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The Magnificent 12 #1
The Call
Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy suffers from a serious case of mediumness. Medium looks. Medium grades. Medium parents who barely notice him. With a list of phobias that could make anyone crazy, Mack never would have guessed that he is destined for a more-than-medium life.
And then, one day, something incredibly strange happens to Mack. A three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk appears in the boys' bathroom to deliver some startling news: Mack is one of the Magnificent Twelve, called the Magnifica in ancient times, whatever that means. An evil force is on its way, and it's up to Mack to track down eleven other twelve-year-olds in order to stop it. He must travel across the world to battle the wicked Pale Queen's dangerous daughter, Ereskigal—also known as Risky. But Risky sounds a little scary, and Mack doesn't want to be a hero. Will he answer the call?
A laugh-out-loud story filled with excitement and magic, The Magnificent Twelve: The Call is the first book in bestselling author Michael Grant's hilarious new fantasy adventure series.
From the front flap of ISBN 0061833665 / 9780061833663
And then, one day, something incredibly strange happens to Mack. A three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk appears in the boys' bathroom to deliver some startling news: Mack is one of the Magnificent Twelve, called the Magnifica in ancient times, whatever that means. An evil force is on its way, and it's up to Mack to track down eleven other twelve-year-olds in order to stop it. He must travel across the world to battle the wicked Pale Queen's dangerous daughter, Ereskigal—also known as Risky. But Risky sounds a little scary, and Mack doesn't want to be a hero. Will he answer the call?
A laugh-out-loud story filled with excitement and magic, The Magnificent Twelve: The Call is the first book in bestselling author Michael Grant's hilarious new fantasy adventure series.
From the front flap of ISBN 0061833665 / 9780061833663
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
75 people are currently reading
3261 people want to read
About the author
Michael Grant
75 books11.3k followersCo-author with Katherine Applegate of Ocean City, Making Out, Summer, Animorphs, Everworld, Remnants, Eve and Adam.
Pseudonymous coauthor with KA of Christy (the TV spin-off books), Sweet Valley Twins, Girl Talk and various Disney spin-offs.
Pseudonymous author of Barf-O-Rama.
Author of Gone, BZRK, The Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Front Lines, Monster and A Sudden Death in Cyprus.
AKA Michael Robinson (restaurant reviews and newspaper features).
AKA Michael Reynolds (legal name) political media producer. (Team Blue).
Pseudonymous coauthor with KA of Christy (the TV spin-off books), Sweet Valley Twins, Girl Talk and various Disney spin-offs.
Pseudonymous author of Barf-O-Rama.
Author of Gone, BZRK, The Magnificent 12, Messenger of Fear, Front Lines, Monster and A Sudden Death in Cyprus.
AKA Michael Robinson (restaurant reviews and newspaper features).
AKA Michael Reynolds (legal name) political media producer. (Team Blue).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 322 reviews
March 5, 2012
This is the first book in a series of I don't know how many books. I only picked it up because I got it free for my Nook app and figured I'd give it a try. After the first scene with the bullies, I was hooked. We have a very unlikely hero, David "Mack" McAvoy who is just average - average looking, average abilities, but he is good at one thing, getting away from bullies. Mack's biggest problem is his phobias. I admit, I liked Mack from the beginning and found him and his sidekick, Stefan, the most unlikely duo, but funny as all get out.
This book goes back and forth between Mack's modern-day story and the story of how Grimluk and the first Magnificent 12 were able to seal away the Pale Queen for 3000 years or forever, whichever came first. Unfortunately, the 3000 years are almost up, and it's now up to Mack to find the 11 others who with him will make the Magnificent 12 and defeat the Pale Queen forever (this time, we hope it really is forever!).
The book was fun and reminded me a lot of the humor in the Percy Jackson books. I'm glad I picked this one up, as we now have another adventure series that my boys and I can read together.
This book goes back and forth between Mack's modern-day story and the story of how Grimluk and the first Magnificent 12 were able to seal away the Pale Queen for 3000 years or forever, whichever came first. Unfortunately, the 3000 years are almost up, and it's now up to Mack to find the 11 others who with him will make the Magnificent 12 and defeat the Pale Queen forever (this time, we hope it really is forever!).
The book was fun and reminded me a lot of the humor in the Percy Jackson books. I'm glad I picked this one up, as we now have another adventure series that my boys and I can read together.
April 9, 2014
I am normally a huge fan of Michael Grant. A huge fan. I've read nearly every book he's written from Animorphs on, even the ones that are out of print. And not all of his books are good. He's written more than 150; there are bound to be some duds. But ultimately, his works have always been dark, engaging, and above all, unique. He and his wife have always challenged the limits of a kids book and expanded on the horizons of what they can do.
I can't say the same for this.
This isn't a bad book, for the most part. There were some positive elements. But above all, it was just mediocre. I expected better from Michael Grant. If I'm being perfectly frank, it's embarrassing for an author like him. It doesn't feel like his works, in any way shape or form.
First off, it's by far the lightest thing he's ever written, even lighter than Eve and Adam. In fact, there was just as much focus on humor as there was action. There were some funny moments - Grant is a funny writer - but it's not enough to carry the story. The problem is that Grant doesn't know what he wants to do here. The plot definitely isn't funny enough to be a parody of children's fiction (even though that would be awesome), but at the same time, there's so much humor that it's impossible to take the plot seriously. That leads to a lot of awkwardness, during scenes where I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to be reacting. It also made the plot very unmemorable, since a lot of times, I didn't feel like I was supposed to be focusing on it.
But, y'know, I don't think the plot would've been very memorable anyway. This didn't feel like the first book in a four-book series; this feels like the pilot to a long TV show. While I do thing novels are a better storytelling format than TV, the first episode of a TV show can take its time to set up everything, without feeling like a major chapter in a story. Books don't have that leisure - when the dedication is a few days, rather than a half-hour or so, every book has to count hugely. And this book doesn't do that very well. Really, not much happens here. More than half of the book is dedicated to setting up the rest of the plot, and when we do get some story, it's not particularly original or engaging. It's mostly things you'll already be familiar with if you read middle grade books - Mack is a chosen one, he's under the guide of a mentor who conveniently leaves him on his own in the dangerous situations, they have to kill an enemy with lots of monsters at her disposal that attack them almost well enough but not quite well enough to kill them... all middle-grade cliches. I've never been bored by a Grant plot before, and I've never felt like he was falling back on cliches - not like this.
Another unfortunate effect of all the humor was some awkwardness in the writing. Normally, Grant is excellent at prose - it's always simple, but efficient and effective. The humor, however, made him alter how he writes and that was... a bit hit-or-miss to say the least. As I said earlier, there were some funny moments, but those were mostly in the dialogue and character interactions. (Golem was particularly hilarious.) The humor in the narration was less successful, because it relied heavily on metafiction. I can't count the amount of times that I was abruptly pulled out of the story by some mention of how Google wasn't invented three thousand years ago, or something of that nature.
The one thing that does feel authentic to Grant, however, is the character development. Due to the lack of plot, there weren't many characters shown, but Grant displays his usual efficiency in developing the ones there were. Mack is an engaging protagonist, even if some of his characteristics feel a bit typical to the genre. Stefan was... I mean, he was unrealistic, but at least he was unrealistic in an interesting way.
But for the most part, I just can't get behind this book the way I can get behind Grant's others. Grant, if you write another MG series, please go back to the darkness and realism that made Animorphs and Remnants so great. Because that's what children's literature needs right now. We don't need another funny story - we've got plenty of those. What we need is something dark and engaging, something that can twist what it means to be a kids book, something that can make kids think even as they're exhilarated. The kind of thing only you and your wife can do. This? Anyone could've written this. Don't waste your time with it.
I can't say the same for this.
This isn't a bad book, for the most part. There were some positive elements. But above all, it was just mediocre. I expected better from Michael Grant. If I'm being perfectly frank, it's embarrassing for an author like him. It doesn't feel like his works, in any way shape or form.
