The Travelers

Pendragon: Before the War #1

by Carla Jablonski, D.J. MacHale (Created by)

Before Bobby Pendragon.
Before Saint Dane.
Before the war . . .

Every territory of Halla has a Traveler. They lived for years—some even for decades—before learning of their true destiny. What was life like for Bobby Pendragon’s fellow Travelers before they joined him in the fight to save every time and place that has ever existed? What led up to their becoming the guardians of Halla? The answers are here!

In this first of three thrilling Pendragon prequels, read about Vo Spader’s death-defying adventures in the underwater world of Cloral, Gunny Van Dyke’s race to find a murderer in 1930’s Manhattan on First Earth, and the tough challenges Kasha faced on Eelong well before Bobby Pendragon arrived . . .

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Adventure, Science Fiction, Young Adult Fantasy, Childrens

256 pages, Hardcover

First published April 3, 2009

About the author

Carla Jablonski is the author and editor of dozens of best-selling books for teenage and middle-grade readers. She grew up in New York City, where she attended public schools and the Bronx High School of Science. She has a BA in anthropology from Vassar College and an MA from NYU's Gallatin School, an interdisciplinary program for which she combined playwriting, the history of gender issues in 19th Century Circus, and arts administration. "I wanted to write the play, contextualize the play, and learn how to produce the play for my degree," she explains. "I think I may have been the happiest graduate student at NYU -- I SO loved working toward my thesis."

While still in graduate school she supported herself as the editor of The Hardy Boys Mysteries. "When I interviewed for the job they asked me if I'd ever read the Hardy Boys as a kid. 'No way,' I scoffed. 'Those are BOY books! It was Nancy Drew for me!' Luckily my future boss had a sense of humor. She hired me after I promised I'd read the books if I got the job."

She has participated in the renowned Breadloaf Writers' Conference as well as Zoetrope's All-Story highly competitive writing workshop held at Francis Ford Coppella's resort in Belize. She has taught writing for the children's market, as well as "cold-reading" skills for teachers as part of Project:Read. Several of her books have been selected as part of the Accelerated Reader's program.

She continues to work freelance as an editor for publishers and for private clients, even as she writes novels and creates new series. She also has another career (and identity!) as a playwright, an actress, and a trapeze performer. "I try to keep the worlds separate," she explains about her multiple identities. "The different work I do has different audiences, so I want to keep them apart. But they're all me -- they're all ways of expressing what I'm thinking and feeling -- just in different mediums."

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty terrible and pointless. I only started reading this sub-series because I've read all the Pendragon books. This review will only make sense if you've read them all. The Travelers series is supposed to tell one story about each Traveler before they find out they are Travelers. This book tells the story about Kasha, Gunny, and Spader.

The only reason I gave this book 2 stars was for the Spader story. The Kasha story was eh. It was a play-by-play of a couple games of whippen, a game played on Kasha's home territory. Its incredibly boring, and probably only will interest you if you like reading about every single move in a soccer game or something. It tried to be more than it was.

The Gunny story was absolutely TERRIBLE. It was BEYOND boring. I pretty much started to skim it halfway through. It was so absurd and ridiculous, and, like I said, completely snooze worthy. The Spader story was the only one that sounded remotely like any of the Pendragon books, and was the only one that will catch your attention (and it wasn't even that good). But be warned: it definitely wasn't for kids, it was really violent. We're talking multiple murders/deaths.

This book definitely makes me NOT want to read the other two, but I'm going to for the sake of the series.

Edited to add: it’s not even written by DJ McHale! It says “created by DJ McHale” on the front, written by someone else!

[Alyssa Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute collection of side stories of the various Travelers before Bobby became one. This edition features Kasha, Spader, and Gunny, and offers a little insight into their lives before Bobby and Saint Dane arrived. The stories go by quickly — I feel like they’re written at a much lower level than the main series, and offers interesting perspectives to each character. Kasha starts wondering that maybe the humans that serve her species are intelligent and capable of emotion after all; Spader finds common ground with a person who was his rival at the Academy; Gunny helps keep a young boy who’s just lost his father on track while also trying to track down a murderer. All very different stories!

It’s been a while since I’ve read these books, so it was a little hard to get back into the worlds. This was definitely written for someone who is already in the midst of the series, since it gives very little background information on the worlds or characters. Because of that, I can’t see anyone who hasn’t read the main series at all enjoying this series. It’s purely for nostalgic value and a way to revisit old friends before they become embroiled in a war with Saint Dane.

Overall, it’s a fun, fast read. Fans of the series will enjoy this, but they’re also not at all necessary to enjoy the main series as a whole.

Also posted on Purple People Readers.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a fan of Pendragon( and if you aren't, why the frell not?) You must read this book.

Despite not being written by the same author, this book really sticks close to the characters personalities. It was wonderful to get some new-to-me content from the Pendragon universe.

We get to see Kasha's attitude toward the Gars start to change.

We get to see Gunny get his first taste of being a leader.

And we get to see Spader learn to control his temper....even if it was just momentarily.

I loved the new glimpses into each territory and can't wait to read the other two books in the series.

[Josh Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book just wish it would have tied in a little better to the main series but still a great read.

[Vu · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5, is good!

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I can't review this like I normally do, because this book is actually three shorter stories. They revolve around the Travelers Kasha, Gunny, and Spader, from D.J. MacHale's Pendragon series. The stories are about what happened before the war began and Bobby dropped in. They aren't written by D.J. MacHale.

I picked this up at the library because I'm such a huge fan of the Pendragon Series. I loved every page of those books. So, naturally, I figured it would be awesome to get some insight into the lives of the Travelers.

I was disappointed.

First, I wasn't happy to find out that D.J. MacHale didn't actually write this. The writing in this book just didn't work for me. Words were repeated over and over, sometimes in the same sentence. Dialogue was a bit sloshy in places. There was a lot of 'telling'.

I was hoping for some pretty intense foreshadowing here. Like, for example, Gunny could make some reference to how he could never live without his hand. But the only real foreshadowing was that we got to see the beginning of Spader's anger problems.

I had a hard time getting into Kasha's story. Gunny's was alright, but I found a plot hole that is...currently escaping my mind, but it's there. I did like the insight as to where his name came from. I liked Spader's story best. Then again, how can you not love Spader? I could actually get into his story and was anxious to find out what happened next, but the whole I-hate-you-but-if-we-want-to-survive-we'll-have-to-work-together was really cliché.

I understand know why the stories were in the order that they are. First Kasha, then Gunny, and finally Spader. A lot of people will go into this just for Spader's story, so why not make them read all the others first to get there? If Spader was first, so many people would just put the book down.

Overall, this disappointed me. The characters were so much less in-depth than the actual series, especially since I was pretty much expecting 243 pages of character development. I didn't like the writing, and the plots just weren't that gripping. If you've read Pendragon, you can try this if you want to, but they don't add much to the series. Three stars.

Read even more reviews at http://anniesepicblog.blogspot.com

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

this is a disgrace to the pendragon series

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of a prequel to Pendragon is a good one. In the series proper, each of the ten Territories is at a tipping point between peace and chaos, and so in theory it’s fun to go back and see them before that. Plus getting to spend more time with Travelers who aren’t Bobby should help explore their characters more and add to the world that the main series builds.

But this prequel doesn’t end up working out that way. It’s a collection of three short stories about three of the nine non-Bobby Travelers from his generation, but each story happens before they know they’re Travelers, which is definitely the less interesting part of their stories in my mind. I’d love to see stories of how the different characters find out they’re Travelers, especially when the main books talk about things like Press taking Gunny on trips around the Territories, and the chance we’d get to see more of characters like Loor’s mom.

Instead we get Kasha playing sports, Gunny solving a mystery, and Vo Spader dealing with pirates. I feel like putting Kasha right up front was a bad decision, because Eelong is one of the more out there Territories for those who haven’t read the main series. It’s basically Planet of the Apes but with big cats, and as Kasha is a cat rather than a human, the experience can be disorienting. Plus, while I can figure out that Gars are humans from my previous exposure to the series, I have no idea if a new reader would get this. And there’s no real reason to be invested in whether Kasha’s sports team wins or not.

Gunny’s story doesn’t really feel right for him. In The Never War, he’s a bellhop captain in a fancy Manhattan hotel, but here he’s running around playing detective. The pacing generally felt off, and the mystery wasn’t particularly strong since things meandered around. Plus while Harlem is the stated location of much of the action, I never felt like I was reading about an authentic 1930s New York, but instead a vague and generic place that could be any city any time past 1900. I think Gunny’s story was in some ways the worst because Kasha’s at least was relatively shorter.

The Vo Spader story is definitely better than the other two. It definitely feels like it ties into his character in the main series well, emphasizing the same impulsiveness and anger that cause problems when fighting Saint Dane. I also liked that it adds some new details to Cloral, like the Aquaneer Academy and the idea that some ships have sails as a backup power system. On the other hand, the plot is rather cliche and predictable, and I found the lack of closure in regards to the raider attack annoying. So while this was more enjoyable, it didn’t elevate the book enough to make up for the other two lackluster stories.

I did enjoy the fact that Press makes some sort of appearance in each story, although I wish there had been more of him, because it would’ve been fun to see him from somebody’s perspective other than Bobby’s. And speaking of perspective, I’m disappointed that the stories were in third person, because I would have loved to see inside the heads of the other Travelers the way we see inside Bobby’s head in the main series.

