The main character in the book is a boy named Phoenix. At the start of the novel, he is not a very strong character; he gets bullied at school, he doesn’t have many friends and the only thing that cheers him up is when he is playing guinea pig of ‘the game’:
“Nobody would believe me when I told them what a freak of nature you are. Now they’ve found out for themselves… Go on free knickers, give us all a laugh. ‘The name,’ Phoenix growled, ‘is Phoenix.”
This shows how bad he gets bullied in school and he is not strong enough to fight back. He may be bullied but he can’t do anything about it so he tries to ignore it and comes up with some pretty feeble comebacks. When he is in the game, he gets to be someone totally different. He is a hero and gets the weapons so he can fight back instead of running away. When he is in Brownleigh, he is the underdog but when he is in the game he is someone special and gets addicted the game as it makes him stronger. Towards the end of the book, he changes from the underdog to a hero as he plays the hero. That is why he likes the game better than reality.
Laura is another main character in the book. She and Phoenix get on well and they have been best friends since the day they first met. She sometimes gets bullied when she is with Phoenix but she doesn’t rise to him and is better at ignoring Adams than Phoenix. She is never cruel or nasty which is why she gets on so well with Phoenix:
“Steve Adams and his mates used humour like a knife, twisting it until they drew blood, Laura on the other hand didn't have a cruel bone in her body."
This shows the comparison between Laura and Steve. The quote describes Adams and his gang as a strong simile so Laura seems extremely nice and kind, which she is. At the start of the book, Laura is just an ordinary school girl but when she is in the game, she is much more bossy and demanding as she is under threat and is not used to it so she is slightly scared.
In the book, the scenes change a lot from real life to the game. The writer makes the changes very sudden and Phoenix usually says something like “I’m home” which gets a bit repetitive after a while. The changes are so sudden, it is quite effective as you can keep reading to find out were they are and what the place looks like or you have no idea were they are or what is going to happen next.
The Novel is written very descriptively and the novel starts very tense:
“The first of the beasts roars almost tore the flesh from his bones” (Page 1)
I think this is effective as you are involved with the book straight away and you really want to know what happens next so you can’t put the book down. It describes in so much detail you can really imagine how much fear is going through the person there and you can almost feel like you are there. The writer also describes scenes in great detail so It makes them more interesting and you can easily picture the place were they are.
In this essay, I have written about the book ‘Shadow of the Minotaur’ and described two of the main characters in the book and written a writes craft. I thought the scenes in Brownleigh we a bit boring as nothing really happens but the scenes in Greece in the minotaur’s cave were better as they were a bit more descriptive. Overall, I’d rate the book 4/10.
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