First off, it's by far the lightest thing he's ever written, even lighter than Eve and Adam. In fact, there was just as much focus on humor as there was action. There were some funny moments - Grant is a funny writer - but it's not enough to carry the story. The problem is that Grant doesn't know what he wants to do here. The plot definitely isn't funny enough to be a parody of children's fiction (even though that would be awesome), but at the same time, there's so much humor that it's impossible to take the plot seriously. That leads to a lot of awkwardness, during scenes where I wasn't quite sure how I was supposed to be reacting. It also made the plot very unmemorable, since a lot of times, I didn't feel like I was supposed to be focusing on it.
But, y'know, I don't think the plot would've been very memorable anyway. This didn't feel like the first book in a four-book series; this feels like the pilot to a long TV show. While I do thing novels are a better storytelling format than TV, the first episode of a TV show can take its time to set up everything, without feeling like a major chapter in a story. Books don't have that leisure - when the dedication is a few days, rather than a half-hour or so, every book has to count hugely. And this book doesn't do that very well. Really, not much happens here. More than half of the book is dedicated to setting up the rest of the plot, and when we do get some story, it's not particularly original or engaging. It's mostly things you'll already be familiar with if you read middle grade books - Mack is a chosen one, he's under the guide of a mentor who conveniently leaves him on his own in the dangerous situations, they have to kill an enemy with lots of monsters at her disposal that attack them almost well enough but not quite well enough to kill them... all middle-grade cliches. I've never been bored by a Grant plot before, and I've never felt like he was falling back on cliches - not like this.
Another unfortunate effect of all the humor was some awkwardness in the writing. Normally, Grant is excellent at prose - it's always simple, but efficient and effective. The humor, however, made him alter how he writes and that was... a bit hit-or-miss to say the least. As I said earlier, there were some funny moments, but those were mostly in the dialogue and character interactions. (Golem was particularly hilarious.) The humor in the narration was less successful, because it relied heavily on metafiction. I can't count the amount of times that I was abruptly pulled out of the story by some mention of how Google wasn't invented three thousand years ago, or something of that nature.
The one thing that does feel authentic to Grant, however, is the character development. Due to the lack of plot, there weren't many characters shown, but Grant displays his usual efficiency in developing the ones there were. Mack is an engaging protagonist, even if some of his characteristics feel a bit typical to the genre. Stefan was... I mean, he was unrealistic, but at least he was unrealistic in an interesting way.
But for the most part, I just can't get behind this book the way I can get behind Grant's others. Grant, if you write another MG series, please go back to the darkness and realism that made Animorphs and Remnants so great. Because that's what children's literature needs right now. We don't need another funny story - we've got plenty of those. What we need is something dark and engaging, something that can twist what it means to be a kids book, something that can make kids think even as they're exhilarated. The kind of thing only you and your wife can do. This? Anyone could've written this. Don't waste your time with it.
December 31, 2014
Mack looks like an average 12-year-old, but he's got a lot of quirks. He has a list of phobias that keeps growing, a habit of baiting bullies for fun, and he notices things ordinary people tend not to see. But Mack's life takes a turn for the weird when a very old man stops time in the middle of school one day and calls him to be a hero. Now he's on the run from an enemy he only vaguely understands, searching for the other eleven kids who can help banish an ancient evil before it rises to take over the world.
This is a light, quick read full of action, comedy, and the occasional superpower. Mack certainly doesn't seem to fit the hero image (his "sidekick" has more than one chance to helpfully stop him from screaming). But it's obviously up to him, as hordes of enemies are trying to kill him and the only likely way to stay alive is to figure out his own role in the mess. And maybe learn a little bit about his own magic while he's at it.
Interwoven with Mack's story is the history of Grimluk, the Pale Queen, and the original Magnificent 12. It provides a nice backdrop to what is otherwise a very confusing character, although the characters here are even more simplistic and straightforward.
Some of the simplicity can perhaps be ascribed to the intended age level. I was rather annoyed at such a blatant display of what I once heard described as "chronological snobbery." Basically, everyone in the past is an idiot, and the modern people are smart. The magical system is fuzzy and prone to very odd limitations, such as the ability to only use spells once per day, which seems to be more of a plot device than anything else. The improbability further compounds with just how Mack finds the second member of the 12---I have no problem with the wall, but some of the information they supposedly got from it while being unable to read most of it was rather too convenient.
All in all, though, it's a solid start to an adventure. My favorite quote of the book seemed a little out of place for a 12 year old with no noted interest in operating systems, but these kinds of lines were what kept me laughing. "Question number one: Is this real, or am I having some kind of cosmic kernel panic?" However, the simplistic characters and haphazard worldbuilding brought it down a notch for me. I rate this book Neutral.
This is a light, quick read full of action, comedy, and the occasional superpower. Mack certainly doesn't seem to fit the hero image (his "sidekick" has more than one chance to helpfully stop him from screaming). But it's obviously up to him, as hordes of enemies are trying to kill him and the only likely way to stay alive is to figure out his own role in the mess. And maybe learn a little bit about his own magic while he's at it.
Interwoven with Mack's story is the history of Grimluk, the Pale Queen, and the original Magnificent 12. It provides a nice backdrop to what is otherwise a very confusing character, although the characters here are even more simplistic and straightforward.
Some of the simplicity can perhaps be ascribed to the intended age level. I was rather annoyed at such a blatant display of what I once heard described as "chronological snobbery." Basically, everyone in the past is an idiot, and the modern people are smart. The magical system is fuzzy and prone to very odd limitations, such as the ability to only use spells once per day, which seems to be more of a plot device than anything else. The improbability further compounds with just how Mack finds the second member of the 12---I have no problem with the wall, but some of the information they supposedly got from it while being unable to read most of it was rather too convenient.
All in all, though, it's a solid start to an adventure. My favorite quote of the book seemed a little out of place for a 12 year old with no noted interest in operating systems, but these kinds of lines were what kept me laughing. "Question number one: Is this real, or am I having some kind of cosmic kernel panic?" However, the simplistic characters and haphazard worldbuilding brought it down a notch for me. I rate this book Neutral.
December 18, 2017
The book began with all of Macks phobias and how he was scared of pretty mutch evertthing. The it talked about how he and a lot of other students got bullied by Stefan Matthew and Horace then Matthew split his arm open so bad that he could have died but Mack saved him so Matthew took Mack under his wing. After that Mack met Golom and Golom was an exacted replica of Mack to replace him when he went some where. Next This guy in green tryed to kill Mack with really posinous snakes but make sheded them in the sink disposal. There was Grimluk he was 12 when he was first brought into the book and he was not human at the age of 12 he had a job a chiled a wife and 2 cows. Grimluk was fleeing from the pale queen. Grimluk got paid well (one large basket of chickpeas per week, a plump rat, and one pair of sandles each year) till he started to flee his village. Then Mack started to talk to the green guy in the bathroom And the green man said everyone you know, love and is around you will die, so Mack ent far away and stefan followed. Next they went outside of their school and a girl in a long black limo was wating for them
February 20, 2019
3.75 stars.
Mr. Grant has proven he can write equally well in middle grade as well as y/a. With this book being more humorous and the MC being seriously wimpy, it makes for a creativity delightful story that gave this reader a break from more serious and adult related books.
I can honestly state that age 57, I am looking forward to reading the remaining two books of this trilogy.
Excellent job, Mr. Grant. Nice to see the fun side of your talents.
Mr. Grant has proven he can write equally well in middle grade as well as y/a. With this book being more humorous and the MC being seriously wimpy, it makes for a creativity delightful story that gave this reader a break from more serious and adult related books.
I can honestly state that age 57, I am looking forward to reading the remaining two books of this trilogy.
Excellent job, Mr. Grant. Nice to see the fun side of your talents.
March 1, 2018
This book was okay not the worst or best book I have ever read. I do like the parts when they escape the caves, when the big storm hits, and how Mack has all the phobias. The thing I don’t like about this book is that when that woman wants them to ride in the limo and then the ugly monster start to chase them to the limo. Another part that I don’t like is when Risky turns into a monster on the plane. After all I will give this book some grace and give it more than it deserves. I will give it three stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 2, 2011
Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers: http://thebooksmugglers.com/2011/08/t...
At twelve years old, Mack is a pretty ordinary kid leading a pretty ordinary life. He does an average job at school, he has a few friends, a pair of decent (if constantly distracted) parents, and manages to avoid sticking out in almost every way. Except there is something decidedly un-ordinary about Mack, even though he doesn’t quite know it. You see, Mack has a list of phobias – from sharks (galeophobia) to a fear of phobias (phobophobia). But while Mack has an irrational, consuming fear of dentists and the ocean, he doesn’t fear things that most rational people should…like bullies. So, when Mack gets into a tussle at school with not only the geek bullies, but ALL of the Richard Gere Middle School bullies (there are different bullies for each type of clique, of course). Things look pretty grim when the Biggest (really) Baddest Bully, a fifteen year old named Stefan, gets his (somewhat slow but very deadly) sights set on Mack – but when Stefan is gravely injured and Mack saves his life (twice!), Stefan takes Mack under his wing. As it turns out, Mack is one of the Magnificent 12, who posses the “enlightened puissance” and, thanks to the warnings and help from an ancient (if weird) dude named Grimluk, Mack has a mission to find the remaining magnificent 11 and save the world from the clutches of the evil Pale Queen – with the help of Stefan, of course.
The Magnificent 12: The Call kicks off a new middle grade series by Michael Grant, introducing young readers to a sympathetic and accessible protagonist and a world that is both familiar and wondrously strange, with an evil queen, insect-like monsters, an inadvertently hilarious golem, and, of course, magic and danger. While the ordinary-kid-becomes-the-world’s-only-hope trope is infinitely familiar and omnipresent in the YA and MG categories, The Call distinguishes itself from the fray because of its sense of humor. The jokes range from charmingly silly (ex: “Grimluk was twelve years old. Like most twelve year-olds he had a job, a child, two wives and a cow. No. No, wait, that’s not true. He had one wife and two cows.”) to slapstickish fun, and, while they may not be to the taste of older readers, certainly should appeal to tweens and middle grade level readers.
The novel itself alternates two main storylines – one in the present, with Mack as he embarks on his adventure to find his fellow allies of the Magnifica, and one in the past, with a twelve year old Grimluk and his stand against the Pale Queen many, many hundreds of years earlier. While Grimulk’s story is fraught with peril and hilarity (being a twelve year old with a job, wife, new baby, and already a lack of teeth due to his advanced age), I felt like the frequent jumping back in time to Grimulk’s past was a bit frustrating, as I cared infinitely more for young Mack and Stefan. My only other main criticism with this novel, and the series at large is that though the action abounds and this is a quick, entertaining read, The Call lacks the heart and deeper meaning that characterize the best novels – including those for young readers (Catherynne M. Valente’s incomparable The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making immediately springs to mind, as does the more lighthearted but very smart Aliens on Vacation by Clete Smith). That said, The Call is a fast-paced, fun read and will most certainly appeal to its target audience.
At twelve years old, Mack is a pretty ordinary kid leading a pretty ordinary life. He does an average job at school, he has a few friends, a pair of decent (if constantly distracted) parents, and manages to avoid sticking out in almost every way. Except there is something decidedly un-ordinary about Mack, even though he doesn’t quite know it. You see, Mack has a list of phobias – from sharks (galeophobia) to a fear of phobias (phobophobia). But while Mack has an irrational, consuming fear of dentists and the ocean, he doesn’t fear things that most rational people should…like bullies. So, when Mack gets into a tussle at school with not only the geek bullies, but ALL of the Richard Gere Middle School bullies (there are different bullies for each type of clique, of course). Things look pretty grim when the Biggest (really) Baddest Bully, a fifteen year old named Stefan, gets his (somewhat slow but very deadly) sights set on Mack – but when Stefan is gravely injured and Mack saves his life (twice!), Stefan takes Mack under his wing. As it turns out, Mack is one of the Magnificent 12, who posses the “enlightened puissance” and, thanks to the warnings and help from an ancient (if weird) dude named Grimluk, Mack has a mission to find the remaining magnificent 11 and save the world from the clutches of the evil Pale Queen – with the help of Stefan, of course.
The Magnificent 12: The Call kicks off a new middle grade series by Michael Grant, introducing young readers to a sympathetic and accessible protagonist and a world that is both familiar and wondrously strange, with an evil queen, insect-like monsters, an inadvertently hilarious golem, and, of course, magic and danger. While the ordinary-kid-becomes-the-world’s-only-hope trope is infinitely familiar and omnipresent in the YA and MG categories, The Call distinguishes itself from the fray because of its sense of humor. The jokes range from charmingly silly (ex: “Grimluk was twelve years old. Like most twelve year-olds he had a job, a child, two wives and a cow. No. No, wait, that’s not true. He had one wife and two cows.”) to slapstickish fun, and, while they may not be to the taste of older readers, certainly should appeal to tweens and middle grade level readers.
The novel itself alternates two main storylines – one in the present, with Mack as he embarks on his adventure to find his fellow allies of the Magnifica, and one in the past, with a twelve year old Grimluk and his stand against the Pale Queen many, many hundreds of years earlier. While Grimulk’s story is fraught with peril and hilarity (being a twelve year old with a job, wife, new baby, and already a lack of teeth due to his advanced age), I felt like the frequent jumping back in time to Grimulk’s past was a bit frustrating, as I cared infinitely more for young Mack and Stefan. My only other main criticism with this novel, and the series at large is that though the action abounds and this is a quick, entertaining read, The Call lacks the heart and deeper meaning that characterize the best novels – including those for young readers (Catherynne M. Valente’s incomparable The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making immediately springs to mind, as does the more lighthearted but very smart Aliens on Vacation by Clete Smith). That said, The Call is a fast-paced, fun read and will most certainly appeal to its target audience.
December 30, 2010
We got a copy of this book into the school library this week and it caused a little bit of a controversy in the sticker department. A co-worker wanted it labeled as humor and I wanted it to be labeled as adventure. I hadn't read many reviews of it, as not to cloud my Cybils judgment prior to reading, but from the obvious facts it was an adventure first. My co-worker, having flipped through it, was adamant that we market it as humor. Having now completed it, I humbly concede to her opinion.
This book is hilarious. I like the globe-hopping premise, the promise of new characters in each book and the pacing of alternating storyline chapters. I quickly warmed to Golem's diary for Mack, although it took me a little longer to realize that some of the character names were plays on other words. Blame it on the brain fog, I'm so knee deep into this cold and lost my voice completely somewhere in the middle of last night's midnight viewing of The Room.
As a side note, I'm interested to know if series that incorporate online components, such as those in this book, The Search for WondLa and The 39 Clues, are actually doing well among particular demographics of middle-grade readers. As a grown-up, I'm on the fence - I like that the book can be expanded into an experience, without necessarily having to be option for a television show or movie, but I still have some reservations. Is it meant to target reluctant readers, or those who need to immerse themselves completely into a series before moving on to the next big thing? Is there an equal level of participation among genders? What does it say about the future of reading experiences for children on the wrong side of the digital divide?
Although I wasn't crazy over Michael Grant's YA series, I'm looking forward to keeping up with this series and hope that it becomes the Next Big Thing.
This book is hilarious. I like the globe-hopping premise, the promise of new characters in each book and the pacing of alternating storyline chapters. I quickly warmed to Golem's diary for Mack, although it took me a little longer to realize that some of the character names were plays on other words. Blame it on the brain fog, I'm so knee deep into this cold and lost my voice completely somewhere in the middle of last night's midnight viewing of The Room.
As a side note, I'm interested to know if series that incorporate online components, such as those in this book, The Search for WondLa and The 39 Clues, are actually doing well among particular demographics of middle-grade readers. As a grown-up, I'm on the fence - I like that the book can be expanded into an experience, without necessarily having to be option for a television show or movie, but I still have some reservations. Is it meant to target reluctant readers, or those who need to immerse themselves completely into a series before moving on to the next big thing? Is there an equal level of participation among genders? What does it say about the future of reading experiences for children on the wrong side of the digital divide?