Despite not really enjoying this book, I’m torn about whether to read the second and third. On the one hand, I feel like some of my general complaints are unlikely to be any different with the other six stories. On the other hand, the author of books two and three is different from this one (and neither are the guy who writes the main series, which could be part of the problem). Plus, I feel like since I’ve started this subseries, I may as well finish it, so that’s likely what I’ll end up doing in between books in the main series.

[Auryn Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know nothing about the series that these books are supposed to go with, and I'm not sure I will ever read them, but I will read these since I have them. The three stories in this one were neither super great or super bad. My favorite was the second one, and the third story got better as it went on, but the first story, in my opinion, was the worst. One thing that I liked about these books is that the main characters in each story developed over time. I did not like the worldbuilding though, especially in the third story, because it was difficult for me to figure out what was going on in that specific world (the other two were fine). I think that there were some things that were supposed to be references to the rest of the series, such as the continuous mentions of Press, but since I didn't read the main series, I wouldn't know what they all were.

[Alex]

The book has none of the charm of the original Pendragon books. I know that it is written by someone else other than D.J. MacHale but in my opinion that does not excuse the fact that this is suppose to be about the Travelers before the events of the Pendragon books. The characters are there but their personalities are lacking to the point where I was dragging my way through the book and I was not enjoying my experience.
I dont think I will be finishing this series or this book.

[Brad Brushman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a little background into 3 of the travelers that help Bobby in his quest to defeat Saint Dane! This book has Kasha, Gunny, and Spader. I enjoyed learning a little about their previous lives and what they were about. I liked all three of these characters very much, but Spader was my favorite!

[Amanda Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found I wasn't a fan of this book. The stories were not bad and there was a moral of the story in each one but 2 fantasy and a mystery just didn't go hand in hand.

They had a tieing feature, but, eh. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. I was also confused about the deaths, gambling, and other themes in what I deemed a 'kids' book

[Deanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only issue I have with the before the war books is how they have them set up, I wish they put them in order of the territories that bobby visited because I wanted to red them after meeting each character which cause me to have to jump between the 3 books. I just finished book 5 and am finally finishing one full of these books.

[Mackenzie Lusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't understand why people hate on the sub-series so much, heaven forbid the author enlightens up with the other Traveler's stories. I actually enjoyed it, but that's probably because I love Vo Spader.

Hobey Ho! Let's go!

[Jacqui · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's been a long time since I read the Pendragon books, but I remembered loving them and thought this would be fun. Nope. So boring. The first story was okay but after that everything just dragged on. Gunny's story was the worst of them all.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Do you read this before or after the actual Pendragon series?

[Amy Donkers · Rating 3 out of 5]

(reread in 2019)
I love the Pendragon series but this book didn't have as much of the same sharm as the main books. I feel the stories could of been better.

[Levi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. I had a hard time continuing reading it after the first section.

[kiara d-m · Rating 4 out of 5]

average rating: 3.7 stars

KASHA - 3 stars
GUNNY - 4 stars
SPADER - 4 stars

[Vinalita Padangpedia · Rating 5 out of 5]

hmm, i like this book

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE THESEEEEEE I CANT BELUEVE I READ A MURDER MYSTERY A ENEMIES TO FRIENDS AND ATHLETIC MOVIE ALL IN ONE

[Zachary Creasman · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories were pretty fun ways to learn more about the other Travelers and their adventures before Bobby Pendragon came around. I really enjoyed reading about Gunny solving a murder in 1930's New York. Spader's story was also interesting and you could see the beginnings of the cocky nature and anger that causes him problems as he joins Bobby in the battle against Saint Dane. I have to say Kasha's story was kind of boring and really didn't add anything to her character.

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25. Diving into my next complete fantasy series, I had very little prior knowledge of Pendragon—just a passing interest from high school (which was over twenty years ago). Now, having started with the prequel trilogy rather than the original ten-book arc, I find myself genuinely excited for what’s ahead.

Each of the three short stories does an excellent job of showcasing its main character, making it difficult to pick a favorite. When it comes to exploring character flaws, I found that Kasha and Spader’s stories handled this more effectively than Gunny’s, as their challenges directly forced them to confront their weaknesses. Gunny’s story, while still enjoyable with its murder mystery elements, felt more reactive and was somewhat bogged down by a large cast of characters to track.

Another edge that Kasha and Spader’s stories have over Gunny’s is their worldbuilding. Granted, Gunny’s tale is set in 1930s New York City, limiting the need for extensive world-building. Meanwhile, the worlds of Eelong and Coral are fresh, fascinating, and well-developed. Kasha’s story focuses more on Eelong’s societal structures, while Spader’s highlights Coral’s maritime culture. Both settings are richly detailed, striking the perfect balance between teaching the reader about the world while avoiding excessive exposition.

