The) - Gregor the Overlander Collection - Books 1-5 (Underland Chronicles

It came quicker than the estimated shipping time. It was in excellent shape and our Grandson is enjoying them. I knew the set was a high interest read for high third grade through middle school (as well as young at heart adults) as I have done this as a read-aloud in my third, fourth and fifth grade classrooms for many years. Be warned - once you or your young reader reads the first in the set, they won't want to stop until they have finished the entire chronicles. (violence in the form of very descriptive bloody battles between human children and fantasy underworld characters - rats and spiders)

This series started out as something I was reading to my son, and ended up something I'd continue reading for myself after he was asleep. Sweet, funny, exciting, poignant, and just a little scary in some parts. You fall in love with the characters, laughing and crying. I cried when it was finished because there was nothing left to read.

This five book series is a sensational read. Captivating, fresh, mind-bending, heartwarming, tearful, funny, intriguing! You will not be able to put down these books, one after another. You will fall behind on all your commitments and chores, due to this sensational read. Gregor, Boots, Luxa, Vicus, Henry, the Bats, the Rats, the Crawlers, Spinners, The Bane, warmbloods, etc, are all incredible characters. The story is a magnificent dream. Suzanne has such a wonderful way of bringing everything to vivid life in your mind. It's the same as watching a movie. And with that said, this is the reason we all are sometimes disappointed when such an epic read is brought to the big screen. We have already seen the movie in our minds, and then.....well, you get the picture.

Lastly, CHEERS to her new (first) movie! Coming Soon! To be released on March 23rd, 2012..."The Hunger Games." A movie made from her first trilogy book series. I have purchased iMax tickets to see the Premiere. Katniss, Peeta, Gale, Prim, Haymitch and the entire cast will be awesome. There is still plenty of time left to get your own tickets. I HIGHLY recommend it. I also have my fingers crossed in hopes that the Suzanne Collins original writings have not been obliterated by the movie producers and directors. This is a horrendous screw-up that the movie industry pulls so very often to such perfectly written books. I'm in great hopes that Suzanne held that proverbial gun to their heads.

That's all for now. You ROCK Suzanne Collins!!

I purchased the collection of the Gregor Overlander books and have not put it down.
Interesting story line and characters, each chapter leads to another adventure.
Unlike some books where you figure out the plot, you do not know what is going to happen next, it keeps you wanting more.
Very enjoyable for adults and children alike. Thank you

I would recommend this book series to anyone and everyone. It was new, amazing, exciting, suspenseful, and so much more. I was engaged and invested the entire time and cried more than once. I loved these stories and plan to read them over again.

After reading the 3 books in the Hunger Games series, I searched for more Suzanne Collins books and found this 5 book series. I am almost through the 3rd book and thouroughly enjoy the style and flow of the story. It may be directed toward younger readers, but at 68, I'm still a kid at heart and recommend this 5 book series to anyone who liked the Hunger Games.

My son is actually reading these wonderful books. My son - who would rather play a videogame than do just about anything, is voluntarily reading this series. I read them and I thought they were great.

Perfect set of books for kids who love action. My boys are couldn't put down the books, and were racing each other to see who can finish first. They read the Hunger Games before and that's how they fell in love with Susan Collins style of writing. I love her action packed books as well, love her imaginatio.

A client of ours recommended this series. He said he was obsessed! I took him at his word and bought the series through my kindle. This young man was correct. I was obsessed with finishing this series. He is 12 and I am 57. Very sad that there was only four books. I want more! Wonderful reading.

I believe that this series was written for younger readers (I am 57) but I liked it very much. The characters were great, especially the animals...my favorite in the whole series was Ares the bat. But the rats, mice, cockroaches and other animals were wonderful as well.I hope there will be a sixth book someday.

This was a great value. As the recent trend towards series of novels based at young teen readers go, the series was pretty good. Of course my kids were bummed about the ending. Buying the box set beats the one at a time collecting from half price books or waiting for copies at the library. The first book was good enough to keep them reading to the end.

I believe that this series was written for younger readers (I am 57) but I liked it very much. The characters were great, especially the animals...my favorite in the whole series was Ares the bat. But the rats, mice, cockroaches and other animals were wonderful as well.I hope there will be a sixth book someday.

This was a great value. As the recent trend towards series of novels based at young teen readers go, the series was pretty good. Of course my kids were bummed about the ending. Buying the box set beats the one at a time collecting from half price books or waiting for copies at the library. The first book was good enough to keep them reading to the end.

The Gregor collection was such a delight to read. It should be on every 4th grader's and up reading list. The characters were well developed. There were a number of moral dilemma's and personal challenges that needed to be resolved. I looked forward to each new challenge and book.

This series of books provides a "role model" for adolescent boys. Gregor is like many boys his age who have adult responsibilities thrushed upon them due to an absentee parent. Going to the underland makes him realize that other adolescents his age have challenges too that may seem overwhelming at times. He also realizes that there is a little bit of warrior in all of us when it comes to protecting those you love. I gave my set to a teacher who is organizing a before school book club for the adolescent boys in her building who are struggling readers. As a professor and reading specialist, I recommend this series for any adolescent boy who is struggling with and needs to be turned on to reading.

I love Gregor and enjoyed reading his adventures to my kids. I picked up this series, Collins's middle grades series, only after reading and loving the Hunger Games trilogy. Like Hunger Games, these are unflinchingly violent, though, in the Underland Chronicles, the most graphic accounts of violence are about spiders, rats, and bats, and the humans are spared somewhat. Collins writes great page-turners; every chapter ends with a "what's next?" hook. Gregor's struggle with violence is subtly portrayed. The series is neither screamingly pacifist nor a justification for war. It shows some of the complexity and human difficulty of the topic. Gregor's care for his fun and funny little sister Boots is a highlight of the series, making it sweetly human. My kids couldn't stop laughing when the cockroaches loved the smell of Boots's dirty diaper. Good reading!

I have fully enjoyed this book series, and while I may be a little older than the age group these books were written for, I still found them to be absolutely captivating and habit forming. Great character description and plot development, I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the world of fantasy.
PS: Gave me something to look forward to between tests and homework.

The Gregor the Overlander series introduces an underground world below New York City. The Underland is torn by a war between the human occupants and giant rats, and Gregor and his little sister, Boots, are part of a prophecy that will either save the Underlanders from worse fighting or doom them to eventual extinction. For a book series aimed at 12 year olds, it has some very real and scary themes, including death, but the message is one of hope and inclusiveness in the end. The pages fly by and this grown up highly recommends that anyone interested in adventure, strange creatures, and new lands give this series a shot!

After reading The Hunger Games, I wanted more from Suzanne Collins. I discovered The Underland Chronicles and was not disappointed!! Not only did I love these books, but everyone I've recommended them to also loved them (mainly adults). Ms. Collins has a knack for creating characters that you fall in love with. Never would I have imagined that I would have such fondness for a giant wise-cracking rat or a bat large enough take a human for a ride.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games.

My daughter and I really enjoyed this series. A heartwarming tale of a family thrown into extraordinary circumstances, surrounded by a message of peace and cessation of war. This story will affect your teens, and make them think about world politics in a new way.

Its a nice, easy read fantasy. Fun characters. Reminds me of an "Alice in Wonderland" type of fantasy except they go through a vent in the laundry room to enter their adventure. I wouldn't say I love it, but I did really enjoy it. Hunger Games was far better if you want to compare her 2 writings.

Suzanne Collins is an amazing author, literally drawing you into the story as you read it. For those who enjoyed Hunger Games but thought it was a little too violent, these stories of Gregor the Overlander are worth your reading time. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

This book was totally different from my normal reading genre. I did not realise it was a a young adult book until I read to the end of the first book. Despite this I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I bought all 5 books as one and would not recommend to read all of them at once. It is a bit too much of a similar story. These books are great fun and would recommend it to any person who likes to read an adventure.

The Underland Chronicles Complete Boxed Set, Books 1-5: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw

After reading Hunger Games, I decided to read further work by the same author. I must say I was pleasantly surprised by Suzanne Collins' Overlander series. I wouldn't qualify the books as being childish since they are so well written and very refreshing. I recommend them to anyone who like fantasist books with some good action!

As a cautious grandmother, I read the first in the series before purchasing this set for my grandchild. Really like the author's take on "another world" and the way the reader is brought back to the "real world"! It turns out that many of the 8-10 year olds I am associated with like this series, too! that now includes my grandchild! Highly suggested!

