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The Magickers #2
The Curse of Arkady
Jason Adrian and his friends survived Magic Camp. But can they survive the beastly minions of the Dark Hand. . .who seem to have followed them home?
376 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 15, 2018
Lots of info left to your own imagination. One interaction turns into multiple without scenes to go with it. Main character goes from 13 year old kid speech to 50 years old depending on who he's talking too? He also seems to know more about people and magic then the seasoned Magickers. I really wanted to like these books and I have to say I liked this second book better then the first.. Author I felt gained writing experience.. If your looking for a magical read this might be for you, story line is not bad!
August 25, 2018
Intriguing and captivating
This book was full of wonders and truths it helps to open the soul to new adventures. It helps captivate the mystery’s and unknowns of what the mind can and will do.
This book was full of wonders and truths it helps to open the soul to new adventures. It helps captivate the mystery’s and unknowns of what the mind can and will do.
June 5, 2025
I have found The Curse of Arkady to be incredibly frustrating. The multiple POVs jump around abruptly, though I will admit, without a central location for the characters to be in, the multiple POVs are necessary. The storyline, though, is just… utterly frustrating and the end feels abrupt. Come see as I explain/rant about the nonsense.
I really, really dislike that the adult Magickers have basically just left the kids to fend for themselves. Gavan even specifically tells Jason that there might not always be someone to answer an alarm beacon. Then WTF is the point of it then??? I understand ya’ll don’t have the resources to take care of a whole school or even the amount of kids you originally had at Camp, but you’ve now got a whole 7 teenagers in need to training and you’re just… not doing anything aside from random check ins. How the fuck are they supposed to learn or defend themselves properly, exactly? One of the Council members talks about how they used to do apprenticeships, so it's not like teaching young Magickers individually is outside anyone's wheelhouse, it's just straight up not even being done.
I do think the book adequately shows just how much trouble the kids can get into on their own, as well. A member of the Dark Hand ambushes Jason, Stef goes bear at a horrible time, Jennifer’s losing her sense of self, and Bailey and Ting accidentally turn a supposedly harmless charm into a full-blown love-charm. All with no backup and really no one to call for help because the adult Magickers are all too busy to even check in on them regularly… apparently. This apparently all plays straight into the hands of Brennard, so that's just great.
Ah yes, and then the kids get scolded for being in “situations you shouldn’t have been in, in the first place.” As though they had enough training to keep themselves out of such situations. This is exactly what happens when magical kids don’t get enough/consistent training. Just… Tomaz’s entire thing after Jason finds Fizziwig makes me want to smack him. Ya’ll certainly aren’t acting as though these kids are at all important to you. But sure, “don’t disappoint us” is the way to go. WTF.
Fuck Statler Finch. Anyone who blames the victims of bullying for the bullying is THE WORST. Bullying is NEVER the victim’s fault. I am supremely happy Jason recognizes this pretty much right off the bat. I'm really trying to keep this spoiler-free, so I can't really say much more about Finch, but... he's an extreme annoyance.
I did like the little looks into each kid's life. They got just that much more fleshed out, plus some scoring on the diversity front. If there's one thing that really sets The Magickers apart as a series, it's the diversity of family dynamics and backgrounds. I'm really looking forward to seeing more about Ting's family, especially after the revelations there. I honestly remember maybe one thing from the next two books, so I can't speak to whether or not we get more of them.
I feel like, even though the ending was endlessly foreshadowed, it felt abrupt. Felt like Jason just fell into things for the last few chapters of the book. Even Brennard's goal was extremely fuzzy. Like yes, he apparently wanted Jason and his powers, but he did not feel like much of a threat. Trent actually shone more in the last chapter than almost anyone else. He reminded me a bit of Rachel Dare from the Percy Jackson series. I am also quite happy with Henry's fate, if not his role in the plot. Yes, he's back, tiny spoiler.
So, yeah, The Curse of Arkady was less strong of a sequel than I would have liked. Just a whole lot of nothing on top of a massive amount of frustration. I will hopefully be less frustrated with the next one.
I really, really dislike that the adult Magickers have basically just left the kids to fend for themselves. Gavan even specifically tells Jason that there might not always be someone to answer an alarm beacon. Then WTF is the point of it then??? I understand ya’ll don’t have the resources to take care of a whole school or even the amount of kids you originally had at Camp, but you’ve now got a whole 7 teenagers in need to training and you’re just… not doing anything aside from random check ins. How the fuck are they supposed to learn or defend themselves properly, exactly? One of the Council members talks about how they used to do apprenticeships, so it's not like teaching young Magickers individually is outside anyone's wheelhouse, it's just straight up not even being done.
I do think the book adequately shows just how much trouble the kids can get into on their own, as well. A member of the Dark Hand ambushes Jason, Stef goes bear at a horrible time, Jennifer’s losing her sense of self, and Bailey and Ting accidentally turn a supposedly harmless charm into a full-blown love-charm. All with no backup and really no one to call for help because the adult Magickers are all too busy to even check in on them regularly… apparently. This apparently all plays straight into the hands of Brennard, so that's just great.
Ah yes, and then the kids get scolded for being in “situations you shouldn’t have been in, in the first place.” As though they had enough training to keep themselves out of such situations. This is exactly what happens when magical kids don’t get enough/consistent training. Just… Tomaz’s entire thing after Jason finds Fizziwig makes me want to smack him. Ya’ll certainly aren’t acting as though these kids are at all important to you. But sure, “don’t disappoint us” is the way to go. WTF.
Fuck Statler Finch. Anyone who blames the victims of bullying for the bullying is THE WORST. Bullying is NEVER the victim’s fault. I am supremely happy Jason recognizes this pretty much right off the bat. I'm really trying to keep this spoiler-free, so I can't really say much more about Finch, but... he's an extreme annoyance.
I did like the little looks into each kid's life. They got just that much more fleshed out, plus some scoring on the diversity front. If there's one thing that really sets The Magickers apart as a series, it's the diversity of family dynamics and backgrounds. I'm really looking forward to seeing more about Ting's family, especially after the revelations there. I honestly remember maybe one thing from the next two books, so I can't speak to whether or not we get more of them.
I feel like, even though the ending was endlessly foreshadowed, it felt abrupt. Felt like Jason just fell into things for the last few chapters of the book. Even Brennard's goal was extremely fuzzy. Like yes, he apparently wanted Jason and his powers, but he did not feel like much of a threat. Trent actually shone more in the last chapter than almost anyone else. He reminded me a bit of Rachel Dare from the Percy Jackson series. I am also quite happy with Henry's fate, if not his role in the plot. Yes, he's back, tiny spoiler.
So, yeah, The Curse of Arkady was less strong of a sequel than I would have liked. Just a whole lot of nothing on top of a massive amount of frustration. I will hopefully be less frustrated with the next one.
March 14, 2008
i liked this book. it had the same meandering style as the first one (which i found distracting). i also thought that the lack of Trent's powers was a little ridiculous that no one noticed. i was also annoyed that the "curse" was never explained. it was a vague threat that caused Jason to open the water gate, but it was never clear what it was. the book was still intriguing, and i appreciated the style well enough to read the third one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2009
A great sequel to a great first! Plot twists become slightly more subtle until the end, and then it's a GREAT BIG ONE! Also, some more wonderful character developement on all the characters. The ending is a bit of a cliff hanger, and I'm really upset that my library doesn't carry number 3 or 4.
July 15, 2015
The second book starts off with Jason and his friends back to normal life until the black hand sends nightmares and monsters after them. It is up to Jason and friends to figure out and stop them. Not a bad series and am looking forward to book 3: The Dragon Guard.
August 5, 2010
good harry Potter-esque American based books
August 12, 2010
The minions of evil track Jason and his friend to their homes.
It was just ok.
It was just ok.
January 13, 2011
This was as good as the first book.
July 20, 2012
it was a good story but no so good that i couldn't put it down, it is just a little slower paced
January 27, 2011
Thought this was a great MG series for boys. Kind of like another Harry Potter type series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews