Bluebonnet, vol 2

I read the second volume of the bluebonnet book Atherton: House of Power, which was called Atherton: River of FIre. Thankfully, this book did actually have an ending, and wasn't yet another chapter in an ongoing series. I suppose considering the age group this was written for, if they had put both books together, the 5th graders would have been not so likely to pick it up. It was 600 pages total.
The story- I thought was good. As usual I read it too quickly, trying to find out what happend to the people involved. I don't know whether to credit that to the author's success at characterization, since they have made me care; or whether it is my own flaw in allowing my worry to make me miss other parts of the novel. It seemed a bit uneven- introducing new creatures and challenges whenever, without meaningfully conveying the principle which they kept stating- that all the creatures had a purpose and a role in maintaining the planet. And the flow of information was also uneven- when the author says that character A tells character B how to defeat creature C, but doesn't tell me as the reader. But I haven't decided yet if that was a good way to keep me interested or just annoying.
I did like the subtlety of the environmental message, how everything worked together, and changing the balance of one part effects all. It wasn't in your face, and preachy, but more like matter of fact. This may be great for this age group too.