Whereas The Official Guide To BIONICLE™ is a visual feast, Tale of the Toa is pure text from start to finish. There are no fancy graphics here. In fact, there are no illustrations at all except on the front and back covers.

But that is as it should be, because the emphasis in the BIONICLE CHRONICLES books is on the BIONICLE story. Tale of the Toa follows the TOA from their arrival on Mata Nui up until just before the arrival of the BOHROK. For those who have read the BIONICLE comic books, much of what transpires will be pleasantly familiar.

But there is much here that is new too. LEWA speaks in Le-Koronan slang, even before he visits Le-Koro. There are new encounters with the RAHI. There are also new stories about the TOA and their quest to collect all of the KANOHI scattered about the island. Most surprisingly, the book ends not with a direct encounter with MAKUTA, but with a great battle between the TOA and the Shadow Toa.

Ms. Hapka has a good command of the characters, their personalities, and their interactions with each other. But there is not much room for soul searching and introspection here. The book is stuffed with action from start to finish to keep the readers’ attention.