"The pleasant paths have crumbled. Lyrian must be purchased with sacrifice. [sic] Your hope is red, like the blood of heroes, black as the bowels of the earth, and white, like a flash of orantium."

“The truth can be devastating...We use lies to take the edge off life. We dream of a better tomorrow. We hide from our regrets and inadequacies. We try to exaggerate the good and downplay the bad. We even mange to hide from the inescapable reality that sooner or later we and everyone we love is going to die.
When a decision really matters, Rachel, we have to ignore our comforting illusions. We must set aside our wishes and give heed to reality. Nobody can accept the truth while hiding from it. When a decision matters, we have to stare at the truth unflinchingly. Only then can we find peace in our choices."

Honestly? I would give almost anything for this series to be as popular as Harry Potter, or even any of Brandon Mull's other series. So few people have read Beyonders, but this book is the epitome of a perfect high-fantasy series. Beyonders is one of those series, like Eragon and Lord of the Rings, where when you read it you can tell that the author spent upwards of ten years working on it; developing the world, characters, and plot.

One great and unique thing about the characters in Beyonders is that a lot of the good guys are hardcore Slytherin. Lyrian is a world full of harsh, scared people who have learned that it's every man for himself. The characters are ambitious, determined, and will never stop fighting. One of my favorite characters, Ferrin, has a fantastic character arc from anti-villain to anti-hero. In fact, the entire cast is full of anti-heroes with their own agendas and their own loyalties and, hey, they might not like each other but they're allies.

Chasing the Prophecy has one of those plots where there's only forty pages left in the book and everything is going wrong and you don't think that it will be able to all resolve itself. It has a bittersweet ending and a bittersweet epilogue, which makes the series that much more satisfying. If you think this will be one of those lower YA series where everything ends up sunshine and rainbows, and all of your favorite characters will survive, you will be very, very disappointed. However, the amount of death never once seems callous and overdone. Each death happens for a reason and it's just cold hard reality that not everyone makes it to the end.

Not only does this series have awesome characters and a to-die-for (pun unintended) plot, but the battle scenes are just spectacular. There's piracy, smuggling, manhunts, battles where the good guys are outnumbered 50:1, clever strategy, and one of the most realistic depictions of magic I've ever read. I don't really like video games, but I would pay 50 dollars to purchase a Beyonders game in a heartbeat. One thing Brandon Mull is excellent at is his action sequences, and these books do not disappoint in that aspect. Nothing is choppy, but it's not too polished either. Just right.

Beyonders also has excellent themes of faith, sacrifice, and fighting for a good cause, but very rarely does this feel forced or superficial. It's a deep series and will leave you thinking for months after you finish it.

I would recommend this series for anyone in a reading slump or any fantasy fans. There's a reason why it's my all-time favorite series, and I promise that if you give it a chance you will not be disappointed.

"For anything worth accomplishing, we can always find reasons to doubt, just as we can also find reasons to proceed...I have chosen to side with faith and hope over doubt and despair.”