What do you think of the Bionicle books?

LEGO BIONICLE
1

Lately I’ve been reading a couple of the Bionicle books, (mainly the Legends books) with some friends, and it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.
Now, I get that it’s for children but… The writing irks me sometimes.
I swear, if I had a piece for every time they refer to the Toa as “the Toa of [Element]”, or even worse, “the Toa Nuva of [Element] said”, I could build a couple Kardas Dragons.
It’s honestly minor gripes since I love the plot and characters, but small details like that, or characters breaking character just to dump exposition or provide a recap of past events bog down the experience for me.
I was curious to know what you guys thought about the books.

13 Likes
2

I would love to give a detailed opinion on the books, but it’s been so long since I’ve read any of them. What I remember most is enjoying all of the various quips - the quotes that you can find all over the place. It would be interesting to re-read the books and see what I think now.

3

I periodically re-read the books, and I agree - there are small gripes with them. However, I then remember that these are in fact children’s books, and as such the exposition and naming of characters (especially with 12 - 18 protagonists per book) is a necessary evil.

And comparing them with a lot of childrens books today aimed at the same demographic, they are (usually) a cut above the rest.

I do still enjoy the story, and the worldbuilding is very evident. The characters aren’t the best I’ve ever read about, but the interactions and quirks are fairly well-developed,

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4

I really love how they expand upon the BIONICLE story, and how they get darker as the story goes on.

6 Likes
5

The 06/07 books are really good.

~W12~

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6

At least they don’t go on to describe all their masks and weapons as if advertising like in g2’s books

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7

Plot-wise, I really love the books! I don’t adore the writing, but I also don’t hate it. I think the best writing was done in the first few books. The Chronicles series.

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8

I’ve just finished reading “raid on Vulcanus” and “the legend reborn”, and I have to say I found them surprisingly good! They might be some of my favorite Bionicle books.

9

I’m not normally a reading person, but I’d love to read the books if I had the chance of acquiring them. Sadly they never got published in Finland.

10

I think that might be because C.A. Hapka wrote those books, not Greg. I can’t give an opinion since I haven’t read those and am reading through the Legends books though.

11

Excuse me for being blunt but I don’t like them. I tried to read them and I wish I could like them, but since I didn’t experience them as a child, they had no nostalgic value to me that would help me to get past some of their most glaring flaws. That said, I enjoyed Hapka’s writing a little bit more than Farshtey’s but maybe it was the nostalgia for 2001-2003.

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12

I should be able to post a full review with my thoughts on all the G1 pre-2009 chapter books soon. I’ve been finishing my collection… yet, somehow, Ignition #s 5, 7, and 8 are taking forever to arrive, or I would have had this done a lot sooner.

13

I love them! The Metru were a blast to read about, I enjoy all of them but Adventures #5-8 are all phenomenal. I agree exposition and transitions could be a bit clunky and action isn’t Greg’s strongest suit, but the man knows how to put you in a scene and can really work an ensemble cast. The Legends are great, but to me the Adventures series is as Bionicle as it gets. (Minus the novel adaptations, they’re only on my shelf for completions sake.)