In THE RISE OF THE BLACK WOLF Max and his fellow Grey Griffins, Ernie, Harley, and Natalia, set off on another extraordinary adventure - traveling to Scotland to visit Max's dad for the winter holidays. It doesn't take long before strange things start to happen to the four kids while they explore Mr. Sumner's ancient castle. Once again, the Grey Griffins must do battle with the forces of evil - Fireball Pixes, Werewolves, and Morgan the Black Witch. But when Max's dad disappears, it's up to the Grey Griffins to rescue him, with the help of Knights of Templar!
Born in the wrong place, and unquestionably the wrong time, Derek Benz spent most of his early years trying to figure out where he was and why he was different than everyone else. By the age of five, he had stumbled upon the answer: the rest of humanity was really nothing more than an elaborate hoax of cleverly disguised robots, and he was the only real human among them. Having overcome that mystery, he set out with other young members of the Grey Griffins (a super-secret club) to protect the world from darkness and bring about a better world through friendship, wit, and superbly-made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
He's climbed volcanoes in the Ring of Fire, fished for sharks in the North Atlantic, scandalized the Cathedral of Barcelona, been mauled by an angry kitten off the coast of Turkey, narrowly avoided being blown up outside Belfast, learned the meaning of defenestration in France, and even jumped off a few cliffs in Greece. His interests spanned a wide spectrum: archaeology, linguistics, mythology, cosmology, conspiracy theory, religion and a host of others. At the same time, he managed to catapult himself to the top of his game in a Fortune 100 company doing what some idly speculated to be nothing less than international computer espionage.
But there was always the desire to change the world around him. And since the age of fifteen, he had become obsessed with writing as a means to this end. Year after year, he labored to prefect his craft, until he felt the time was right. In 2000, he teamed up with J.S. Lewis and with an eye to the stars, they launched The Revenge of the Shadow King.
Benz met and married his lovely wife and son in sunny Arizona, where they enjoy researching ancient civilizations and studying theology.
This is the second of a fantasy-adventure trilogy that I found on the shop-soiled table at my neighbourhood bookstore and picked up after reading the blurb. The setting in a Scottish Castle was what drew me. The series features four American eleven-year-olds, Max Sumner and pals Natalia Romonov, Ernie Tweenie, and Harvey Eisenstein from Avalon Minnesota, the four together forming the “Grey Griffins” who have previously been involved in an adventure in which one of their schoolmates turned into a monster (with scales and horns). Max is the custodian of the magical Codex which helps him battle monsters and evil faeries from the realm of Oberon and aiding Morgan La Fay, who is trying to gain power over the world. In this instalment, the children are invited by Max’s father Lord Sumner to spend Christmas at Sumner Castle but even before they’ve got there, they’re attacked by Kobolds (a type of goblin but viler). At the Castle they are pulled into further adventure with a prophecy surrounding Max and Morgan and her hench-people attempting to get their hands on the powerful Spear of Ragnarok. Battling monsters and travelling through magical portals, even meeting Vlad Dracul, our young adventurers must face all forms of danger in fighting Morgan and rescuing Max’s father who gets kidnapped along the way.
It took me a while to get into this book as the first part dwells a bit on their previous adventure without telling one enough to see how the present one connects but once the children get to Scotland, it got a little more interesting for me. Perhaps if I’d read book 1 first, it would have made more sense, but still throughout one isn’t really clear as to what adventures befell the children before this, even the prophecy aspect being brought up only somewhere down the line. It wasn’t even clear whether it was mentioned in book 1 because Max himself seems not to have heard of it. The adventure itself was interesting enough, the authors combining Arthurian legends and those of the Knights Templar and adding in a good dose of fairy folk and magic. Again there were some elements which felt very Harry Potterish. The book was quite readable but I never felt like I was “into” the story – instead that I hadn’t really “got” all of it. The characters were likeable but some things about each of them annoyed me a bit as well. So just an ok read for me.
this book was really good I like how it started off when max and his friends were going on a vacation but the unexpected happened when they were there. I just really enjoyed this book hope to read the third book and maybe go on with the whole series and read more of max.
THIS BOOK IS AWESOME. IF YOU LIKE FANTASY, YOU GOT TO READ IT! Only thing I thought bad was it was shorter than the first one... But anyway, the book actually had a lot of happy moments for the main characters, some sad moments, few questions resolved, and a lot of new questions storm in the readers' heads, which makes the reader really want to read the next book. I felt really bad for a lot of the characters, like Vlad, Ernie, Max, and a lot of other people. I have so much questions to ask about what's going to happen next. I felt that Ernie didn't take too much part in the 1st book, but now he's even more involved, which I really like. The powers that were unleashed from Max was so extraordinary, and it kept blown in my head.
Max and the gangs 2nd adventure trying to stop the evil Black Wolf they start by burning down max's dads castle with them in they encounter many new creatures and with sprig constantly annoying Max nothing can get done!
I loved this book it was a great follow-up to the series.
This would be good for people who have read the rest of the series.
This is the second in the Grey Griffins Series by Derek Benz and J.S. Lewis. In this installment, Max Sumner and his friends the Grey Griffins--Ernie, Harley and Natalia--are invited to spend their Christmas break at Max's billionaire father's Scottish fortress. What starts out as an idyllic respite quickly devolves into chaos when Max's father is kidnapped by the dark forces of the Griffins' old Nemisis, the Black Witch. The only way to save him is to find the sundered shards of the powerful Spear of Ragnarok and to reforge them magically and the only person who has the power to do so according to a mysterious prophecy is Max. The problem is that once reforged the spear has the potential to bring about the end of the world as we know it. Will Max and the Grey Griffins risk literally everything to try to save Max's dad?
So far I have found this series interesting enough to keep reading, but I have also been somewhat put off by bothersome inconsistencies regarding established mythologies, the annoying behavior of some of the characters and the over-predictability of some of the outcomes. We will see how things go in the next installment.
This book was a rollercoaster of action and twists (as an adult some were pretty obvious). Ernie is my favorite character and the relationships between the main characters has not changed like they do in a lot of kids book series. This is a tight group of friends with distinct individualism that thrive together. The magical part of the story doesn't overshadow the normality of the characters. Well written and I can't wait to read the next one.
As our journey continued with the Grey Griffins I am still wanting more. If you haven’t started this series it is a must. I am so thankful I have found these books in goodwill. It has become one of my favorites. If you like fantasy novels with constant twists this is a must read for you.
Travel, adventure, magic and mayhem! The adventure continues in book 2 of the Grey Griffins series. This was a decent middle-grade novel that keeps you guessing till the end. I enjoyed this one!
When I read the first Grey Griffins book, The Revenge of the Shadow King, I found it very fun but had mixed feelings about its quality as an actual book. There were many random action events that seemed to come out of nowhere, and many plot elements I felt went underused. On the positive side, I really liked the character interactions and some of the characterizations - at least for Max and Natalia, as Ernie and Harley were underdeveloped.
The sequel deals with all of those complaints, while keeping the strengths from the first book. Right in the first chapter, we learn some of Ernie and Harley's background, and the two are further developed throughout the book, particularly Ernie, who plays some surprisingly important roles.
The action picks up very quickly. I won't spoil what happens, but I will say that this time, there's far fewer random elements and much more things that connect together, with a more cohesive overall plot, and many surprises. I was genuinely surprised and impressed.
Natalia retains her inquisitive demeanor and love of snooping. Max is, like before, more interested in being with friends and family than he is with his family's massive wealth. His personal problems are explored in greater detail than anyone else's backstory, as he is the primary main character after all.
The story does follow roughly the same formula as the previous. The four friends go on adventures, get rescued by adults, have some backstory dumped on them (there's one entire chapter that's mostly dialog and backstory, with no action), and the final adventure involves the kids going at it alone. Only this time, the formula has been tweaked to near perfection. There's more logical reasons for why these things happen, and it just feels more designed and well thought out.
If this is a sign of things to come, this series could well pick up. The series' trademarks - lots of friendly banter between the kids, plot dumping in the form of dialog from adult mentors, and lots of close calls - will probably remain consistent throughout. But as long as these trademarks and handled with care so that they form a well flowing narrative rather than a mixed bag, the result will be a lot of fun.
The second in the fantastical world of the GREY GRIFFINS. Max, Harley, Natalia, and Ernie, recovering from their adventures in the first book of this series, THE REVENGE OF THE SHADOW KING, are invited to visit Max's father for Christmas in his wonderful castles in the Scottish Highlands. Little do they realize that nothing is as it seems.
Drawn further into the world of the Templars, fairies, and creatures dark and light, the four friends must overcome the ever increasing dangers that they have been facing and now are menaced by the Black Wolf Society whose mission, it seems, is to recover the Spear of Ragnarok which will be used to destroy the tree of worlds and bring humanity to an end. To these ends, they have taken Max's father captive and threaten his life if the tweens refuse to help them in their mission.
Max makes it his sole purpose to save his father and goes in search of the Spear.
What follows is both exciting and terrifying and will keep the reader fascinated and enthralled for hours as they lose themselves in the worlds of the fantastical.
The Rise of the Black Wolf Derek Benz After banishing the Shadow King, the Grey Griffins relax a little as their life begins to return to normal. As the holidays draw near, Max as well as the rest of the Grey Griffins are invited to spend the holidays with Max's father in Scotland. But throughout their stay terrible things begin to happen once again and Max's father gets taken. After the Grey Griffins fight for their lives to gain all pieces of the spear of Ragnarok, they learn the terrible truth about Max's father. One theme from this book is that teamwork is key. While the Grey Griffins are solving the puzzles for the spear of Ragnarok, there is a point where one of the members named Ernie, becomes very terrified and doesn't want to continue because he is afraid he will mess something up. But his friends quickly change his mind after saying "We need you Ernie! We wouldn't have gotten this far without you and the Grey Griffins must stick together." Another theme is to not judge someone before getting to know them. The Grey Griffins journey eventually carries them to the graveyard containing Dracula and right away the Griffins are terrified. But later as the dangerous Black Wolves draw near, Dracula says "you must go through the portal. I will stay and hold them off. You must fulfill the prophecy." which illustrates the Grey Griffins may have been too quick to judge. The population I think who would enjoy reading this book would be anyone who loves adventure, suspense, and fantasy. The reason I believe this is because in a way this book is like The Hunger Games and I know people love those books. It is filled with twists and surprises and will make you want to read more.
This book is an okay book for anyone who has read the first book. This book kind of made mad. I liked the first book. This one kind of died down in my opinion. That is why I have decided to not read the last one. The first forty pages were pretty boring and didn't have much "pizaz". This book was about Max and his friends going to Scotland to visit Max's dad who in which he has not seen in around nine years. Max has another foe to take care of, the black wolf. On Max's quest he meets new friends. Some questions I still have is; What will happen in the next book? What will Max have to face? A tantalizing tidbit was; The fireball pixie had a short temper. Her bursts of flames were intimidating. When we saw the wolves being attacked by the little creature, it surprised us. The pixie seemed to have it all under control. This book didn't have as many suspenseful moments as the last one. Maybe someday I'll read the other books. Just saying that you shouldn't be surprised if I don't. Some people wouldn't agree with me and that's fine, but I'm not changing my mind. If you are going to read this book, make sure to read "The Revenge of the Shadow King first."
I've read my share of children's books and I try to keep that in mind while reading, but this was just so horrible.This book was probably the worst experience I've had in a while.
First of all, Vlad the Impaler was NOT a nice guy. Impaler isn't just a casual title. And yet he's portrayed as "a little rough around the edges". Yeah, ok.
It bothers me how dumb all of the characters are. Logan is supposed to be a bodyguard and yet he constantly endangers them and lets them sneak around and get into trouble. And if Morgan was working with them the whole time, why would she attack their plane?
Also, Max's mom needs some meds. And where is she for the rest of the book? Her son is in a whole other country for Christmas and she doesn't call once? No, that totally makes sense.
Minor annoyances: I'm tired of hearing how rich Max's dad is. I want to rip Natalia's stupid handy dandy notebook to shreds. And PLEASE. People don't need to be so dang vague all of the time... If these people are supposed to be working with these kids, why don't they just explain things to them? You'd think they'd try this considering their age. I just really hated this book.
This story takes place in a town in Minnesota called Avalon. There is a group of kids that call themselves the Grey Griffins. The leader of the Grey Griffins is Max. Max’s parents are billionaires. One of Max’s ancestors is King Arthur. Max now protects a magical book. Max’s dad invites him to Scotland where he lives. Will Max say yes our will he say no? If Max goes has something changed? Will Max get blindsided by his own father? This book is a sequel to The Revenge of the Shadow King. Which is written by Derek Benz. This quote will tell you if want this book or not. Those kind of houses were known to have their own particular sounds, but they didn’t but they didn't compare with the mysterious noises produced by a place like Castle Sumner that was well over five hundred years old. This quote can be found on page #165. I would recommend this book to a 6th-7th grader. This book is a fascinating fantasy book with some action and mystery. I like personally like this book and I have yet to read the trilogy. I think you will like this book and read it yourself.
This book is the second of the Grey Griffins series, I would have written a review of the first book but I kinda forgot most of the stuff that happened, but in this one I kinda remember most of the things. One thing that I remember when I first read this book was that it was actually good and was able to catch my attention. Well, I'm not much of a reader so if a book is able to catch my attention then it must be good. I even reread this book a bit to remind myself about the story line and the book itself. I remembered how I first got into this book. This book was filled with adventure, mystery and excitement. Through every page, I just got even more sucked in. Another thing I remember, was that this book was kinda better than the first one. I gotta admit though, this one was kind of almost exactly the same as the first one, not really much have changed besides the story line. But why would you want to change something that is already good, I guess... So if you are into these type of books that are adventurous and mysterious, then this is the book for you.
In the story The Rise Of The Black Wolf a group of kids go on an amazing adventure, and end up facing Fireball Fairies, Wolves, and an Evil Witch. The authors of The Rise of The Black Wolf tell about great adventures and challenges as well as relating their story to how to react in real life situations. One of the weaknesses I noticed about the book is that it's text is a little to easy, it doesn't use many descriptive words/ it doesn't use the text in any challenging ways.For example where you think they are going to use a certain word that would make you even more interested they use a less descriptive word than expected. This book is part of a series, although I have not read them. I would recommend the book series for mostly younger readers, although I for one find that the book is kind of cool because I love fiction. I think that overall this book is amazing, and I think that anyone who likes fiction will enjoy The Rise of The Black Wolf.
I don't know if I liked it more or less than the first book. I liked that this second installment took its time to get started since the first book just jumped right in without any explanation of what was happening, but dear god, the characters. If you took out all the stupid things that Ernie says in this book I bet it would be fifty pages shorter. And Natalia I've got news for you, you ain't Hermione Granger. But characters aside, I thought it was entertaining but you have to try not to think too hard about the plot because it starts to not make sense at all (*cough cough* the thing with Ray).
This book is amazing, i could actually imagine the settings. It's about a a boy named Max Sumner that has the power over this mystical book called the Codex Spiritus. When he and his friends Natalia, Harley and Ernie are invited to Lord Sumner's castle in Scotland, they expected a vacation; they were wrong. Things get a little crazy when Max's father goes missing, and they see more magical creatures; each one deadlier than the last. Will they Grey Griffins be able to save Max's Father from death, and keep the doomsday device, the Spear of Ragnarok from falling into the hands of Morgan La Fey? Read the book now!!!!;)
The sequel to Derek Benz's 'The Revenge of the Shadow King', this book offers pretty much the same things as his previous work: simple writing style, cliché plot line and characters, and an overall predictability. It is, nonetheless, not without its entertainment value; I found myself blazing through it in one lazy class period of Pre Calculus totally immersed (this phenomenon is, admittedly, most likely attributed to the rather dull atmosphere around me at the time). I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who has to find time to read; if one has plenty of spare time then I would say otherwise.