Although I wasn't crazy over Michael Grant's YA series, I'm looking forward to keeping up with this series and hope that it becomes the Next Big Thing.
January 3, 2012
What a fun read!
If you've been looking for something as clever and exciting as Harry Potter, but with a little sarcastic wit added in, then this is the one for you.
This book had me smiling from around page two. Yes, it's a children's book, but much of the humor is directed more at adults, not that it's adult humor in any way. Some of the humorous references children may not be aware of, but it won't change how exciting the book is for them.
The book is told in two different times. There is a very ancient story and then a modern day one as well. At first you wonder how these two are related, but they come together nicely and you'll find yourself drawn into each world.
Mack, the modern day twelve year old, is afraid of a lot of things and has parents who don't seem to really see him. I don't want to say much about the actual story because it's too much fun to read it yourself.
The character of Stefan, the bully of bullies, is a great addition to the adventure.
Ya gotta read this one!
Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways.
If you've been looking for something as clever and exciting as Harry Potter, but with a little sarcastic wit added in, then this is the one for you.
This book had me smiling from around page two. Yes, it's a children's book, but much of the humor is directed more at adults, not that it's adult humor in any way. Some of the humorous references children may not be aware of, but it won't change how exciting the book is for them.
The book is told in two different times. There is a very ancient story and then a modern day one as well. At first you wonder how these two are related, but they come together nicely and you'll find yourself drawn into each world.
Mack, the modern day twelve year old, is afraid of a lot of things and has parents who don't seem to really see him. I don't want to say much about the actual story because it's too much fun to read it yourself.
The character of Stefan, the bully of bullies, is a great addition to the adventure.
Ya gotta read this one!
Thank you to Goodreads Giveaways.
August 9, 2014
I was, frankly, unimpressed. The characters were interesting but shallow. The powers were too broad and undefined. There were holes in the ideas. How did Grimluck know he was twelve years old if 12 hadn't even been invented yet? How can a 12-year-old have a wife and kid? How could 27 million degrees not fry the entire planet? You can't die from a cut on your arm.
Mack's phobias didn't fit with everything else. Stefan did not fit. The golem was interesting and idiotic. There was a lot of luck rather than skill or clever thinking. The humor was pervasive but not clever. Some of that is okay in a middle grade novel, but you need more variety. I found it funny, but not memorably so.
The 3000 year ago stuff could have been condensed into a single chapter or two. That storyline was too disconnected and depressing to feel important.
Some things just didn't make sense. Here's a million dollars and fake passports! Travel the world and find 11 other kids like you! Stefan is your new guardian! A mud boy will take your place and your parents will never notice!
Mack's phobias didn't fit with everything else. Stefan did not fit. The golem was interesting and idiotic. There was a lot of luck rather than skill or clever thinking. The humor was pervasive but not clever. Some of that is okay in a middle grade novel, but you need more variety. I found it funny, but not memorably so.
The 3000 year ago stuff could have been condensed into a single chapter or two. That storyline was too disconnected and depressing to feel important.
Some things just didn't make sense. Here's a million dollars and fake passports! Travel the world and find 11 other kids like you! Stefan is your new guardian! A mud boy will take your place and your parents will never notice!
May 28, 2015
Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy is scared of small spaces, spiders, dentists and oceans – not to mention sharks. So when he’s told by a man from the distant past that he is one of the twelve Magnifica that has to save the world from The Pale Queen, he is gobsmacked. What follows is an adventure he’d rather not go on, but go he does – fighting off huge grasshopper like creatures, hiring private jets, falling from aeroplanes and into deep holes in the desert. Along the way he meets the Pale Queen’s gorgeous daughter Risky. At least she’s gorgeous some of the time. Her true self is something out of his nightmares…..
39 Clues fans will love this series – except this has freaky creatures and is funnier. Told in two timeframes, it explains the history of the old man and where mankind’s battle with the Pale Queen began.
39 Clues fans will love this series – except this has freaky creatures and is funnier. Told in two timeframes, it explains the history of the old man and where mankind’s battle with the Pale Queen began.
November 16, 2012
I love when middle grade books aren't patronizing. I love when children are not beat over the head with the fact that they are not adults and cannot possibly comprehend big words. I love it when authors do not talk down/write down in their books for children. The Magnificent 12: The Call by Michael Grant is such a book. It is genuinely funny, even from my adult ivory tower I chuckled quite a bit. What sold me on this book was the comparison to Monty Python.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
January 26, 2016
This is a really cute book for young adults and or kids. Heck I enjoyed it too. Mack was very funny. The bully Stephan who now is his friend and always say huh? Just made me laugh. The author was very creative w/ their adventure. My 11 year old thought the story was great and wanted to know what happened next. Will keep my out open for the next book.
July 7, 2016
Although I'm an adult, I can really enjoy some YA books. This one was just ok for me. I never really connected with Mac, the main character or any of the supporting characters. My favorite is the golem as he is funny because he is clueless (and this part reminds me of The Last Starfighter). I don't think I'll be continuing with the series.
September 6, 2010
Fans of Artemis Fowl and the Percy Jackson series(The Lightning Thief) will enjoy this tale. I loved the almost Monty Pythonesque humor interwoven with the action. A quick fun read that would be a complentary title to read between Harry Potter!
August 24, 2012
This was a great middle grade read. The humor and action were perfect. Grant is a very gifted writer. I am fixing to begin the next in the series.
August 24, 2013
I only liked one character.
March 15, 2022
I recommend trying out the audiobook if you can. The narrator is perfect for this story.
October 12, 2010
let’s talk about this book, starting with the opening lines:
David MacAvory—whose friends called him Mack—was not an unlikely hero. He was an impossible hero.
First, there was the fact that he was only twelve years old. And then there was the fact that he was not especially big, strong, kind, or good-looking.
Plus he was scared. Scared of what? Quite a list of things… (what follows is a list of things David is afraid of—MG Ninja)
…So this was not a twelve-year-old you’d expect to become one of the greatest heroes in human
history—not the person you’d expect would try and save the world from the greatest evil it had ever faced.
But that’s our story.
One thing to remember: most heroes end up dead.
Isn’t that a swell opening? I think it is. Right away, Grant tells us who the story is about, sets the tone for the book so the reader knows at once whether or not this is a novel for her, and he gives us a preview of what sort of story we can expect to read. You can’t ask a book opening to do much more than that. I know many of us writers sometimes struggle with finding places in the narrative to work in important exposition about the protagonist, particularly their age. I’ve seen writers go to all sorts of weird lengths to work this information in, but I prefer Grant’s method of just coming right out and stating it. Keeps things simple. And as you may have guessed from the title, the number 12 is of some importance in this book.
The Magnificent 12: The Call is another book like The Smokey Corridor that is so involved it defies summary. Mack, David MacAvory’s preferred name, is just a regular adolescent dealing with bully issues at Richard Gere Middle School (actually the name of the school) until one day a magical old man in a black robe shows up in the hall and freezes time to save him from an apparent bully attack. The old man tells Mack:
“You have foes of which you dream not,” the old man rasped. “Foes which, if you only knew of them, your blood would freeze like a mountain stream in winter and your hands would tremble and lose their strength.”
Mack found this alarming. “Hey! I don’t have any enemies. I’m not looking for trouble. I have a math test.”
“We choose not our enemies. Your foes are the foes of your blood. For in your veins runs the blood true of the Magnifica.”
“Is that Latin?”
“You are called, young hero. Called! To save the world from the nameless evil.”
“What’s the name of this nameless evil?” Mack asked.
“The Pale Queen! But we name her not.”
“You just did.”
The old man informs Mack that he must save the world from The Pale Queen, who is about to rise again after 3000 years, and I think you'll enjoy his description of her:
“So you tied up this Pale Queen for three thousand years.”
“Exactly. Forever. Or so we thought. It turns out three thousand years is still not forever. And now the three thousand years has all but run its course. In just a few months the Dread Foe will be loosed in all her fury, all her rage, all her sphincter-clenching, heart-clutching, throat-gobbling, spit-drying, blood-freezing, bowel-loosening terror!”
