Evil Star (novel)

Infobox Book |
name = Evil Star
title_orig =
translator =


author = Anthony Horowitz
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = UK
language = English
series = The Power of Five
subject =
genre =
publisher = Walter Books Ltd
release_date = April 12006 (UK)
June 12006 (US)
english_release_date =
media_type = Print Paperback
pages = 272 pp
isbn = ISBN 1844286207 (Paperback edition)
preceded_by = Raven's Gate
followed_by = Nightrise

Evil Star is the second book in "The Power of Five" series by British author Anthony Horowitz. It was published and released in the UK on April 1, 2006 by Walker Books Ltd and in the United States (June 1, 2006) by Scholastic Press under the adjusted series title, "The Gatekeepers". It is preceded by "Raven's Gate", released in 2005, and followed by "Nightrise", released in 2007.

Plot summary

After his events of "Raven's Gate", Matt thinks his days of battling evil are over. But soon he is pulled into another terrible adventure when he discovers a second gate exists. He goes to a new school, which the Nexus are paying for, but is left friendless because of a bully called Gavin Taylor . Matt begins to use his powers again, but against someone his own age. Meanwhile, his aunt has been controlled by the Old Ones for this. She kills her partner Brian, and steals a petrol tanker, and drives it into Matt's new school, in a desperate attempt to kill him. Fortunately, he uses his powers at the last minute and manages to save the whole school but this attack ends up in the death of his aunt. The Nexus suspect the Old Ones for this attempted murder. Soon, Matt and his friend and guardian, Richard, are persuaded to travel to Peru to stop the opening of the second gate, and, assisted by the Nexus, follow clues to the gate's whereabouts. But there is a traitor in the Nexus. On their arrival, Matt's friend Richard is kidnapped but Matt manages to escape with the help of a local Peruvian, Pedro (who is revealed as the second of the Five children prophecised to stop the Old Ones).

Matt attempts to go the hotel as he originally planned, and is trapped by police, and brutally beaten. Pedro saves him again. Then, they escape to the Poison Town, where Pedro lives. Strangely while all the town is affected by dieases, the street in where Pedro lives in seems unaffected. Here, they meet the man Sebastian, who agrees to help Matt. A night passes, and Matt finds the markings of his previous beatings have all gone. To find the kidnappers of Matt's friend, Matt and Pedro travel to leading Peruvian businessman Salamanda's Hacienda. They find that he is trying to release the Old Ones as well, and both get caught. An Incan helps them escape, and he is killed in the process. Micos (the Incan) tells them to travel to Cuzco, and there, Matt manages to contact Fabian and the Nexus on their whereabouts. Suddenly, a police force arrives, and they escape again with the help of several Indian looking strangers. Again, Richard and Matt is reassured that someone in Nexus is betraying them.

Then they are taken to the Mountain of the Sleeping God Mandango. From there, they descend into the town of the last Incans, Vilcabamba. There, it is learned that the gate is somewhere in the Nazca desert. They travel to the Nazca desert and Matt realizes the horrifying truth - the Nazca lines are the second gate and it is about to open, again increasing the chance of The Old Ones returning. Once again, Matt must prevent it happening. So they break into Salamanda's headquarters with an Incan army, in an attempt to stop his plan. The Nazca lines are the gate, which opens once all the stars align with each of the drawings. However, the Five have made sure the portal will never open, by hiding the star, Cygnus or Swan in Latin. Salamanda has made a replacement satellite for a fake star. At the station, the radio mast is broken, and the reader discovers the traitor of Nexus was Fabian. Upon the destruction of the mast, he reveals that Salamanda was using a different dish out in the desert. Atoc takes Matt and Pedro on a helicopter to the Nazca desert to stop the gate from opening but as they fly over the desert the helicopter crashes and plunges to the ground. When the helicopter hits the ground it somersault's through the air and lands on its side. As a result of the helicopter crash Atoc had been killed and Pedro's ankle had been broken. Matt had deep cuts and bruises but otherwise he was alright and this meant that Matt had to battle the Old Ones alone. Matt manages to trigger his power, and destroys the control. Sadly, the satellite continues on its trajectory and finally opens the gates. The lines become real monsters, and they are all released. As the Old Ones begin to escape, the King of the Old Ones appears and challenges Matt. Matt uses his powers to wound the King but he survives along with his servants and are unleashed on the world. However, having pushed his power far past his limits, he falls unconscious. The Old Ones have not yet done any harm, but they soon will, but are merely healing after the damage done by Matt. Matt goes into a coma from his effort and is healed by Pedro, who in the final chapter, reveals his power of Healing. Then Matt smells something burning and that's when the book ends.

Trivia

* In the first book, "Raven's Gate", the character Fabian says he is married and has two children, in Evil Star he says he is not married and does not have any children (this may have been a lie to set an example to Matt that no one must know about the Nexus or really just an error).

Pentagram

"The Power of Five" series is based on ideas from a series written by Anthony Horowitz in 1983-1989, "Pentagram". "Pentagram" was meant to have five books, but only four were ever published. The second was "The Night Of The Scorpion".

External links

* [http://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/poweroffive/ The Power of Five official website]
* [http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/The-Power-of-Five-Evil-Star-1844286207 "Evil Star" at Walker Books]