Book of the week: Gregor the Overlander

I can't even count the number of people who have raved about Suzanne Collins' Gregor the Overlander.  If you read my blog, you know that sci-fi isn't my favorite genre.  But I am making an effort to read more books that are out of my comfort zone, so I checked it out of the local library.  It sat on my bedside table for a while, perpetually at the bottom of the stack.  I finally decided to give it a try when a friend compared it to Alice in Wonderland, which was my favorite book from childhood.

Gregor did remind me of Alice; Gregor literally falls into another world while doing laundry in his apartment building.  It also reminded me of other books; the creatures in the underworld sound like Yoda when they talk, large flying bats reminded me of Kenneth Oppel's Silverwing/Sunwing books, and the underground cave world reminded me of Rebecca Stead's First Light.  So I can't say that this is the most original book on the shelves, but I suppose that most authors borrow from other books.  In my opinion, it was just another adventure novel with a sci-fi setting.  Did I find it to be as remarkable as everyone said?  No.  Was it groundbreaking?  No.  Am I going to read the  next books in the series?  That is a great big no.  But at least now I know what all the fuss is about! And when all of the Gregor-lovers ask me if I have read it yes, at least I can say yes.