Bionicle: Mask of Light

Bionicle Chronicles #5

by Catherine Hapka

Six heroes. One Destiny.
Live the legend with a new line of books based on BIONICLE, the first-ever, best-selling LEGO action figure.


Six heroes have come to the island of Mata Nui, to rescue the land from its evil overlord, Makuta. They have protected the islanders from the vicious fighters unleashed by Makuta to destroy Mata Nui. But the mighty heroes have been unable to defeat Makuta -- and their greatest challenge is yet to come.

Now the fate of the island lies in the hands of an irresponsible young villager. Will he accept his destiny, or will the island of Mata Nui lie in darkness forever? The BIONICLE saga comes to a dramatic climax in this novelization of the Miramax video, MASK OF LIGHT.

Genres: Fantasy, Childrens, Science Fiction, Adventure

96 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 2003

About the author

Catherine (Cathy) Hapka has written more than one hundred books for children and adults, as a ghostwriter for series as well as original titles, including the Romantic Comedies Something Borrowed, The Twelve Date of Christmas, and Love on Cue. She lives in Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Adelaide Metzger · Rating 5 out of 5]

BEST ONE OUT OF ALL THE CHRONICLES! Ah yeah! WAY better than the movie. Yes, it is basically a novellazation of the 2003 film, but the movie took out 2 chapters and a couple of scenes that were kind of important to the story. I clung to this one so tight I memorized it, and then my brain forgot about it after...five years. But I re-read the series from time to time and this is still my favorite out of the chronicles.
In this book, you follow the journey of a Matoran by the name of Takua and his best friend the slightly familiar Jaller who appeared earlier in the chronicles if not for but a moment. We get to know these characters better as the plot circles around mostly them, but the Toa and other familiar characters are effected by the new darkness that rises as well. The Toa face their greatest threat yet, but it is not for them to defeat. You'll see what I mean if you haven't seen the movie already, (Scott Mcneil is AMAZING as Toa Tahu by the way).

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid novelization. I was too harsh in my previous assessment since I rated it back when it had been some time since my last reading and all I remembered was that it excluded some one-liners from the movie. However it does do a good job of giving the main characters an inner dialogue to explain their actions on screen. This is also Hapka’s best Bionicle book, methinks, and is a solid farewell to her work on the series as Greg takes full-time writing duties after this.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the most narrative driven of the stories and was a nice succint novelization of the movie. I wasn't a big fan of the animation and voice overs of the film so being able to just imagine it all how I want was nice. I didn't like the ending, I thought it was weird, unclear and not nearly as cool as it could have been.

A nice end to the chronicles series.

[Sully Leier · Rating 2 out of 5]

just watch the movie this is a beat-for-beat novellization of it. Also, the first time Makuta physically appears he decides to play a game of sci-fi lacrosse for the fate of the island? I know its for "Takua's character arc" or whatever but its just kinda silly.

[Aydan Carman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and see if it does anything new or different from the movie it is based on, but it does little to nothing. It's almost exactly like the movie. I read this book and watched the movie back to back and I noticed some slight changes in dialogue and you only get to understand what certain characters were thinking during scenes, which is kind of interesting, but that's about it.

I haven't read many movie novelizations, but I'm sure that they try to tackle an idea or concept that was talked briefly about and try to build more upon it or even add something new that fits with everything going on.

Honestly, I felt like I was reading the script for the movie. You're better off watching the movie, which also isn't the greatest, but you're not missing out on anything if you want to read this.

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Bionicle tale that introduces the most interesting and formidable of the Toa. It’s basically just a novelization of the movie, of course, but it does a fine job fleshing out Takanuva and his struggles, even if the end battle with Makuta is a bit anticlimactic.

[Guinee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the movie, although a few scenes are missing or written a little bit different. I must say, the ending is more explained in the book as in the movie they just jump to the scene, reveal it and it seems the next book/movie will be in the future. Not at all.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite series in elementary school

[Ronan · Rating 1 out of 5]

First chapter book I ever read!