Invincible: The Chronicles of Nick (Chronicles of Nick, 2)

The book is definitely better than the first in the series. However, if you are like me and have followed the series from the beginning, this just falls flat. I'm tired of buying books from Kenyon that don't move us into a different direction. I've been waiting for years for another "Acheron" to move us into a new direction-instead of creating new characters and new problems.

I want to know more about adult Nick, Simi, Acheron, Kyrian, Amanda, Tabby, etc.

This ends in a cliff hanger. I wish I would have known that before reading. I would have waited to read it.

If you read the first and loved it, then you will probably enjoy the book. If you were like me and frustrated with the lack of progression, the book will irritate you like it did me.

The fate of the world is at stake, and the deciding factor between good and evil rest upon the shoulders of a teenager. Sherrilyn Kenyon's foray into the popular YA genre hits it's stride with the sophomoric release of The Chronicles of Nick series, Invincible. This second effort is definitely better than the first. We pick up where the last book left off, right after Nick and his friends defeat the zombies, and the mortents. Oh, and then there's Kyrian's flashing some fang. But who and what his so called friends and allies are, are not the only obstacles Nick will be facing. The pressure is on for Nick to start mastering his powers, because there's a bounty on his head, and no shortage of demons trying to collect. His love life has gone from not to hot, trying to decide between the girl he's pined for in the past and the one who saw him when no one else did. Nick can't seem to catch a break with a new principal who's even worst than the last one. Gautier can't even put a W in the win column when the new football coach wants him back on the team, since he also has even more devious extra curricular activities to add to Nick's roster. In Nick's world everyone's a player and surrounding yourself with the right people is the key to being a pawn or a king, and by the end someone close to him will be on evil's payroll. His soul is constantly teetering in the balance, as we watch on pins and needles whether the choices he makes now will sway the future.

I found the writing as witty as some of the characters. Kenyon approached this book with a sense of humor and satire that I think really fits her leading man. She really captures an innocence, curiosity, and attitude with Nick that make you want him to succeed. At the same time Invincible was a lot of fun bringing back old characters like Bubba and Mark and adding some new dimensions to them, while introducing new and interesting characters like Grim, Pain, and Suffering. Even when we were in the build up stage at the beginning of the book Kenyon kept us occupied with interesting places and people like the Sanctuary. It's a great vibrant world set in an equally lively and tragic city, that mirrors Nick's character. There isn't a dull moment in the life of Nick and by the end we'll all be rooting for the underdog.

I opted for the audiobook for Invincible, which was excellent. The narrator Holter Graham was wonderful.Graham made the words come to life. He doesn't sound too old, and he captures Nick's personality. I highly recommend the audio version if you get the chance. If not, well you can't go wrong with a great world, wonderful characters, and interesting storylines. The ending will have you wondering what's next and how Nick's going to deal with the relentless revelations.

I am pretty saddend by this book. The last book set things up in the 'past' with Nick at 14 so I was actually expecting this work to focus more on 'present Nick' and how attempting to change things worked for him good or bad. However, she wrote more of the same as the last work. Usually I SWALLOW her books and can't put them down until I finish them, but this one and the last took me almost 2 weeks to read each. I hope that Kenyon moves beyond this, she is such a great author but as a dedicated fan I feel as though she is seeking to incorporate the 'teen audience' more and in doing so is loosing much of who her characters are overall. Like the last book, I will be selling this one back to the store. At least my daughter can read it though /shrug

What on earth is this book and its predecessor supposed to be? Kenyon keeps readers waiting for years for Nick's story, and when it finally comes it begins in two over-short books that cover little more than a month of his life as a fourteen-year-old. Zzzzzzzzz. Sure, we get to see how he meets Kyrian and Acheron - but then those two key (and, let's face it, actually *interesting*) characters are brushed aside in favour of other characters who don't engage at all. It gets completely ridiculous when Nick, who knows what Ash and Kyrian are capable of, doesn't even think to call Kyrian during the numerous times he winds up in trouble, despite having a Blackberry with Kyrian's number programmed into it.

I wanted to see what happened to Nick after his fight with Acheron and his deal with Artemis. If the series carries on at this rate, we'll be into book 200 before that happens. Not worth sticking around for. But then I should have expected this - I resolved to give up on Kenyon after the last several of her Dark-Hunter books were so incredibly formulaic and disappointing, even the long-awaited Acheron book. I was right to borrow these two Nick books rather than wasting money on them, and I advise other readers to do the same.

This book isn't great literature, but let's face it-- we don't read Kenyon for great literature. Be honest, how often do most of us really sit down to read "great literature"? It is good solid YA. The story is interesting, and the characters are well drawn and likable when they are supposed to be likable and not when they're not. There was a good deal less action in this particular installment of the series but it's still a good story.

I like this series for one main reason. It gave the fans of Kenyon's adult series back the Nick we knew and loved before she turned him dark and totally unlikable. I have become a bit worried about the effect of introducing this series on younger readers. My students are reading it too and have begun asking about the "Dark-Hunter books". Those are not appropriate for the middle school and up that this series is targeted at. Let's all just hope none of them pick up "Acheron".

As a long time fan of SK's adult Dark-Hunter series there are things about this alternate universe, or rather the universe as it exists according the the "original" Nick now known as Ambrose, that really irritate me with their cryptic nature and what it implies about well loved characters like Acheron. For example, Savitar shows up in this book and taunts Ambrose with something to the effect of Well let's ask Acheron... oh wait that's right we can't because of you. What exactly is he implying Nick/Ambrose has done to Acheron? Personally, I'd really like to smack Ambrose, but then I've wanted to slap him since Dark Side of the Moon. Kenyon has taken Ambrose/Nick's gigantic self pity party way too far.

This series is a blast! Sherrilyn Kenyon continues to reinvent the character of Nick Gautier (made famous in her adult paranormal romance series, Dark-Hunter) by turning back the clock to when he was a teenager and allowing him (and those around him) to make different decisions that then ripple out and change his future/history in several key ways. It's brilliant really because this approach allows both old and new readers to fully embrace the Chronicles of Nick series as a completely separate, yet complimentary, entity.

Nick is once again the same completely self-deprecating character that charmed me in INFINITY. He's got more friends this time and he's beginning to scratch the surface of his formidable powers, but he still deals with bullies, his smothering mother, and girl troubles (why is the most popular girl in school suddenly into him?). He also has several new problems to juggle including magic tutoring from Death, a new football coach who literally wants to kill him, and hoards of demons who are trying to collect on the newly placed bounty on his head. Never a dull moment for Nick.

Not quite as good as INFINITY, but still excellent in it's own right, INVINCIBLE is a great read for any age and any sex. While you don't need to have read the Dark-Hunter series to enjoy this book (and those are definitely not YA), you probably do need to read INFINITY first since INVICIBLE picks up immediately after the events from that book and Kenyon doesn't waste time rehashing what's already happened. No word yet on the title or release date for the next book in the Chronicles of Nick book, which frankly borders on cruel given the awesome/horrible way INVINCIBLE ended. Whatever it's called, wherever it comes out, I'll be reading it.

Sexual Content:
Kissing

I read all of the pages in a few hours. I loved every minute of it and can't wait for the next one!!!

Good product as described.

Terrible writing style. I hated the first book so much that I haven't opened any of the sequels and cringe at the prospect of doing so. Full of cliches and other unsatisfactory verbige.

I like that the Chronicles of Nick elaborate on Nick's life. Still wish SK would write Simi a book though...