As you dig deeper into the core of the book, you start to figure out what the challenges are. The Ravenmaster’s Secret has the challenge of betrayal since Forrest had to betray his country to save Maddy and Ned. Likewise, Mark in The Transall Saga had to betray his slave-owners to survive and escape. However, The Transall Saga had the challenge to survive since Mark was unfamiliar with the terrain and plants of Transall so he overcame by adapting to his new life in Transall. The Ravenamster’s Secret was the challenge to escape because he didn’t want Maddie or Ned to die. Yet he overcame this challenge by creating a plan to help Ned and Maddie to escape from the tower which worked. So all challenges aren’t easy sometimes.

You’ll also notice the character that is most mainly focused on and the evil behind all the challenges. The main characters in the two books we’re focusing on did have a lot of similarities like they were both brave about doing things that could betray their allies, both clever on sneaking way from places they were supposed to stay, and both were leaders when they had to lead their allies to safety. Both protagonists (who were not inanimate) had the goal to kill or harm the protagonist. Simon Frick from The Ravenmaster’s Secret was sneaky and cruel and also the tower, who was another antagonist, was always gloomy and stopping Forrest from having freedom. On the contrary, Merkon from The Transall Saga wasn’t that sneaky and was also from Forrest’s time period. Also, the protagonists had their differences. Forrest wasn’t that tough but he was friendly because he made friends with all those prisoners. Mark was ready for action and had a more hostile approach, which could have been the reason he had more enemies than Forrest. So there is a good and bad to every story.

However, a factor that could relate to the antagonist and protagonist is, believe it or not, the genre! The genre could decide if the people are realistic or unrealistic. The Ravenmaster’s Secret didn’t have real people in it and the event was made up. Likewise, The Transall Saga is just unrealistic because there is no such thing as a blue light that can be used for time travel. The Ravenmaster’s Secret is historical-fiction because it was in the past in 1735. On the contrary, The Transall Saga was in the future and was made-up with all the going into the future, meeting cave-men like races, and a mysterious time- transporting light. So what could give a book it’s tough and evilness deep within could all depend on the genre.

Setting is also an important factor because that could be what the whole book is based upon. Both books were related setting-wise because they were both on Earth. Yet, they were in very different time periods. The Transall Saga was somewhere in the future and you know that because Mark found all those Earth-related items. But, Forrest’s time was in 1735 in London in the past. So if you have a fixed setting, you should stick with it or else your book might fall apart.

What can be worse than a bad ending? Usually, nothing. That is why you must have a solid ending to wrap up your story. Both books had epilogues which explained what happened when the main character grew up. But, The Ravenmaster’s Secret’s ending was full because it explained what happened when Forrest overcame the challenge but trailed on a bit with the epilogue. While, The Transall Saga’s ending was short and abrupt. One minute he was fighting in a jungle in the future and the next he’s a grown man in the middle of a shopping mall. An ending could mean a lot and you should always shoot for a nice ending.

It’s there similarities and differences that bring this book together. Without differences our books would be dull and boring. But without similarities, you might not know what to read, just imagine a world without genres! Without these similarities and differences, there would be no fun in literature.