conuly

(Again.)

And I got shuttled off to the hospital for one two three four five six seven EIGHT hours while both our phones died. Yay!

Luckily, I brought a book. (I always bring a book.) In fact, I brought several books. In fact, I brought the first several books I could find, which turned out to be my boxed set of The Underland Chronicles. I've wanted to re-read both Hunger Games books waiting for the third, but one of them got LENT OUT (who the hell lends out other people's books, anyway?) so this is the next best thing.

I hadn't re-read them in a while, but I managed to go through all of them while there. Well, what else was I going to do? (You know what I could've done? I could've walked home and picked up my recharger and walked back, that's what I could've done. I didn't do that.)

So as I read them, a few things occurred to me:

1. Why haven't the Underlanders suffered from a massive Founder's Effect? I mean, besides their dramatically "never goes outside" coloring. (I'd say evolution doesn't work that way, but maybe ol' Sandwich deliberately picked very very pale people for his little expedition. That's what I would've done if I were prophetic.) I mean, with only 800 people to start, shouldn't some of them have been carrying detrimental, or just odd genes? That got passed on?

2. How many generations does it take of living miles underground to grow super-huge? How long until the humans are positive Goliaths?

3. What, exactly, does Gregor look like? Do you know, I don't think he's described clearly in any of the five books? He has scars all over his body but the end, but what does he look like? The only hint I have is that his sister Boots has dark skin... but that might just be dark compared to the Underlanders, or it may be (as they suggested) a tan. It's not clear. I spent five books looking for ANY description of him or his family, and none was to be found. He's not clearly pictured on the cover (not that those are honest), and even the game at Scholastic's website shows solid-color silhouette instead of a clear image!

4. Was book 5 left hanging in case she wants to write another series, or is that just going to be her style, leaving books slightly unfinished. I mean, at the end of the series we have no idea if Gregor's family stays in NYC or moves to Virginia. We have no idea if he's ever going to back, either as a kid or as an adult when nobody can tell him what to do anymore. Heck - we don't even know if maybe there are other doors to the Underland outside of New York! (And why shouldn't there be? Maybe that place goes on further than the people realize.)

5. Equally unclosed of course is the issue of prophecies. How much of the various prophecies in the books (Sandwich's, Nerissa's) are true, and how much of them are just interpreted-as-true? And are they only true because people keep diligently following them instead of trying to break them? Sure, we know what Ripred believes (or claims to believe, anyway, he talks pretty fast), but his belief doesn't have to be true just because we trust him any more than everybody ELSE'S belief has to be true just because there are so many of them.

6. Why has Gregor apparently never heard of crank-powered flashlights?

7. What the hell is it with Collins and shocking deaths? And why is everything in the Underland trying to kill everything else? I'm not just talking about the rats and the mice and the humans, I'm talking about the damn plants and gnats and little fishies!

8. If Gregor's family is so poor, why have they gone to the Central Park zoo often enough for his sister to have a favorite animal there and a favorite thing to do? Even if she's going with JUST her brother, that's expensive.