the book classified it as "intermediate fiction".[13]
The novel was a New York Times bestselling series, Book Sense bestseller and Top-Ten Children's pick, and the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award Winner for 2006.[14]
References
- ↑ Rees, Jen. "The Underland Chronicles Discussion Guide". Lesson Plan. Scholastic. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods". The Lexile Framework for Reading. Lexile. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Jen. "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (The Underland Chronicles, Book #3)". Children's Book Reviews. StorySnoops. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Collins, Suzanne (December 13, 2005). "The Underland Chronicles Book Three: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods". Audiobooks. Penguin Random House. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Collins, Suzanne (2005). Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods. New York, NY: Scholastic Press. ISBN 978-0-439-65624-5.
- 1 2 "Gregor And The Curse Of The Warmbloods (Underland Chronicles, Book 3)". Amazon Reviews. Amazon. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Slager, Carrie (March 11, 2012). "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins". Book Reviewing Blog. The Mad Reviewer. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Stewart, Sarah (January 10, 2013). "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods". Community Reviews. Goodreads. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Second Mate Embry. "Review: Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods by Suzanne Collins". Book Reviews. Literature Young Adult Fiction.com. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (Underland Chronicles Series #3)". Editorial Reviews: Kirkus Reviews. Barnes & Noble. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ "GREGOR AND THE CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS". Kirkus Review. Kirkus. June 15, 2005. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Springen, Karen (September 4, 2008). "A Book for Teens Shows a 'Survivor'-Like World". Newsweek: Culture. Newsweek. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Gregor and the Curse of the Warm-bloods". Reviews. Book Verdict Media. January 1, 2005. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
- ↑ Collins, Suzanne. "GREGOR AND THE CURSE OF THE WARMBLOODS: BOOK THREE IN THE UNDERLAND CHRONICLES". Suzanne Collins: Works. Suzanne Collins. Retrieved September 13, 2015.