I think these passages tell you just about everything you need to know regarding the plot as well as the tone. The Magnificent 12: The Call is a long way from serious. I would call it satire, but the only thing I can pinpoint its satirizing is itself. Michael Grant is having a laugh and he invites us to join him. Here is how Mack and his friend and former bully Stefan react to the news of their mission:
“Where are you going to go?” Stefan asked.
Mack turned and walked backward, holding his hands out in a helpless gesture. “I guess I’m going to save the world.”
“Yeah?” Stephan said. “Okay, then; I’ll go, too.”
The assistant principal stepped out of his office as they passed. “Just where do you think you’re going, Mr. MacAvoy?”
“Saving the world, sir.”
And now I’ll risk another diversion into movies to illustrate the one and only point I want to make about craft this week. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned about storytelling came from watching The Lost World: Jurassic Park. There are a lot of reasons that film was not as good as the first JP and I could write another post just about them, but I want to focus on one scene: the scene in which the two tyrannosauruses knock a research trailer containing Dr. Malcom, his girlfriend, and that guy from Swingers over the edge of a cliff. The first Jurassic Park is a classic and a genuinely tense film, especially for younger viewers who will never forget the first time they saw the T-Rex crash through the top of a jeep and try to eat the children inside. The second film is directed by Steven Spielberg and should be every bit as good and isn’t because it looses credibility about halfway through.
In the crucial scene when Dr. Malcom and his science homies are hanging over the cliff in a trailer facing a fate of either plunging to their deaths or being chomped by a T-Rex, while their other homie is trying as hard as he can to pull them back up to safety, they make jokes. “What do you need,” that guy from The West Wing calls down to them and in response they call out orders for fast food and laugh. And like that, the scene lost this viewer for the rest of the film. People being attacked by dinosaurs are frightened out of their minds the way the children were in the first film, not laughing in the face of death. If Dr. Malcom and his crew aren’t convinced they are really in danger, the viewer isn’t convinced. Why I should I be concerned they are going to die when they aren’t? Also, how much of a threat can raptors really be if little girls can kick them into glass and kill them? But I digress.
Enough Alan Grant, let’s get back to Michael Grant. There are plenty of monsters in his book and Mack only rarely seems put out by them. During one scene, a monster attacks Mack’s plane and throws him out of it, and yet he and his buddy Stefan continue to make jokes. Mack plunges to his death still cracking jokes. In fact, he only has a handful of scenes in which his reactions match reader expectations the whole novel. Most of his reactions to the increasingly weird scenarios he faces are like his above reaction to learning he has to save the world. Mack is cool and sardonic, and only somewhat interested in the newest threat to his life. It’s almost as though he is aware he is the main character and therefore likely to make it through to the end of the series.
So how is it that Mack’s joking during monster attacks does not ruin his story the way Dr. Malcom’s joking ruined The Lost World? The answer is tonal consistency. In the film, we’re presented with somewhat realistic characters that up until the key trailer scene have reactions to the narrative that are believable for them and then at the crucial moment they shift to unbelievable.
Mack is never a realistic character. Note, this is not the same as his not being a believable or relatable character. Mack is believable for a boy who inhabits the world of this story filled with comedy and farce and his reactions are consistent throughout the book. He is not especially concerned when he comes home from school to find a golem, a creature of shape shifting mud, has shifted to look like him. He takes it in stride the same way he takes the news of his being responsible for saving the world or that a monster has attacked his plane. Grant starts his story with a tone of farce and maintains it to the novel’s end. In fact, were Mack to suddenly behave realistically, that would throw the reader out of the story.
Here is the way Grant opens a chapter late in the book that would totally be out of place in almost any other sort of book, and yet totally works here because it is consistant with the chapters that came before it:
One of the rules of Great Literature is: show, don’t tell. But one of the other rules of Great Literature is: don’t go on and on with boring scenes where nothing happens but a lot of talking.
So let’s just have a quick glance at what Jarrah told Mack and Stefan on the way into stunning Sydney Harbour, and then move on, shall we?
If any other writer in any other book opened a chapter that way, we might scoff and think "this writer can't be serious." But in the case of Michael Grant, we know he's not serious. He hasn't been serious yet. That's the whole point. And this passage is fun and funny in part because we have no expectation it would be otherwise.
By the way, the shape-shifting golem is my favorite character in the book and I can’t finish this review without telling you about him. The golem takes over Mack’s life pretending to be him while Mack is on his quest to save the world from The Pale Queen. He writes to Mack to let him know how his life as a human boy is going, and the golem’s messages are absolutely hysterical. I don’t want to ruin them for you, so I’ll just share an early one by way of example:
DEAR MACK,
TODAY I ATE PIZZA. BUT I REALIZED THAT I DO NOT HAVE A STOMACH AND HAD TO SPIT IT OUT ON THE TABLE. LATER I USED A SPOON TO REACH INSIDE MY MOUTH AND DIG OUT A STOMACH. I PLACED THE MUD CAREFULLY IN THE TOILED AND FLUSHED MANY TIMES. NOW THERE IS WATER ON THE FLOOR AND ALSO ON THE STAIRS. I THINK MOM NOTICED.
YOUR FRIEND,
GOLEM
DEAR MACK,
I HAD AN EXCELLENT DAY AT SCHOOL. THE WOMAN CALLED MS. CHAPMAN ASKED ME IF I WAS STILL DEVOURING BOOKS. SHE SMILED SO I KNEW THIS WAS A GOOD THING. I SAID THAT I WAS. I DEVOURED ONE FOR HER AND SHE STOPPED SMILING. THEN I MET THE MAN CALLED ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FURMAN, WHO ASKED ME WHAT MY MAJOR MALFUNCTION WAS. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT I CANNOT MALFUNCTION BECAUSE I AM A SUPERNATURAL CREATURE MADE OF MUD. HE TOLD ME TO GO AWAY.
YOUR FRIEND,
GOLEM
And once again I see I have rambled on for too long and now we’re out of time. To sum it all up, The Magnificent 12: The Call is a very funny little book you can curl up with and have a good time. It’s an especially good read for boys in the same vein of a Mel Brooks/David Zucker comedy, not unlike the Melvin Beederman Superhero books. I’ll leave you now with some of my other favorite passages from The Magnificent 12: The Call:
Possibly because his eyes were like translucent blue marbles. Not blue with a little black dot in the middle and a lot of white all around, but a sort of smeary blue that covered iris, pupil, and all the other eye parts. As if he had started with normal blue eyes, but they’d been pureed in a blender and then poured back into his eyeholes.
The stoners had a bully, but he tended to lose focus and so was not very effective at terrorizing people.
The bell rang, ending the school day, and kids exploded from classrooms like buckshot from a shotgun.
The word huh was roughly one-third of Stefan’s vocabulary.
This was the most anticipated moment in the history of Richard Gere Middle School. Imagine the degree of anticipation that might have greeted the simultaneous release of an Iron Man movie, a brand-new sequel to a Harry Potter book, and albums by the top three bands all rolled into one happy, nervous, “OMG, I totally can’t wait to see this!” moment.
Mack screamed. Screamed like a little girl.
David MacAvory—whose friends called him Mack—was not an unlikely hero. He was an impossible hero.
First, there was the fact that he was only twelve years old. And then there was the fact that he was not especially big, strong, kind, or good-looking.
Plus he was scared. Scared of what? Quite a list of things… (what follows is a list of things David is afraid of—MG Ninja)
…So this was not a twelve-year-old you’d expect to become one of the greatest heroes in human
history—not the person you’d expect would try and save the world from the greatest evil it had ever faced.
But that’s our story.
One thing to remember: most heroes end up dead.
Isn’t that a swell opening? I think it is. Right away, Grant tells us who the story is about, sets the tone for the book so the reader knows at once whether or not this is a novel for her, and he gives us a preview of what sort of story we can expect to read. You can’t ask a book opening to do much more than that. I know many of us writers sometimes struggle with finding places in the narrative to work in important exposition about the protagonist, particularly their age. I’ve seen writers go to all sorts of weird lengths to work this information in, but I prefer Grant’s method of just coming right out and stating it. Keeps things simple. And as you may have guessed from the title, the number 12 is of some importance in this book.
