KMUAN #007: a series of 39 unfortunate clues – intro

Good evening everybody!

Sometimes healing your inner child is finishing the book series you couldn’t finish back then.

And sometimes wounding your inner child is revisiting a book series that fascinated & saddened you.

This is a 2-for-1 series called: A Series of 39 Unfortunate Clues. 

We will be exploring the saga of the Cahill siblings from the 39 Clues series, by Rick Riordan & multiple authors plus the sordid tale of the Baudelaire orphans from A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket.

Why, you ask? 

Because if I had a nickel for every time I read a series about siblings who lost their parents in a fire and spent the next months or years fleeing dangerous adults and situations using their combined wits — I’d have two nickels.  

Before we explore the 1st book installments of the 39 Clues and A Series of Unfortunate Events, let’s establish some background info.

The 39 Clues series follows Dan & Amy Cahill following the death of their grandmother Grace Cahill, who is a part of this large Cahill family clan. At her funeral service, she posthumously offers her large family 2 choices: accept $1 million USD inheritance or refuse the money & take a clue. 

Dan & Amy, and other Cahill teams chose the clue & embarked on a global journey for the remaining 38 clues. The Cahill team who finds all of them will reach the secret about why the Cahills are the most influential family in history. 

Each book is written by a different author. Among them are: Rick Riordan, Gordon Korman, Peter Lerangis, Jude Watson, Patrick Carman, Linda Sue Park, and Margaret Peterson Haddix.

There’s an ARG element to The 39 Clues series. Each book came with a set of trading cards featuring the book characters, locations, special objects, etc. So if you got a book between 2008 to 2011, readers would type in the code printed on their trading cards to the39clues.com.

Technically I think you can’t do it anymore. But today you can view most of the trading cards on the 39 Clues Wiki.

---

A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket is the story of the Baudelaire siblings after their parents perish in a mysterious mansion fire. Snicket is also an in-universe character. We’re reading his manuscript which includes a letter to his editor for each installment.

The Baudelaire orphans move in with their new guardian Count Olaf, their nearest living relative. They’re put in danger because Count Olaf wants the enormous fortune their parents left beh-i-i-i-nd. The Baudelaires have to use their skills & wits to escape dangerous theater troupe actors, negligent adults, & poisonous creatures. 

ASOUE got a movie adaptation in 2009 starring Jim Carrey & a Netflix adaptation in 2017. For our sake, we’re just focusing on the book canon ASOSUE, because the movie and the TV series are slightly different. 

Now let’s get started! I’ll upload the 1st post over the weekend!

EDIT: here are the links below

The Bad Beginning & The Maze of Bones

Until then, stay curious and cool. Good night!