Against my better judgement, I stayed up last night to finish the book. I knew I had to facilitate a group today... but here I am, I survived. All is well.
Subtlety is not Matthew Reilly's middle name. If you like The Avengers movie (and not just for the parade of mancandy, ladies), specifically the simple and effective story line, the pace, the good vs evil stuff, and the goofy foreshadowing, then you're going to like The Tournament. I loved it.
The only thing that raises an eyebrow for me is the punishment of sexual promiscuity in this book. Matthew justifies it by linking it with the development of QE1 in the book, but his approach to the subject, given that it's the first book of his that I've read that goes anywhere near sexuality, is bordering on preachy. I'm also not overly fond of the 'hero saves the day/girl' moments. I would have hoped that when he chose to tackle this sort of POV, there would be more girl relevant stuff in there (ie. I've been told that John Marsden occupies the mind of a teenage girl scarily well). For those that follow Matthew Reilly's work, you'll know what I mean when I say that this book desperately needed a 'Mother'.
I can not stress enough that if a young mind were to read this, it would melt or explode. Definitely not for anyone under, say, 15 years old. Actually... see, I don't know about that. Some of the themes are explicit and gross, but it's written in a way that I think young people can access. I remember my Grade 8 teacher picking out a monologue for me about a pedophile who was trying to rationalize his actions. So... I suppose if a young mind were to be exposed to content that it will inevitably be exposed to anyway, I would say that The Tournament is a good way to do it.
Overall? I'ma give it 8/10.
Thank you Matthew Reilly for another great book.
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