The Magnificent 12: The Call is another book like The Smokey Corridor that is so involved it defies summary. Mack, David MacAvory’s preferred name, is just a regular adolescent dealing with bully issues at Richard Gere Middle School (actually the name of the school) until one day a magical old man in a black robe shows up in the hall and freezes time to save him from an apparent bully attack. The old man tells Mack:
“You have foes of which you dream not,” the old man rasped. “Foes which, if you only knew of them, your blood would freeze like a mountain stream in winter and your hands would tremble and lose their strength.”
Mack found this alarming. “Hey! I don’t have any enemies. I’m not looking for trouble. I have a math test.”
“We choose not our enemies. Your foes are the foes of your blood. For in your veins runs the blood true of the Magnifica.”
“Is that Latin?”
“You are called, young hero. Called! To save the world from the nameless evil.”
“What’s the name of this nameless evil?” Mack asked.
“The Pale Queen! But we name her not.”
“You just did.”
The old man informs Mack that he must save the world from The Pale Queen, who is about to rise again after 3000 years, and I think you'll enjoy his description of her:
“So you tied up this Pale Queen for three thousand years.”
“Exactly. Forever. Or so we thought. It turns out three thousand years is still not forever. And now the three thousand years has all but run its course. In just a few months the Dread Foe will be loosed in all her fury, all her rage, all her sphincter-clenching, heart-clutching, throat-gobbling, spit-drying, blood-freezing, bowel-loosening terror!”
I think these passages tell you just about everything you need to know regarding the plot as well as the tone. The Magnificent 12: The Call is a long way from serious. I would call it satire, but the only thing I can pinpoint its satirizing is itself. Michael Grant is having a laugh and he invites us to join him. Here is how Mack and his friend and former bully Stefan react to the news of their mission:
“Where are you going to go?” Stefan asked.
Mack turned and walked backward, holding his hands out in a helpless gesture. “I guess I’m going to save the world.”
“Yeah?” Stephan said. “Okay, then; I’ll go, too.”
The assistant principal stepped out of his office as they passed. “Just where do you think you’re going, Mr. MacAvoy?”
“Saving the world, sir.”
And now I’ll risk another diversion into movies to illustrate the one and only point I want to make about craft this week. One of the greatest lessons I ever learned about storytelling came from watching The Lost World: Jurassic Park. There are a lot of reasons that film was not as good as the first JP and I could write another post just about them, but I want to focus on one scene: the scene in which the two tyrannosauruses knock a research trailer containing Dr. Malcom, his girlfriend, and that guy from Swingers over the edge of a cliff. The first Jurassic Park is a classic and a genuinely tense film, especially for younger viewers who will never forget the first time they saw the T-Rex crash through the top of a jeep and try to eat the children inside. The second film is directed by Steven Spielberg and should be every bit as good and isn’t because it looses credibility about halfway through.
In the crucial scene when Dr. Malcom and his science homies are hanging over the cliff in a trailer facing a fate of either plunging to their deaths or being chomped by a T-Rex, while their other homie is trying as hard as he can to pull them back up to safety, they make jokes. “What do you need,” that guy from The West Wing calls down to them and in response they call out orders for fast food and laugh. And like that, the scene lost this viewer for the rest of the film. People being attacked by dinosaurs are frightened out of their minds the way the children were in the first film, not laughing in the face of death. If Dr. Malcom and his crew aren’t convinced they are really in danger, the viewer isn’t convinced. Why I should I be concerned they are going to die when they aren’t? Also, how much of a threat can raptors really be if little girls can kick them into glass and kill them? But I digress.
Enough Alan Grant, let’s get back to Michael Grant. There are plenty of monsters in his book and Mack only rarely seems put out by them. During one scene, a monster attacks Mack’s plane and throws him out of it, and yet he and his buddy Stefan continue to make jokes. Mack plunges to his death still cracking jokes. In fact, he only has a handful of scenes in which his reactions match reader expectations the whole novel. Most of his reactions to the increasingly weird scenarios he faces are like his above reaction to learning he has to save the world. Mack is cool and sardonic, and only somewhat interested in the newest threat to his life. It’s almost as though he is aware he is the main character and therefore likely to make it through to the end of the series.
So how is it that Mack’s joking during monster attacks does not ruin his story the way Dr. Malcom’s joking ruined The Lost World? The answer is tonal consistency. In the film, we’re presented with somewhat realistic characters that up until the key trailer scene have reactions to the narrative that are believable for them and then at the crucial moment they shift to unbelievable.
Mack is never a realistic character. Note, this is not the same as his not being a believable or relatable character. Mack is believable for a boy who inhabits the world of this story filled with comedy and farce and his reactions are consistent throughout the book. He is not especially concerned when he comes home from school to find a golem, a creature of shape shifting mud, has shifted to look like him. He takes it in stride the same way he takes the news of his being responsible for saving the world or that a monster has attacked his plane. Grant starts his story with a tone of farce and maintains it to the novel’s end. In fact, were Mack to suddenly behave realistically, that would throw the reader out of the story.
Here is the way Grant opens a chapter late in the book that would totally be out of place in almost any other sort of book, and yet totally works here because it is consistant with the chapters that came before it:
One of the rules of Great Literature is: show, don’t tell. But one of the other rules of Great Literature is: don’t go on and on with boring scenes where nothing happens but a lot of talking.
So let’s just have a quick glance at what Jarrah told Mack and Stefan on the way into stunning Sydney Harbour, and then move on, shall we?
If any other writer in any other book opened a chapter that way, we might scoff and think "this writer can't be serious." But in the case of Michael Grant, we know he's not serious. He hasn't been serious yet. That's the whole point. And this passage is fun and funny in part because we have no expectation it would be otherwise.
By the way, the shape-shifting golem is my favorite character in the book and I can’t finish this review without telling you about him. The golem takes over Mack’s life pretending to be him while Mack is on his quest to save the world from The Pale Queen. He writes to Mack to let him know how his life as a human boy is going, and the golem’s messages are absolutely hysterical. I don’t want to ruin them for you, so I’ll just share an early one by way of example:
DEAR MACK,
TODAY I ATE PIZZA. BUT I REALIZED THAT I DO NOT HAVE A STOMACH AND HAD TO SPIT IT OUT ON THE TABLE. LATER I USED A SPOON TO REACH INSIDE MY MOUTH AND DIG OUT A STOMACH. I PLACED THE MUD CAREFULLY IN THE TOILED AND FLUSHED MANY TIMES. NOW THERE IS WATER ON THE FLOOR AND ALSO ON THE STAIRS. I THINK MOM NOTICED.
YOUR FRIEND,
GOLEM
DEAR MACK,
I HAD AN EXCELLENT DAY AT SCHOOL. THE WOMAN CALLED MS. CHAPMAN ASKED ME IF I WAS STILL DEVOURING BOOKS. SHE SMILED SO I KNEW THIS WAS A GOOD THING. I SAID THAT I WAS. I DEVOURED ONE FOR HER AND SHE STOPPED SMILING. THEN I MET THE MAN CALLED ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL FURMAN, WHO ASKED ME WHAT MY MAJOR MALFUNCTION WAS. I EXPLAINED TO HIM THAT I CANNOT MALFUNCTION BECAUSE I AM A SUPERNATURAL CREATURE MADE OF MUD. HE TOLD ME TO GO AWAY.
YOUR FRIEND,
GOLEM
And once again I see I have rambled on for too long and now we’re out of time. To sum it all up, The Magnificent 12: The Call is a very funny little book you can curl up with and have a good time. It’s an especially good read for boys in the same vein of a Mel Brooks/David Zucker comedy, not unlike the Melvin Beederman Superhero books. I’ll leave you now with some of my other favorite passages from The Magnificent 12: The Call:
Possibly because his eyes were like translucent blue marbles. Not blue with a little black dot in the middle and a lot of white all around, but a sort of smeary blue that covered iris, pupil, and all the other eye parts. As if he had started with normal blue eyes, but they’d been pureed in a blender and then poured back into his eyeholes.
