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Leo Rising
Reviewed by Tim McCree
September 2007
BOOK: Leo Rising
AUTHOR:
Paul Ruditis
NOTE: This review may contain plot spoilers.
For some time now, there has been an
online campaign to get a Charmed Sons spin-off going. This
spin-off would feature the adventures of Wyatt and Chris Halliwell (played by Wes Ramsey and Drew Fuller), the sons
of Piper and Leo. While it remains a question as to whether
that spin-off will ever materialize, fans can get a glimpse
of what it might be like, thanks to this excellent book.
As the story opens, we find that Leo is
having a hard time adjusting to being an ordinary human
(this story is set after his fall from grace in Season
Seven). He feels useless and in the way. When Demons
attack, Piper is forever sending him on errands, or
banishing him to Magic School. Leo loves his family, and
wants to help out. The trouble is that now he really
doesn't know how to.
When the Charmed
Ones vanish, kidnapped by Demons, Leo at first doesn't know
what to do. He tries to call for the Elders, but they
ignore him (my opinion of the Elders, already very low, went
even further down after this). Since it is a magical
matter, Daryl really can't do anything. Finally, Leo does
come up with an idea, he summons his grown sons, Wyatt and
Chris, back from the future, hoping they can help him track
down the missing Piper, Phoebe, and Paige.
As for the three
girls, they have been kidnapped by a Demon scientist named
Dr. Gnivik (and no, the G is not silent). Gnivik plans to
experiment on the Charmed Ones, and hopes to create a
vaccine that would permanently strip the Charmed Ones of
their powers. This, of course, would leave them defenseless
and wide open to Demon attacks.
With time running
out, Leo, Wyatt, and Chris begin their plans to rescue their
family. Can the guys succeed, before Gnivik completes his
sinister plan?
In my honest
opinion, this is one of the best books to come along in the
Charmed series. The Charmed sons are very well written, and
I could hear Wes Ramsey (Wyatt) and Drew Fuller (Chris)
saying the lines. Also, Leo himself is more or less the
star of this book. He has been somewhat overlooked in the
most recent books, but this one makes up for it. It clearly
shows that Leo is more than capable of carrying a story.
If you like continuity in Charmed, and
I do, then this book is a must have. It actually mentions when
it is set by referring to the last time grown up Wyatt visited.
This places this story between that episode (Imaginary Fiends)
and the start of the final battle with the Demon, Zankou (Death
Becomes Them and Something Wicca This Way Goes).
Speaking of Zankou, he himself appears in
this story. He doesn't have a big part, but I did enjoy seeing
him. He really was a great Demon, one of the best villains on
Charmed in ages, and I was glad to see this story utilizing him.
There is another
character in this story, a young witch from Magic School named
Nisha Maksoud. She helps Leo out before he calls his sons back
from the future, and she has some good scenes throughout the
book. I really enjoyed this character, and wouldn't mind seeing
her again. The name the author gave her made me smile, because
I knew a girl named Nisha in high school (if you're reading this
review, then hello Nisha).
Some other points:
-this books is peppered
with references to events that have not yet occurred to the
Halliwell sisters. Of course, Wyatt and Chris can't say too
much, but they do sneak them in every now and again. For
example, when the guys first appear in the present, Wyatt
states: "We can't leave Mel..." Chris cuts him off at that
point. This is no doubt a reference to Melinda, Wyatt and
Chris's little sister, that was glimpsed at the end of the final
episode of the show.
-Daryl Morris has some
good scenes in this book. Like Leo, he has been greatly
neglected as of late, and it was nice to see him get some good
parts again.
-this book also
addresses something that bothered me late in Season Seven. How
did the human Leo (as well as Piper and Phoebe) get to and from
Magic School when Paige wasn't there to orb them. This book
explains that the Charmed Ones installed a magic portal
somewhere on the second floor of the Manor, that let Leo get to
Magic School (which would be very handy, considering he was
running it at that point).
-Gnivik is a strange
Demon. In many ways, he seems more like one of the villains
from the old Batman show of the 1960's, rather than a Charmed
villain. His lair is full of security cameras and laboratories,
rather unusual for a Demon.
-there is a blooper, no
doubt made when the book was published. Pages 130, 131, and 132
are out of sequence! To make sense of them, read 131 after 129,
then read 130, and finally, read 132. Hopefully, this will be
corrected in future printings of the book. However, it
shouldn't take much away from enjoying the story. It didn't for
me.
Summing up, this book
was a wonderful read. I think Charmed fans will greatly enjoy
it. I give it a 10/10.
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