Gregor the Overlander

Underland Chronicles, Book 1

By: Suzanne Collins

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Rich in suspense and brimming with adventure, the New York Times-bestselling Underland Chronicles unfold the fate of the Underland and the great warrior, Gregor. Suzanne Collins is also the author of the bestselling Hunger Games trilogy.

When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, and cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it, until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever.

©2003 Suzanne Collins (P)2005 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Collins introduces her young heroes Gregor and his little sister Boots into a wonderland....A fantastically engaging place." (Publishers Weekly)
"Collins creates a fascinating, vivid, highly original world and a superb story." (Booklist)

Give it a try! Great for long car rides with the kids.

I really have enjoyed this entire series and it was just as fun as before to hear the book read to you. If you like Fablehaven or Harry Potter you could really enjoy this series, especially if you are looking for something new to read with the kids. My kids, at ages 9 and 11 both really enjoyed these, and since it is a series it was continuous over a few long car rides. Thank you!

Both really good and really bad

Let’s start with what’s good. The premise, the eerie world below, and Gregor’s character are all engaging. I was caught up in the story line and wanted badly to see how everything resolved. But I didn’t - I couldn’t.

I don’t know why the author thought that burdening the protagonist with a toddler who seems to always be in need of a diaper change was a good idea. To make matters worse, the narrator’s voicing of said toddler is so overly exaggerated as to be unbearable, at least to me. In the end, I gave up about half-way through. I just couldn’t tolerate it.

If those things don’t bother you, I expect you’ll enjoy the story. Suzanne Collins is a great author so I have no doubt that the story holds up well. I just couldn’t get through it.

amazing

this book brings back so many childhood memories and a great read Atwell as a great series I'll recommend this to everyone

Fun story

Got right into story Fantasy, good character development. Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Clean and interesting.

Skip if you're looking for more Hunger Games

I downloaded this book because I loved the Hunger Games so much. However, this book is aimed at an audience that is significantly younger and just isn't as gripping. It's not a bad book, but it's nothing that exciting either.

Great story, Bad narration

Fabulous, whimsical, magical story. Fresh and refreshing. I looked forward to the audiobook. Overall ok until he speaks as Boots. Doesn’t sound like a two-year old. Sounds like a tired prostitute plying her wares. Ruins the book.

Excellent series (and not just for kids)!

I just finished all five of the Gregor the Overlander books, and I highly recommend them. (In case you're wondering, I'm a woman in my late-30s, so you know what viewpoint this review is written from.) I came to them having finished the Hunger Games series and loving the complex, compelling characters, so I wanted to see what else Suzanne Collins had written. (In attempt at brevity from this point forward, I'm going to refer to the Gregor the Overlander series as GTO, and the Hunger Games series at THG.) The two series are quite different because the main character in GTO is only 11 while Katniss is 16 in THG, and the Overland & Underland worlds in GTO are also quite different from Panem in THG, of course. However, Collins has a talent for writing characters that we root for (even when we they're being stubborn and misguided, as we all tend to be at some point), and she creates entire worlds that these characters inhabit (or visit) so well that we can picture it vividly in our minds. You're there with them, experiencing all of it.

The style of writing is slightly different, too, since the Gregor books are suggested for those as young as 4th grade, and the Hunger Games begin at 7th grade as a suggested reading level. So, the adult reading experience of GTO can be comparable to reading the Harry Potter books as far as writing style (for the intended reading audience) and maturity of the main characters. I absolutely loved the characters and universe of Harry Potter, so I didn't have a lot of difficulty going along with the GTO books, too. (I may have had to adjust a little to the simplified reading level with the HP books the first time that I read the early ones, but that was so long ago for me that it's hard to remember.) However, you should think twice before buying the GTO books (or using your precious Audible credits) if you can't adapt to reading from an 11-year-old's point-of-view.

Other reviews summarize the plot quite well, so I won't go into that here. I think that, like most first-time authors, Collins gets better and smoother as she goes along, but these books are definitely worth it, in the long run. In summary, this series excels at depicting characters whom you root for (and some whom you won't, right along with Gregor) and in a world that is refreshing because it is extremely different, yet somewhat recognizable to our own.

Before the hunger games

Any additional comments?

Before she wrote the hunger games Suzanne Collins wrote a series of five books call The Underland Chronicles they are worth a listen. They are good books and very entertaining

Suzanne Collins Is Great

Where does Gregor the Overlander rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

one of the best

What other book might you compare Gregor the Overlander to and why?

It is not like any other books i have read

What about Paul Boehmer’s performance did you like?

it was good for the book, he was great for the people (and things) in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yes I listened to this book in a day or two and the others in the series shortly after

Any additional comments?

though it was the same author it was very different from the hunger games (great book too)

IF you want to escape 1 world to another

What made the experience of listening to Gregor the Overlander the most enjoyable?

I never lost interest or got bored.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Gregor, for being so young and yet is matured so fast in every situation he is in. when it got difficult he was calm and logical.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

not sure.

Any additional comments?

This is the most greatest book i ever listen next to Harry Potter and the discovery of witches. i was interested and couldn't put it down. I just dreamed i was there. The ending i was sad, Will he ever go back to the one girl he loves from another world. Will he be a warrior in the overland as himself. It seems the overland is an ugly place to live. I would want to stand in the underland.... you must read....5 stars