The stoners had a bully, but he tended to lose focus and so was not very effective at terrorizing people.
The bell rang, ending the school day, and kids exploded from classrooms like buckshot from a shotgun.
The word huh was roughly one-third of Stefan’s vocabulary.
This was the most anticipated moment in the history of Richard Gere Middle School. Imagine the degree of anticipation that might have greeted the simultaneous release of an Iron Man movie, a brand-new sequel to a Harry Potter book, and albums by the top three bands all rolled into one happy, nervous, “OMG, I totally can’t wait to see this!” moment.
Mack screamed. Screamed like a little girl.
April 27, 2018
“The Magnificent 12” By Michael Grant, is a great first book in the series. This book starts out with a 12 year old kid named Mac who has many phobias. Mac has a school that has many bullies, a bully for each type of people, and one bully above all. Mac saved a kid from being dunked in the toilet by getting the bullies to run after him. He then gets chased around the school trying to get them off of him when eventually the bullies call a bully emergency. A bully emergency is when all the bullies have to come together to punish him. Mac gets socked a couple of times before he escapes but once he escapes the main bully tries to punch him but cuts himself on some glass. Mac then saves the bully's life by stopping the blood. He becomes friends with the main bully and that's when the world changes for Mac. Mac gets information from weird old people that he and everyone around him will die and the pale queen will rule. Mac then has to go on a journey with his bully friend to save the world.
I liked this book a lot because it had really cool characters that just showed up randomly. Also, just about every other chapter it went back in time to a guy called Grimluck and it talked about his life. When it did this it would slowly fit everything together. You would get one part of a story from someone, then later you would have to figure out the other half of the story. I liked it because it just kept you thinking what will happen next. What I don't like about this book so much was that it didn't give that much description about things and the book just moved on too quick. But all in all it was a pretty cool book with lots of different types of characters.
I think that the main life lesson of this book was do what you think is right no matter how bad it may seem. In the start one part that happened was the main big bully cut himself and Mac decided to save his life by stopping the flow of blood. If Mac didn’t do that then bully would have died and he wouldn't have any friends to help him save the world.
I liked this book a lot because it had really cool characters that just showed up randomly. Also, just about every other chapter it went back in time to a guy called Grimluck and it talked about his life. When it did this it would slowly fit everything together. You would get one part of a story from someone, then later you would have to figure out the other half of the story. I liked it because it just kept you thinking what will happen next. What I don't like about this book so much was that it didn't give that much description about things and the book just moved on too quick. But all in all it was a pretty cool book with lots of different types of characters.
I think that the main life lesson of this book was do what you think is right no matter how bad it may seem. In the start one part that happened was the main big bully cut himself and Mac decided to save his life by stopping the flow of blood. If Mac didn’t do that then bully would have died and he wouldn't have any friends to help him save the world.
September 8, 2017
Average 12 year old Mack MacAvoy suffers from many phobias. A list of phobias. Having a fear of sharks, a fear of phobias (which is my favourite fear he has), fear of spiders, a fear of fire, and a fear of dentists - to name a few. Who has parents that don't pay much attention to him or anything really. You wouldn't think he was destined for greatness or something more than an 'average' destiny would you - ah ha, your wrong then! A 3,000 year old man named Grimluk appears (I'm calling him Grim for short 'kays) and he gives Mack some startling news: he's one of the Magnificent Twelve and he needs to find the other 11 kids for reasons unknown. Bum-bum-bummm!
This a good book filled with adventure and some funny scenes but I kinda got bored. It got a bit to much when every so many chapters it would change for present time to 3,000 years in the past with old man Grim to cut out the more violent/intense scenes for the younger reading audience. I would call the characters memorable in a good way and the book was a fun read. Having Mack freaking out at his numerous phobias a lot of the time was very entertaining.
And this was fun to read in the book:
'But there was one bully to rule them all, one bully to find them, one bully to bring them all and in the darkness pound them.'
But out of all the things Mack fears and has phobias for, the one thing he doesn't fear are bullies. Weird. So he makes friends with Stephan, the dumb but brave bully who is ready to protect Mack whenever he needs him as Mack has saved his life not once but twice so far... which was an interesting concept that I appreciate. I enjoyed the characters and found that I like the too. So all good that ends well and all.
This a good book filled with adventure and some funny scenes but I kinda got bored. It got a bit to much when every so many chapters it would change for present time to 3,000 years in the past with old man Grim to cut out the more violent/intense scenes for the younger reading audience. I would call the characters memorable in a good way and the book was a fun read. Having Mack freaking out at his numerous phobias a lot of the time was very entertaining.
And this was fun to read in the book:
'But there was one bully to rule them all, one bully to find them, one bully to bring them all and in the darkness pound them.'
But out of all the things Mack fears and has phobias for, the one thing he doesn't fear are bullies. Weird. So he makes friends with Stephan, the dumb but brave bully who is ready to protect Mack whenever he needs him as Mack has saved his life not once but twice so far... which was an interesting concept that I appreciate. I enjoyed the characters and found that I like the too. So all good that ends well and all.
January 9, 2018
Mack is 12 years old, and he is just a regular kid with a BUNCH of phobias. When he is being attacked by the school bully Stefan, Stefan starts bleeding and Mack saves his life by calling the ambulance. Soon, a three-thousand-year-old man named Grimluk speaks to him in the boy's room and tells Mack that he is the member of the Magnificent Twelve. A Golem will take his place as he goes throughout the world and gathers the rest of the 12 in order to battle the Pale Queen's daughter.
I didn't read this book because I wanted to read it. I read this book because I had loved it when I was 11 years old, but I had never gotten past the second book in the series. Therefore, I had hoped to be able to finish the series and get it off of my chest. Boy, was I wrong.
This story was a mess? I felt that it had been rushed, but I can't tell if it is the difference between reading it in my hands or reading it as an ebook. It jumped from scene to scene, and in between characters from the magical world to the regular world. Sometimes, I didn't even know what is going on.
I also felt that this story was trying too hard to be funny. Some of the jokes seemed forced, so I would just think after a while "Can I get a bit of plot without some corny joke? Please?"
Lastly, this book seemed too short. It was 256 pages, but at the end I felt that it was kinda like "Ta-da, read the next book!" instead of actually being an ending.
I will say that this book is good for kids because I was absolutely crushed when I moved in the middle of reading the series and my new library never got the books. However, it is a very baby-ish book and now that I am reading it as 17 I see many of the plot mistakes.
I didn't read this book because I wanted to read it. I read this book because I had loved it when I was 11 years old, but I had never gotten past the second book in the series. Therefore, I had hoped to be able to finish the series and get it off of my chest. Boy, was I wrong.
This story was a mess? I felt that it had been rushed, but I can't tell if it is the difference between reading it in my hands or reading it as an ebook. It jumped from scene to scene, and in between characters from the magical world to the regular world. Sometimes, I didn't even know what is going on.
I also felt that this story was trying too hard to be funny. Some of the jokes seemed forced, so I would just think after a while "Can I get a bit of plot without some corny joke? Please?"
Lastly, this book seemed too short. It was 256 pages, but at the end I felt that it was kinda like "Ta-da, read the next book!" instead of actually being an ending.
I will say that this book is good for kids because I was absolutely crushed when I moved in the middle of reading the series and my new library never got the books. However, it is a very baby-ish book and now that I am reading it as 17 I see many of the plot mistakes.
January 16, 2023
This book really did not strike interest with me. I mean it's an oddly told story of a young child who somehow finds out that he has some sort of ancestor from the past that randomly shows up out of nowhere to tell him that he has to protect the world, after he is bullied by a bunch of teenagers that chase after him, one of them punches a window, almost dies because of blood loss and then because he can make a tourniquet saves this kid's life so he stops getting bullied by everyone.
Then in the past, there was this random assembly of 12 kids that assembled to stop an insect queen that isn't even revealed, it's actually her daughter who is the villain of the story, and they are trying to take over the world for no apparent reason.
