The lack of creativity in the book bothered me a lot. With winning names like The City and The River The ExtraOrdinary wizard. And everyon'e name started with 's' even characters not related to the main family.
BUT I did download it free on my Kindle recently so I may try and read some more of it see if it get's any better.
But remember- I also LIKE Red Pyramid...
I liked the Magyck books, but I agree with you to some extent. I'll probably get in trouble with someone for saying this, but I didn't know anything about Angie Sage when I first read them and though they were a fun read, I felt they lacked some quality in the writing. It just seemed a bit trivial and maybe juvenille. I don't think just because it's a kids novel it has to be under written for them.
I liked the Red Pyramid as well, but I found after reading all the Percy Jackson books and The Lost Hero, I was a little tired of the demi-god kids that need to defeat the evil gods theme.
What was this thread about anyway? Oh, yeah, word count. I think we should write the book that's inside of us, keeping word count guidelines in mind, but only as a guide. But I'm an unpublished author with out an agent and only one finished manuscript, so I'm not much of an expert.
Also, I've heard others mention that they don't believe word count matters much to an agent, or at least they won't trun it down because of it, but I have read something very different. I've read quite a few books and on-line information about writing query letters, querying an agent, what agents want, etc. I know you can't believe everything you read, but much of my research indicates that some agents will reject a book solely on word count. Even if the story is intriguing, they may not want the work of beefing up or cutting down an MS. Not to mention, actually getting a book that's too long published is daunting due to cost of printing. On another thread I discussed with a prospective writer how he/she wasn't aware that agents would like to see word count on a query or a MS title page, but once again, my research indictaes you should include this info.
So what's the verdict? Who knows? It seems to me that getting a book published is like winning the lottery. You have to have all the right numbers. In our case, it's the right story idea, writing skills, prospective audience, timing, and catching the attention of the right agent/publisher. Good luck to all of us! At least we can actively increase our chances with our creativity and skill!