Product Description

David's life was pretty normal. School. Friends. Girlfriend. Actually, Senna was probably the oddest aspect of his life. She was beautiful. Smart. But there was something very different about her. Something strange. And on the day it began, everything happened so quickly. One moment, Senna was with him. The next, she was swallowed up by the earth. Her screams echoing from far, far away. David couldn't just let her go. Neither could the others. His friends - and hers. So, they followed. And found themselves in a world they never could have imagined. Now they have to find Senna and get home without losing their lives. Or their minds. Or both...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74026 in Books
• Published on: 1999-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
With a seemingly boundless capacity for imagination and humor, the author of the Animorphs series takes older readers on a journey to a bizarre world, where elements of the past coexist with the fantastical, in this first volume of the Everworld series. After his mysterious girlfriend, Senna, is dragged underwater by a gigantic wolflike creature that rises from a lake, David and three other high school students are swept into the peculiar and frightening universe of Everworld. Applegate conjures a thrilling land inhabited by trolls, a gigantic snake "the size of a derailed Amtrak," evil winged creatures called Hetwan, unicorns and a colony of crude Vikings. Taken as prisoners to the court of Loki, the Norse god of destruction, the quartet again encounters the supernatural wolfAbut it seems that Senna has disappeared. When they fall asleep and find themselves back in the "real world," the four realize that Everworld is a parallel universe, and they are existing simultaneously in both places. As the book closes, narrator David and his friends have joined the ranks of the Vikings in battle against the army of the Aztec god Huitzilopoctli. Loki's treacherous castle is as gruesome as Huitzilopoctli's island is dazzling. With her blend of accessible story and mythological cast of characters, Applegate is sure to attract a host of new fans. Due out the same month is the series' second installment, Land of Loss (-87751-8). Ages 12-up. (July)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Much more than a kid's book!
I got this book for Christmas about 5 years ago, and at the time I didn't really even plan to read it. It didn't seem interesting to me, and I was starting to grow out of all these kiddie books. But, a while back, I was looking for something to do, so I just decided what the heck, I'll give it a try. As soon as I got started, I could not put it down. I read the whole thing within 2 days.

This is a great story. It's full of depth and meaning, and the imagery is just amazing. You'll really feel like you're in this book as you read it. The story is of 3 high school kids, who are taken to this parallel world. One of the kids, David, is trying to find his girlfriend, Senna, who was also taken to this other world. As they search, they encounter a wide variety of beings, such as giant animals, Norse gods, vikings, even Aztecs. This world seems to be a refuge for past civilations that have all but vanished from modern society. Stranger yet, the kids seem to be living two lives. They are in this other world, but every time they fall asleep, they cross back over into the real world. It's like they're in both places at once.

The interesting thing about this is the effect that it has on David, the main character. The story is told from his perspective, and as he lives this double life, he begins to realize that life in the "real world" is rather pointless by comparison. These people in this other world are fighting in wars, working hard to survive, and meanwhile we are going about boring, mundane lives with no real point. David slowly realizes that this other life in this other world is where he wants to be. Here, he's a warrior going into battle. Back home, he's just a punk kid who goes to high school and works at a coffee shop. The experience changes him, and we see that through his eyes.

Perhaps I've said too much, but this is a really great book. I think high school kids are the target audience, but I think anyone could enjoy this. The book has an exerpt of the second part in the series, and I noticed that the perspective has changed to one of the other characters. I was puzzled at first, but I'm guessing that in each book, the story is told from different perspectives to show the effect these experiences have on each character. It may complicate things a bit, but that's a pretty cool idea.

All in all, I really enjoyed this, and I'd really like to check out the rest of the series. This isn't up there with the likes of Tolkien and Arthur C. Clarke, but it makes for a quick and engaging read.

Awesome
This book had me hooked from the start. I was first drawn to the series because I'm into horror,fantasy, and mythology, and the series is an interesting combination of all three. You have 5 totally different people and how each one feels and reacts to a life less ordinary. I highly recommend the series to anyone.

EverWorld Review
I just finished reading Search for Senna and I had to come comment. Originally, I only bought it because I'd heard some people talking about it and figured I ought to at least know what they were discussing. I started flipping through the first couple of pages and found myself completely hooked. The book has just the right blend of scifi and reality that made me read it in a day. Each of the characters was well described, but Senna was the most interesting. She's mysterious, intelligent, and beautiful. David is captivated with her, but will she be his doom or his salvation, as the new kid in town and the new kid in Viking civilization? Many people have voiced concerns over the cursing in the books. Basically, there are two ways to curse: you can curse just to say the word or you can curse to provide emphasis. K.A. Applegate's characters aren't cursing just because they enjoy, or she enjoys, saying the words. In fact, I only remember one curse word in the first book, and only that because the scene was so powerful and memorable that I can quote the entire page. The only downfall to this book is that I now have to go get the rest of them :-)