Overall, these three short stories held my attention with their solid characterization and intriguing worldbuilding. I hope this level of storytelling continues as the series progresses—especially once we begin following Bobby Pendragon himself. So far, so good. If you haven’t tried this series yet, this prequel trilogy seems like a great place to start.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is 1 of the 3 prequels to "The Merchant of Death" where you see a short adventure to each of the Travelers in their happy life before meeting Pendragon.The first one,Kasha,takes place on Eelong, the territory where klees rule, gars work and tangs lurk. It shows her harvesting crops, playing Wippen and her relationship with her father, Seegan. The next one is Gunny's story(the stories are not in chronological order with each other)which takes place on First earth and he has to solve a murder mystery where his friend is framed but innocent. The last one is of Vo Spader's life just after he graduated from the academy and his rivalry with Per Watsu, including a vessel hijack with raiders.

I picked up this book because it was a Pendragon book and since D.J.MacHale has done so well with adventures in Bobby's perspective, I was sure it would be as good.
I finished this book because it was really good how all of the Travelers had a different adventure and not all similar like some other authors do.
I would recommend this book to Thibishan because he really likes the books and would probably want to read more.

[King Haddock · Rating 2 out of 5]

The short stories about Kasha and Spader were enjoyable, if not spectacular. I did not care at all for Gunny's story, which seemed fake at most times - in dialogue, in events, and in other literary elements. The others were lacking in other areas, too, but at least they had some potential.

Kasha's story had some interesting ideas - her reconsiderations over the glars and her conscience against the sport - yet it seemed that she compromised in order to win the scenario, which disturbed me.

Spader's story had great potential. I always love to see inside the workings of youth preparing for some science fiction duty or career. This definitely had that. Literary elements were stronger, but it was weak at places: dawdling in a few areas, rushing through some of the action and best twists in plot.

I would not recommend these books for people who enjoy MacHale's books. While the prequel is not a BAD story, it certainly is not the same caliber as the Pendragon series itself.

[Sanika Bhargaw]

The first prequel to the Pendragon series follows Kasha from Eelong, Gunny from First Earth, and Spader from Cloral. Gunny's story generally ends at the point where he learns about his role as a Traveler.
Kasha learns the truth about gars while her father seems to go mad, giving up a chance for a seat on the Council. Gunny's friend gets arrested for a murder, but Gunny knows he is innocent. Will Gunny solve the murder in time to save his friend along with watching over a troublesome teenage boy? Spader works hard to complete his training as an aquaneer, but he is constantly shown up by another boy. When the two are the only survivors of a raider attack on their barge, will they work together to get themselves out safely?
Filled with exciting moments, this book is a must-read for fans of the Pendragon series. For newcomers, I suggest reading the Pendragon series first before reading these books so you have a general knowledge of the territories and Travelers, etc.

[Mike Aragona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strangely enough, the stories aren't as fascinating or fun to read "straight out" compared to the regular Pendragon series where the adventures are written in diary format. This series is to give us a bit more background on the characters introduced in the main series and shows us important events in the lives of some of the other travellers.[return][return]In book 1, we're taken through the lives of Kasha (playing Wippen and her relationship to her father), Gunny (learning to trust his instincts and helping his neighborhood), and Vo Spader (graduating the academy and his first posting). Out of the three, I would have to say that Gunny's story is the most exciting read, followed by Spader. I guess the fact that Gunny's the most sympathetic character helps :)[return][return]The characters are all true to how they are portrayed in the main series.

[Ian Goldberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very helpful. It was very cool and different because it was about humans and animals that talk and their story. It was the beginning of a series that I really like and it told me a lot about the series.
This book is about the Pendragon series before everything really happened. It explains all of the characters in the past and all of their backgrounds. It basically explains why they all are characters are in the books. It tells everyone's story and how they grew up.
I can connect this to the rest of the pendragon books. They have the same characters and the same plot. It answered all of the questions I had about the series and that is why I liked the book.

[Elizabeth Midgley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book one tells the stories of Kasha, Gunny and Spader before they were travelers. The book isn't written by DJ MacHale. On the front of the book, it says it was created by DJ MacHale; it is authored by someone else. It isn't quite the same as the other Pendragon books or as good (probably because Pendragon isn't in the book). I read the first story which was about Kasha. It turned me off the book and I didn't pick it up for a few weeks. I finally decided to finish it before it had to go back to the library and I actually enjoyed the last two stories, especially Spaders. The stories are about the travelers finding their inner strengths and overcomming some personal weaknesses.

[June Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit getting 'into' was difficult as I haven't read anything like this since my children were young - but I liked it - I enjoyed the action - and the end result of enemies learning how to appreciate each other - how they revealed what made them 'tick' and 'trigger' and how they were able to 'save' each other from total disaster . . . Is it a movie or series? I think kids and parents should read it together and if it is a film - watch it together . . .