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Diadem Worlds of Magic #10
Book of Doom
In the continuing adventures of Score, Helene, Pixel and Jenna, as they find that Pixel is possessed by Nantor, his evil 'other' self, which causes a misbalance of the magic throughout all of the Diadem.
168 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2006
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231 people want to read
About the author
John Peel
421 books166 followersJohn Peel is the author of Doctor Who books and comic strips. Notably, he wrote the first original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Genesys, to launch the Virgin New Adventures line. In the early 1990s he was commissioned by Target Books to write novelisations of several key Terry Nation Dalek stories of the 1960s after the rights were finally worked out. He later wrote several more original Daleks novels.
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
He has the distinction of being one of only three authors credited on a Target novelisation who had not either written a story for the TV series or been a part of the production team (the others were Nigel Robinson and Alison Bingeman).
Outside of Doctor Who, Peel has also written novels for the Star Trek franchise. Under the pseudonym "John Vincent", he wrote novelisations based upon episodes of the 1990s TV series James Bond Jr..
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 26, 2010
Diadem #10: Book of Doom, by John Peel
Hopefully this won't be the last Diadem book, as Peel while Peel answers some questions, he also asks a bunch of new ones. I was a little sad when I finished this book, because I know that my questions won't be answered for a while. Peel's website promises the next two in the series will be published together, hopefully in 2010.
When Oracle and Shanara betray Score, Helaine, and Pixel, the two are trying to prevent the trio from turning into the Three Who Rule. Score is sent to a world of killer plants. Helaine is trapped on Calomir, a prisoner of the Overmind computer. Pixel is a captive in his own mind, with his body possessed by his evil self, Nantor. Jenna shows her worth when she does all she can to rescue her new friends.
The strengths of each character shine, and I was flying through the pages to see what happened next. The history on Shanara shocked me, and while I saw some of it coming, I definitely didn't see all the twists Peel had up his sleeve.
5/5.
Hopefully this won't be the last Diadem book, as Peel while Peel answers some questions, he also asks a bunch of new ones. I was a little sad when I finished this book, because I know that my questions won't be answered for a while. Peel's website promises the next two in the series will be published together, hopefully in 2010.
When Oracle and Shanara betray Score, Helaine, and Pixel, the two are trying to prevent the trio from turning into the Three Who Rule. Score is sent to a world of killer plants. Helaine is trapped on Calomir, a prisoner of the Overmind computer. Pixel is a captive in his own mind, with his body possessed by his evil self, Nantor. Jenna shows her worth when she does all she can to rescue her new friends.
The strengths of each character shine, and I was flying through the pages to see what happened next. The history on Shanara shocked me, and while I saw some of it coming, I definitely didn't see all the twists Peel had up his sleeve.
5/5.
April 19, 2024
This is the last of the second wave of author John Peel's Diadem novels, the four published from 2005 to 2006 under Llewellyn (following the original six volumes put out by Scholastic from 1997 to 1998). It also functions as the conclusion to a two-part story begun in the previous title, concerning the dystopian computer Overmind running Pixel's homeworld of Calomir, although it doesn't do much to wrap up the larger overall saga. (The writer would later self-publish two final entries in 2012, presumably to fill that role. Those are the only ones I haven't read before, as my most recent time through this series was back in 2008.)
It's a thrilling tale with multiple villains to defeat: both the artificial intelligence still in power across the planet and Nantor, the blue boy's tyrannical past/future self who broke free and took over his body in the preceding cliffhanger. Pixel's viewpoint chapters here reduce him to a spectator presence in his own mind rather like an Animorphs Controller, still self-aware and in private communication with the intruder who's displaced him, but outwardly unable to move a muscle. Furthermore, magic throughout the Diadem is now unbalanced again as it was in the early books, and the enemy aims to restore the full Three Who Rule by awakening his comrades in Score and Helaine. Their efforts to resist that fate are complicated by Oracle and Shanara launching the contingency plans they've prepared, essentially betraying their friends to death before they can be turned.