So this guy from the past tells him he has to create a new assembly of 12 kids to stop the queen from reincarnation in the present because they only imprisoned her for 3000 years. He randomly falls out of a plane and stumbles across the 2nd of the magnificent 12 and her mother for some reason, and they are on the lookout for another 10 people, which for some reason they know to take a flight to Shanghai China to find the next one.
I mean all in all it's not that interesting and the only saving grace is that the plot is kind of interesting, it's told in an alright way, and the dialogue in the book is pretty funny with the character interaction. Otherwise it's pretty mediocre.
Then in the past, there was this random assembly of 12 kids that assembled to stop an insect queen that isn't even revealed, it's actually her daughter who is the villain of the story, and they are trying to take over the world for no apparent reason.
So this guy from the past tells him he has to create a new assembly of 12 kids to stop the queen from reincarnation in the present because they only imprisoned her for 3000 years. He randomly falls out of a plane and stumbles across the 2nd of the magnificent 12 and her mother for some reason, and they are on the lookout for another 10 people, which for some reason they know to take a flight to Shanghai China to find the next one.
I mean all in all it's not that interesting and the only saving grace is that the plot is kind of interesting, it's told in an alright way, and the dialogue in the book is pretty funny with the character interaction. Otherwise it's pretty mediocre.
August 12, 2017
Mack MacAvoy är tolv år och lider av en lång rad fobier. Han har till och med fobi mot att ha fobi. Jobbigt! I överigt är Macks liv rätt normalt, eller normalt och normalt. Mobbarna i skolan ser för all del till att skolan är en onormalt hemska plats för Mack att vara på. Hur som ställs allt på enda när den tusen år gamle Grimluk dyker upp hos Mack och berättar att han är en av De Magiska 12, de som i forna tider kallades Magnific. Sen är det till att resa världen runt för att hitta de andra magiska kidsen och samtidigt bekämpa stor ondska.
Alltså nej, nej, nej. Det här är inte bra. Det är intetsägande karaktärer, det är för få förklaringar (inte ens Mack verkar ifrågasätta allt märkligt som händer) det finns en slags slapstick humor som kanske kanske barn kan fnissa åt, men det är tunt ologiskt och inte alls roligt.
Jag tror den svenska publiken tyckt liknande för den sista delen i serien (finns fyra på engelska) översattes aldrig och ett omdöme jag läst löd:
...med en uppenbar avsikt hos författaren att vara rolig. Det lyckas stundtals, men känns ofta rätt krystat. Karaktärerna beter sig ganska dumt och ologiskt vilket stör läsupplevelsen. Ännu mer stör de mycket platta karaktärerna.
Hoppa den här.
Alltså nej, nej, nej. Det här är inte bra. Det är intetsägande karaktärer, det är för få förklaringar (inte ens Mack verkar ifrågasätta allt märkligt som händer) det finns en slags slapstick humor som kanske kanske barn kan fnissa åt, men det är tunt ologiskt och inte alls roligt.
Jag tror den svenska publiken tyckt liknande för den sista delen i serien (finns fyra på engelska) översattes aldrig och ett omdöme jag läst löd:
...med en uppenbar avsikt hos författaren att vara rolig. Det lyckas stundtals, men känns ofta rätt krystat. Karaktärerna beter sig ganska dumt och ologiskt vilket stör läsupplevelsen. Ännu mer stör de mycket platta karaktärerna.
Hoppa den här.
August 12, 2023
Michael Grant, one half of the husband and wife team who wrote Animorphs, can do no wrong. I've loved all of his books. Unfortunately this one just wasn't a good match for me. I enjoyed it enough to finish it, but not to continue with the series.
One of the reasons I love Grant is that he writes some wonderfully dark stories; even though his books are all MG/YA, his writing can be chilling! But Magnificent 12 is a funny book (and I did find it funny, unlike every other self-claimed funny one). It just turns out that funny books don't work for me.
The plot is that there's an immortal evil witch, and each generation twelve 12 year olds are born with magic and have to defeat her. The main character (and first of the twelve to be discovered) is afraid of everything.
The plot was kind of light, but the humor wasn't. I got a few snickers, a bunch of smiles, and a lot of amused snorts while reading. But, for me, humor hurts my enjoyment of the story: When things are getting serious, I don't want to laugh.
This wasn't at all a bad book. Grant is a great writer and he succeeded at being funny. I just wasn't the right reader for this book.
One of the reasons I love Grant is that he writes some wonderfully dark stories; even though his books are all MG/YA, his writing can be chilling! But Magnificent 12 is a funny book (and I did find it funny, unlike every other self-claimed funny one). It just turns out that funny books don't work for me.
The plot is that there's an immortal evil witch, and each generation twelve 12 year olds are born with magic and have to defeat her. The main character (and first of the twelve to be discovered) is afraid of everything.
The plot was kind of light, but the humor wasn't. I got a few snickers, a bunch of smiles, and a lot of amused snorts while reading. But, for me, humor hurts my enjoyment of the story: When things are getting serious, I don't want to laugh.
This wasn't at all a bad book. Grant is a great writer and he succeeded at being funny. I just wasn't the right reader for this book.
August 20, 2019
Een leuk boek, maar ik mis hier en daar wat details of informatie om goed in het boek te zitten. Ik weet niet of ik deel twee ook op pak, het was goed, maar niet zo goed dat ik niet eens twijfel. En met zoveel boeken op de tbr stapel moet ik streng zijn soms ...
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Dit boek speelt zich af in twee verhaallijnen. In de present volg je Mack, een doodgewone jongen van 12 die bang is voor zo ongeveer alles. En tevens ook één is van the Magnificent Twelve, die hij is opgeroepen om te verzamelen tegen de Pale Queen en haar dochter. Dit was onze tweede hoofdpersoon Grimluk zo'n 3000 jaar eerder met zijn groep niet gelukt.
Hij weet samen met een meisje, Jarrah of zo, de dochter een keer te doden (12 nodig...) En is nu op weg naar China om de volgende te zoeken.
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Dit boek speelt zich af in twee verhaallijnen. In de present volg je Mack, een doodgewone jongen van 12 die bang is voor zo ongeveer alles. En tevens ook één is van the Magnificent Twelve, die hij is opgeroepen om te verzamelen tegen de Pale Queen en haar dochter. Dit was onze tweede hoofdpersoon Grimluk zo'n 3000 jaar eerder met zijn groep niet gelukt.
Hij weet samen met een meisje, Jarrah of zo, de dochter een keer te doden (12 nodig...) En is nu op weg naar China om de volgende te zoeken.
April 9, 2021
The Call by Michael Grant took me by surprise. I originally selected this book out of panic because I needed to read a book quickly in order to meet my deadline. However, I quickly fell in love with this book. The protagonist, Mac, has been chosen as one of the Magnificent 12 to save the world from its greatest enemy before. I know, seems basic and cheesy, but what separates Mac from other cliche protagonists is that he is a 12-year-old boy with 21 phobias. One of his phobias is the fear of phobias so this kid is underqualified and undercut. However, Mac and his cast of companions are vibrant, interesting, and relatable. This novel was quick, innovative, charming, impactful, and has hooked me into wanting to finish the series. I can't wait to read more.
April 23, 2019
Max has no time to ponder the golem replacing him at home and the ancient wizard who appears at his school before he and a former bully of his are sent on a journey across the globe in search of other kids his age destined to defeat a powerful and evil Queen! Grant will have young readers excited the whole way through with this adventure, though its bland humour and weak protagonist may drive older fans away. The time has come for Max to test every single one of his many, many, many fears and phobias...
May 4, 2017
I laughed. It's a wry, middle-grade adventure book that combines bullies with magic, and no one is less heroic than the main characters.
I wasn't a fan of penduluming between past and present with two different heroes, especially since I didn't ever connect with the one whose story happened "a really long time ago."
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job lending voices to every character.
I wasn't a fan of penduluming between past and present with two different heroes, especially since I didn't ever connect with the one whose story happened "a really long time ago."
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job lending voices to every character.
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