The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma, by Trenton Lee Stewart

It is just a week for finishing up series, it seems. After the last installment of this one, I was a little hesitant to continue, but I needed something to listen to at work and this is what I had. So it goes.

Luckily, I liked this one a heck of a lot more... for the most part. My plot problems with Perilous Journey are gone, replaced by an actually fairly interesting plot wherein the kids and the Whisperer are being protected from the bad guy up until one of them manages to run off and Bad Guy breaks in and steals the Whisperer, and the other three kids are left to fix this situation. And, awesomely, the evil genius bad guy actually uses some of that genius to totally screw the kids over. Awesome.

Of course, that means fewer puzzles, because that's how this series goes, but that's okay. I can deal with that. What I couldn't deal with was the annoying psychic bits, and then how the book ended — with a very strange move from the evil genius that just completely jarred me and then a way-too-nicely resolved mystery and future. You know how I hate it when people are happy.

Soooooooooo all in all it was another decent entry in the series, and probably quite entertaining if you're closer to the intended age level.

Recommendation: Again, for puzzle-lovers, and for people who've read the other books and want to know what happens.

Rating: 7/10

The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, by Trenton Lee Stewart

Here's another series that I'm enjoying on audiobook... I listened to the first book about a month ago and have just now gotten to this first sequel. It's definitely great for work because the plot is quite simple so there's not too much stopping and going back any time my work area gets too loud or I have to go chat someone up.

The idea of this book is the same as its predecessor... children who are very smart and talented in different ways work together to solve seemingly insurmountable problems. But whereas in the first book this idea was set against a plot of trying to take down an evil genius from inside his base of operations, here the plot is a bit... weaker. The same evil genius is back, and he's kidnapped the titular Benedict, but for the most part his existence and actions are just there to give the story a time limit of sorts. The real plot follows a path of puzzles that Benedict had laid out for the children to follow for funsies, before he got all kidnapped and whatnot.

This plot is both better and worse than the one before it. Better, because I liked the puzzling parts and enjoyed having more of them to try to solve myself (where possible). Worse, because outside of the puzzles there is very little to this book. The characters do their thing, I guess, but it's not terribly interesting.

But! The puzzles are generally interesting, and some of the scenarios the characters find themselves in are in fact intriguing, and if you're listening to this book while doing something else you can skip all the boring parts. Sweet!

Recommendation: Good if you like puzzles!

Rating: 7/10

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

This is the kind of book that I would have read six times a week when I was younger. I have always been big into puzzles and riddles and whatnot, and the main character in this book (and series, apparently) has a keen eye for solving them, too. In fact, he's perhaps a little better at it than I am — or perhaps he's just a better guesser. Which is a good skill to have.

And especially in this story, as the main character, Reynie Muldoon, finds himself drafted into the titular society, whose aim is to bring together gifted and brave young souls to save the world. Silly world, always getting in trouble! This time, the world is facing some vague Emergency (isn't it always?) and the Mr. Benedict after whom the society is named has figured out that there are unsettling messages being transmitted into adult brains by children (because adults won't notice children talking to them, ha!). The exact point of the messages is unknown, but Benedict decides to send in his best and brightest on an undercover mission to the institute from which the messages are coming.

It's pretty exciting, is what I'm saying. Lots of danger and intrigue and lateral thinking. Reynie is the puzzle-solver of the group, while a kid called Sticky (because facts stick to him) has practically an eidetic memory, the Great Kate Weather Machine is a brute force to be reckoned with, and Constance Contraire is just stubborn, which isn't quite as useful.

At first, I wasn't quite getting into the story because it's all rather fantastic — I expected any minute to find out that everything was just some giant ploy to gain something or other. But no, this is a children's book and therefore quite attached to its ridiculousness. So just go with it. Once I did, I found myself enjoying it a heck of a lot more, because even the predictable bits of the story are infused with a self-aware humor that cuts a lot of the annoyance I had with The Sea of Trolls.

I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series, and then the one after that.

Recommendation: For kid geniuses, wannabe kid geniuses, and kid geniuses at heart.

Rating: 9/10
(A to Z Challenge)