REVIEW: Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz

Oblivion by Anthony Horowitz
Series: The Gatekeepers #5
Publisher: Walker Books
Publication Date: October 4th 2012
Source: Gifted

All that's left is the endgame... 
For a moment, it looked like they had won -- the five Gatekeepers had united -- and then a deadly typhoon tore them apart, scattering them through the door and across the world.

Ten years into the future, the Gatekeepers find themselves struggling through a desolate world to find one another; to stop the evil force that waits for them; to save the world as they did ten thousand years ago. With enemies dogging their every step and the doors broken, the Gatekeepers' only hope is... Oblivion. 

The five have arrived at the end of the world.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Oblivion is the final book in The Gatekeepers series. In the last book we left the 5 in Hong Kong where a tornado was tearing apart the temple they were in.

The Gatekeepers series is basically about a group of 5 teenagers that are gatekeepers. They guard the gates that were made to prevent the Old Ones from escaping, and if they are opened, they have to come together to defeat the Old Ones.

This book is split into different parts. There are 10 different parts of this book and in each part we heard from a different member of the 5. 

The Village - The first part of Oblivion focuses on Jamie. Jamie comes through a door in and end up in a village in England only to find out that he’s jumped 10 years into the future. The future is a horrible place where there are not very many people left.

He discovers that the 5 are being hunted by the old ones (demons, basically) and the village want to turn him over to the police – but they’re scared because they don’t want to give away their location in case people come and attack/destroy their village. Someone in the village gives the police a tip off and Jamie escapes from the village with the help of a man called The Traveller and a girl called Holly.

Endgame (The Conference) - The next chapter is to do with the old ones and it’s basically about them saying that they’re going to modify humans to make them the perfect fighting mutants/machines.

Blood & Sand - In the next part of the book we are with Scarlett who came through a door in Egypt with Richard (Matt’s friend) and they are almost captured by the old ones army but a group of people working for the Nexus (they’re the good guys) rescue them and take them to a safe hiding area. Whilst they are escaping from Egypt, they are double-crossed the man helping them escape ends up dead

The Tree - The next part of the book focuses on Pedro and Scott. Scott is Jamie’s twin brother and he’s extremely resentful that he got stuck with Pedro when they came through the door instead of his brother. Scott was always the weak link in the 5 and was always going to be easy to manipulate (especially after the torture he went through in Nightrise).

The people torturing Scott eventually get him to turn on Pedro – but Pedro doesn't know this yet. Pedro escapes from where he is being held and finds out that he is in Italy. Pedro is taken in by a family who know who he is and he eventually escapes from Italy, whilst Mount Vesuvius is erupting, and is swept over by a massive wave. Scott makes it out of Italy as well, but on a private plane with the enemy.

Matt - And finally, we’re on to Matt. Matt is basically the leader of the 5, since he was the first one to discover what was happening and go on a search for the rest of the gatekeepers. Matt and Lohan (Scarlett’s bodyguard – or whatever) came out of a door in Brazil. The only way survive in Brazil is to sell slaves for money. Lohan has been selling Matt so that they can get money and then after collecting the money, he rescues Matt. This continues until they are captured and both of them are made to be slaves.

Wheel of Fortune – And we’re back to Scar and Richard who have escaped to Dubai. The find a plane in the airfield, but the pilot has been captured by the ruler of the Dubai royal family. Scarlett and Richard head up to the casino to try to get the pilot released – but Rasheed has other ideas and demands that Scar to become his wife. They are given rooms in the palace and Rasheed’s wife frees the pilot and helps them escape from the palace. Scar has to use her powers to save them from Rasheed's men. They make it to the airplane and set course for Antarctica.

Legacy 600- Matt becomes ill and Lohan is desperate to find an escape from their torture and then a plane lands on the airfield right next to where they are. Matt causes a diversion with his powers and he and Lohan escape and head for the plane. Once aboard, Matt sets course for Antarctica..

Dark Water – This part goes back to Jamie, The Traveller & Holly in England. The Old Ones army is searching for them and they’re making their escape on a canal boat. They come a cross a village down the river that still has people living in it who look extremely healthy. They join the villagers for dinner and soon discover why they are so healthy. They've been killing people for meat and they planned to do the same to The Traveller, Jamie & Holly. The Old Ones catch up with them and there’s a big fight scene in the village – but Jamie, Holly & The Traveller manage to escape.The Old Ones catch up with them again, but they manage to escape through a tunnel designed by the Nexus and make their way to safety. Jamie has to get near to St. Meredith’s church (because there’s a door there that will take him to Antarctica). A group of them travel through London (which was hit by a nuclear bomb) and go to a safe house near St. Meredith’s.

The Good Priest – We’re back with Pedro and he’s managed to survive the tidal wave. He’s on a boat and making his way to Anzio where he will then travel to Rome. Pedro is taken in by Carla Rivera. She believes in the stories of the Old Ones and knows that Pedro is one of the five. Her son, however, doesn't believe him and leads Pedro to The Vatican under the illusion that he’s going to help him. But instead, he poisons Pedro – but Pedro is a healer and manages to throw up the poison and then heals himself.

Oblivion – This is the last part of the book. Oblivion is the place in Antarctica where the final showdown will take place. It starts off with a description of Oblivion and the army that has assembled to fight the Old Ones. Then we move on to Scott who is living inside the fortress at Oblivion. Scott is starting to wonder if he made the right decision siding with the Old Ones, but he isn’t given a choice when he’s told he has to trick Matt into meeting with him so that they can capture him. Matt and Lohan arrive at Oblivion & Richard and Scar are already there. The leader of ‘The World Army’ – The army of people from all over the world that have made their way to Antarctica to fight – attack the fortress only to realise too late that they were being tricked and half of their army is slaughtered. Matt receives a letter from Scott asking him to meet with him, and Matt agrees. Matt and Richard go along to meet Scott and they are captured by the Old Ones army. Scott is completely regretting his decision now. The World Army leaves and Scarlett and Lohan sneak into the fortress to rescue Matt and Richard.
Then we flick back to London where Jamie and the rest of the people with him are about to attack St. Meredith’s so that he can go through the door to get to Oblivion. And then back to Rome where a cleaner helps Pedro get to St. Peters. Back in Antarctica, Scott sacrifices his life to re-open the doors so that the rest of the five can be re-united. Matt is being tortured by the Old Ones and they want Matt to watch Richard being killed, but they didn’t count on Richard stabbing Matt and killing him – Richard could see how much Matt was suffering and he knew he had to prevent it.

Back in London there’s a massive fight going on at St. Meredith’s. Jamie grabs Holly and makes his way through the door. Back in Antarctica Scarlett and Lohan are stunned by what Scott has just done, and then Jamie, Holly & Pedro make their way through the door. Jamie is distraught that his brother has died. And then – Matt and Scott show up! (I know what your thinking, ‘Did they not just die?’). The answer is, yes they did. But there are two versions of the gatekeepers and if one of them dies, they are replaced by a gatekeeper from over 1000 years ago, and they’re basically the same people. So the five fight together and use their powers to destroy the Old Ones and create a new gate that hopefully won’t be opened ever. The five make their way onto a new journey. The book ends with Holly and Richard who are now 70/80 years old raising a glass to the five.

Seriously, this book had so much action packed into it that I couldn’t believe it. There wasn’t a dull moment in this book at all and that’s a great accomplishment for a book that’s 668 pages long.There isn’t one of the characters in this book that I don’t like (well, maybe Lohan, but he is a criminal and a murderer so I’m allowed to not like him). But I love all of the 5. I’ve grown such an attachment to these characters since I first picked up Ravens Gate when I was in 2^nd year at High School. This story was so unique with the five gatekeepers with their special powers fighting against a demonic force that threatened to take over the world again. We were introduced to a new gatekeeper in every book, so I was give a chance to form a bond with these characters. I think that’s why I really didn’t want to read Oblivion. I just didn’t want this story to be over. But wow. What an amazing end to a series. I cried a lot at the end of this book mainly due to Matt & Scott dying (because I totally forgot about the other gatekeepers), but I was distraught that two of my favourite characters were dead. I honestly never thought that any of them would be killed, and it was just a huge shock.

I’m still in shock from this book & that’s why I think it’s taking me longer to get through the other books I’m reading because this book was just spectacular. I just keep thinking about the ending and I still can’t believe that the series is finally over.

This whole series has been amazing, but Oblivion is by far the best book in the whole series. This book should get like, a gazillion stars! I seriously recommend this series if you've never picked it up. It’s full of action, suspense & twists that you never see coming. This series has definitely moved higher up on my favourite series list.