The plot moves lightning-quick, and is strengthened by splitting up the four protagonists so thoroughly that we are continually bouncing from one deadly peril to the next. I appreciate too what we get to see of the characters' internal battles against their darker natures, with the danger not only of literally freeing the old tyrants, but also in reaching such a level of arrogance and callousness in the process that they would threaten the universe all by themselves. Helaine is the one who struggles the most with this, but Score has some good moments as well, especially when Jenna has to talk him down from lashing out in violence against Shanara.
Diadem has come a long way since the speech distortions and silly codes that riddled its earliest installments, but the story isn't over just yet. The mystery antagonist from Brine is still unknown and unconfronted, and it feels like Oracle might have hidden depths remaining to unveil, along with the fallout of Shanara's revelation to Score in the final pages of this book and the young man's heritage back on Ordin. Oh -- and for any of my fellow shippers out there, this is the volume where he and Helaine finally admit their feelings for each other and share a first kiss, so that's another new dynamic that the sequels will hopefully continue to develop and explore. But as an end to this particular stretch of the narrative, it's a pretty satisfying finale.
[Content for torture, ableism, and incest.]
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It's a thrilling tale with multiple villains to defeat: both the artificial intelligence still in power across the planet and Nantor, the blue boy's tyrannical past/future self who broke free and took over his body in the preceding cliffhanger. Pixel's viewpoint chapters here reduce him to a spectator presence in his own mind rather like an Animorphs Controller, still self-aware and in private communication with the intruder who's displaced him, but outwardly unable to move a muscle. Furthermore, magic throughout the Diadem is now unbalanced again as it was in the early books, and the enemy aims to restore the full Three Who Rule by awakening his comrades in Score and Helaine. Their efforts to resist that fate are complicated by Oracle and Shanara launching the contingency plans they've prepared, essentially betraying their friends to death before they can be turned.
The plot moves lightning-quick, and is strengthened by splitting up the four protagonists so thoroughly that we are continually bouncing from one deadly peril to the next. I appreciate too what we get to see of the characters' internal battles against their darker natures, with the danger not only of literally freeing the old tyrants, but also in reaching such a level of arrogance and callousness in the process that they would threaten the universe all by themselves. Helaine is the one who struggles the most with this, but Score has some good moments as well, especially when Jenna has to talk him down from lashing out in violence against Shanara.
Diadem has come a long way since the speech distortions and silly codes that riddled its earliest installments, but the story isn't over just yet. The mystery antagonist from Brine is still unknown and unconfronted, and it feels like Oracle might have hidden depths remaining to unveil, along with the fallout of Shanara's revelation to Score in the final pages of this book and the young man's heritage back on Ordin. Oh -- and for any of my fellow shippers out there, this is the volume where he and Helaine finally admit their feelings for each other and share a first kiss, so that's another new dynamic that the sequels will hopefully continue to develop and explore. But as an end to this particular stretch of the narrative, it's a pretty satisfying finale.
[Content for torture, ableism, and incest.]
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/6...
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
May 25, 2021
I couldn't put it down and man! What an ending!!!
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September 28, 2012Book of doom By john peel
I didn't really like this book it wasn't good enough for me. It was kinda wierd, a person named Nantor is one of three people who rule has escaped from jewl has taken over pixel's body. some of the parts of the story were really good to me like at the beging Shanara was explaning how she was confusied.
overall i think this was an ok book. i recomend this book for people who like fantsy books. i'll give this book a 7/10.
By Ronnell dennis
I didn't really like this book it wasn't good enough for me. It was kinda wierd, a person named Nantor is one of three people who rule has escaped from jewl has taken over pixel's body. some of the parts of the story were really good to me like at the beging Shanara was explaning how she was confusied.
overall i think this was an ok book. i recomend this book for people who like fantsy books. i'll give this book a 7/10.
By Ronnell dennis
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews