The Endermen Invasion: An Unofficial Gamer’s Adventure, Book Three – Book Review
We’ve had the chance to follow the not-so-adventurous Steve twice in his escapades, which he often reluctantly found himself in. First his town was flooded with Zombies, and he had to undergo an arduous quest in order to find himself a diamond sword, which was capable of vanquishing all the undead foes roaming around his home. After that, a griefer destroyed Steve’s farm, and even the locals though it was all Steve’s doing and thus he had to prove himself innocent. Now, fast forwarding a bit further in time, it seems Steve’s luck has finally turned for the better, as he receives an invitation for a prestigious contest. Or will everything crumble beneath his feet once again?
Note: As our site is based in Belgium, we were given the Dutch version of the book. This means that the writing style might differ a tad at times from the original style. The book is also available in English and probably certain other languages as well.
Steve is still enjoying the serenity of his farmhouse, and the animals that swarm around his peaceful and good-looking home. Even though Steve is normally a bit of a loner, he is now surrounded by his treasure hunting friends, Max, Lucy and Henry, who he has grown very fond of. Not always with the necessary dose of bravery and willingness they have gone on adventures in order to vanquish many evil mobs and even catch a griefer red-handed. When all of a sudden he receives an invitation for a building contest on Mushroom Island, he is absolutely stoked and can’t wait to share the great news with his friends. The party mood gets a bit dampened when Kyra, his neighbor, who was also hoping she would be able to compete in the contest, comes knocking at his door, but sadly she never got a reply. Nonetheless, she quickly congratulated Steve, and when invited to tag along with the band of friends to come root for Steve, she immediately accepted) accepts.
When everyone is good to go, the map that would lead the party to the island suddenly disappears, and the party first suspects Kyra of foul play, but they soon know better than to judge their friend, who has already proved herself to be a great person in the past. When the map resurfaces, the party starts their journey, with enough excitement, be it from Steve’s adrenaline rush for being able to be one of the participants or the treasure that might come across their way during their long trip. When arriving at the island, Steve get’s acquinted with the other competitors, who seem friendly at first, but when a rather rude friend appears at the scene the mood gets dampened a bit again. Especially when a lot of monsters start popping up at the island, which is normally mob-free, everyone suspects someone is playing very dirty tricks. Of course, with the contest going on, investigating will prove to be rather difficult.
Like the previous albums, the story proves to be rather simplistic, making it very appealing to a younger crowd, who wish to learn more about the game or who want to experience an adventure that depicts itself in one of their favorite pastimes, namely Minecraft. The flow of this album is actually a lot more fun, as there was more attention directed to the overall buildup, rather than keeping things action packed from start to finish. Of course, this does not mean that this album does not have its dose of action, combat and mysteries to solve, on the contrary even. While an adult audience will be able to deduct what’s going on rather promptly, the overall detective work and problems at hand are a lot more interesting to think about and unravel as you progress through this not so thick album.
It seems that Winter Morgan is still inspired enough to keep this series going, and truth be told, we are finding this children-friendly series to be rather amusing as well. That being said, again a few inconsistencies pop up, concerning weapons and other events that are occurring, where things are getting switched around or simply change from one moment to another. That being said, they are only minor inconsistencies that have no impact on the story or the enjoyment factor of the book itself.
This issue is again 109 pages thick/thin, which means you’ll read through it in only about two hours, on an adult reading level. While this is still shorter than the first issue, things should not have been dragged out any further, as the story already presents more than enough information and the predicament Steve finds himself in is worked out perfectly.
Conclusion
The Endermen Invasion is a very fun read for young and old(er), especially those who like a fun, simplistic adventure story with a Minecraft setting. The story itself is once again about friendship, but also about honesty and looking forward to fun events, without having to only care about winning. If you haven’t had your daily fix of building blocks yet, this one might suit your fancy.
The Endermen Invasion: An Unofficial Gamer's Adventure, Book Three - Book Review,
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