The Fires of Atlantis is the fourth book in the Purge of Babylon series and it has finally struck…I’m kind of sick of reading these books. They aren’t even the kind of books I usually read which makes it even harder to stick with them. BUT, I’m going to soldier on because I can’t leave the series just yet, mostly because my mom told me to keep going. I’m an only child, I listen to my mom. I also talk to her at least once a day on the phone or in person, so it’s hard to avoid her recommendations, ha ha. In the last book, the most important people (in terms of survival skills) left the island and ended up getting separated. Then they send out the other most important person to attempt to do a little recon about where the others went. This to me is asinine, especially because Will and Danny are military trained. They left one kid “drown” because it was a matter of survival. So why now, is one person’s life so important that the entire groups’ safety is put in jeopardy? It doesn’t make any damn sense.
But I’m not in charge here so I’ll just do my best to recount what happens without completely spoiling the book, but to be honest, I don’t even know what’s a spoiler in these books anymore. Gaby has been held hostage since book three, with help she escapes right before Danny and Will show up to break her out of these ghoul devised internment camps. For the next 100 pages Will, Danny and Gaby are within blocks of each other, fighting for survival and attempting to reunite without knowing they’re in such close proximity of each other. This was TIRING. Everyone’s getting beat to a pulp, they barely survive and just about any time they meet someone new, that person ends up dying because… SKILLZ. Apparently only Will, Danny and Gabby have the necessary survival skills (even though all of the human survivors have been dealing with the same things for the same amount of time and have all remained alive–no matter, hang with either Will, Danny or Gaby and you’re gonna die!) to fight off the ghouls and keep themselves alive. This leads me to my next problem with this novel that had me not reading with as much fervor as I did with the previous three novels…how in the hell are Danny, Will and Gaby still alive?
Listen, I’m a teacher. I teach suspension of disbelief like it’s my job (because it IS my job)but I’m getting a little tired of being suspended here. The wire harness is beginning to chafe. Will and Danny get attacked by the “blue eyed ghouls” (basically the generals of the ghouls, since the rest work on a hive mentality). These special ghouls can dodge bullets, they can anticipate, learn from previous encounters, silver doesn’t affect them like the other ghouls, and they are ultra fast and strong. So why then, is it possible that Will and Danny are able to defeat a pair of them? Sheer luck. That luck continues on epic levels in several other major showdowns. I want Will, Danny and Gaby to live because they are the best characters in all of the books but that doesn’t mean that they should live. I guess this is how Walking Dead comic book people feel about Norman Reedus and the Walking Dead TV show fans. I don’t want to see them go, but is it fair for them to beat every odd, time and time again? No. You can’t fight the law of diminishing returns, not even if you’re my favorite character…sorry Will. And so, another book draws to a close and instead of excitement boiling over, I’m kind of resigned to the fact that I have at least two more books to read with ridiculously grandiose titles. Here’s hoping that things open fresh with the next one. Otherwise, I may pay someone to tell me what happens at the end of the series. I gave it 3 stars but it’s really more 2.5, but I hate being mean.