Suzanne Collins shows her extensive imagination and sophisticated story-telling ability in this series about an eleven year old boy and his two year old sister "Boots". Miz Collins style in creating the Underland world is just as extensive as the world she created for the Hunger Games series. Her characterization of the human and animal cast in this series will give the reader a view into human beings and their actions in the world that is seldom seen. It also, gives a perspective to some of the "icchy" animals that can be seen as noble and self-sacrificing.

I found this story through the Mockingjay Series. I had originally thought that these stories were a precursor to that series. (Sometimes it's difficult to locate the descriptions on the Kindle search page.) I soon discovered that I was enjoying the stories in spite of the facts that:

1) they have no connection to the Mockingjay series
2) they are written for a pre-teen audience.

I found that (like Katniss Everdeen) Gregor and his companions deal with situations geared towards much older characters. Thus the series makes for interesting reading (even for adults). I'm not sure that everyone who liked the Mockingjay series will enjoy the Overlander series with the same enthusiasm, but this series merits equal respect for storyline and character development.

Was very interesting book could hardly put it down and I'm an adult. It was always, just one more page was very sad to reach the ending. Felt like I was saying "good bye" to good friends.
Will make sure my grandson gets a copy of this series.

I loved all the books the intensity and tension the edge of your seat feeling, but I hate hair the entire series ended whenever boots said Gregors name right. What happened to all the other charecters? Did he go to Virginia? Did he stay with Luxa? I have so many questions about what happened. I at least hoped that the series would end with you knowing if he stayed in the under land or at least got to see Luxa every now and then.
This was a good series and I would read it again.

These books are a cross between "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Chronicles of Narnia". What a wonderful world the author created! I really wished that someone makes it into a series of movies. I would love to see this world brought to life.

I started reading these books because of the author and then I fell in love. Gregor is forever in my heart now. The views on these books are insightful and enduring. I love the characters, I cried when they did and I felt their pains. This series is wonderful and I am sad to not be able to read more about Gregor and the strange land under New York.

This series was great! I had just finished the hunger games and was interested in another series by the author and found Gregor and his kid sis boots! I read them all and have truly enjoyed them. I even quit Killing bugs in my house and opted for shooing them outside. I recommend this series to all ages

This is a fascinating set of books about an underground world- YA fantasy AT IT'S BEST. Not as depressing as Hunger Games, but with a dystopian tone- but with a way out and back to the old world it you want it!

These books are geared towards a younger crowd than The Hunger Games trilogy but having finished those I was a little desperate for more Suzanne Collins.

The world that Gregor falls into is rich, complicated and dynamic. (no spoilers here) Just trust that its a journey worth taking.

Having fallen in love with Suzanne Collin's Hunger Games series, it was a great treat to discover another one. This one is more appropriate for a younger audience. The characters are well developed. There are relationships and problems located both the 'overland' and the 'underland' of interest. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and would recommend it to others.

My son got these for Christmas on recommendation from my sister. He loves them. Although he likes to read, TV or video games was always his first choice but now I find him in his bedroom reading this series. He told me that I should read them too. I guess I will.l

This was a gift for our grandson's 14th birthday. He llikes these books so much that he has read through the entire set five times already(within two months). He liked the attractive box that all the books were packaged in, too.

I enjoyed reading this series. It reminded me of the Harry Potter series, as each has a world within the world we know. I don't rank it as well written or deep as HP, but it kept this adult brain's attention for all five books. My 10 year old son is now reading the series and he is loving the characters. He's even been practicing echolocation!

Gregor the Overlander is a great series of books. Written for young adults but with its humor and fresh ideas it is a joy for any fantasy reader. The characters, both human and animal, are terrific. I highly recommend.

My husband bought these for me after I raved about the Hunger Games series. Against my will, the first book got me hooked and I flew through all five. These would be perfect books for a kid around 10-14, but even adults will enjoy them.

Okay, you if you love the Hunger Games trilogy, you have to buy this set! I absolutely loved them!! Suzanne Collins is an excellent writer and although I am older than the suggested reading age for these books, (I'm 31), I could not put them down. I give the set 5 stars!!!

My son was having trouble locating these books at any of our local libraries and I'd heard such good things about them that when he asked for them for Christmas we were more than happy to purchase them. We are very pleased.

Great series that I thoroughly enjoyed as an adult, and my pre-teen son had to admit he really liked as well. Very positive spin on brother/sister relationship, which I though could do him no harm, either! ;)